A pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks flying by in the first morning light.
Orlando Wetlands, Florida
April 12, 2022
Black-bellied Whistling Duck Pair In Flight
Tag Archives: Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, First Light
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were hanging out on a series of snags in the first morning light.
Everyone had their own spot.
And they weren’t alone.
This snag stands in one of the wetland cells created as part of the city’s water reclamation process.
Orlando Wetlands, Florida
April 12, 2022
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks In Flight
A few of the dozens of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks I saw earlier this week treated me to some fly-bys.
Most interesting was seeing the white wing stripe as they flapped by me.
August 29. 2021
Peak-a-boo: Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
This was one of those “stop the car, back up” moments as we drove into a wildlife management area and Ted spotted an odd movement.
About then Ted spotted a second duck in the tree above that was quick to fly up onto a nearby stump and show off his pink feet.
These Black-bellied Whittling Ducks are quite striking with that white wing stripe setting off the brown and black of the body.
This one spent quite a few minutes poking at the top of the stump. I’m not sure what he was doing, they are mostly vegetarians but will eat insects so he may have been looking for a snack.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
August 29, 2021
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks
This has been a summer for Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, with this sighting at the Magnolia Cemetery pond.
They are another bird that is expanding its range northward and I’ve only seen them in this area the last two or three years.
This pair alternated their time between sitting in the trees and sitting in the water on a very hot SC day.
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC
August 2, 2021
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks at Pond Edge
This is the opposite end of the pond where I photographed the Sunning Juvenile Alligators on Sunday. When the pond is filled this area is all under water.
Several Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks duos were in view and working the pond edge, along with some juvenile Gallinules.
This pair was was off by themselves.
Evidently they had no where to be and plopped down.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
July 25, 2021
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks
These two Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks looks like they are in a field but this is actually a grass-choked pond / swamp so they were walking on a spongy surface.
They were alert to my presence and another nearby pair ducked down into the grass out of my sight.
These two kept bobbing up and down.
And kept an eye on the sky.
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks
I’ve stopped to watch Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in this marshy area several times this summer. One day last week a few were quite close to the walk way and were less skittish than on previous visits.
Some of the chicks are nearly adult size but are still sticking close to a parent.
This one had been standing on the end of the of the walkway and decided to join the others…
…landing in the short greenery with the family group behind him.
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Pair
There were several pairs of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks around the edges of a pond, mostly tucked into the vegetation. Neither one of this pair moved a bit after I spotted them.
From another direction this pair took flight towards another connected pond, showing off more of their striking colors.
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
This is the first Whistling Duck I have seen in South Carolina. He was perched high in a tree over a pond and I couldn’t even tell what it was until I zoomed in on the image in my camera.
The duck periodically threw his head back and made a very un-duck like sounding call.
A pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks flew by, but didn’t slow down to listen to the one in the tree and he didn’t make any effort to join them.
There was still about a half hour until sunset, but the sun, which was behind me, was disappearing into a cloud bank, taking the light and any possibility of a colorful sunset with it.
