Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks --- Ultra-Rare in New Brunswick

                                        Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks  [Andrew Olive Photo]

The Black-bellied Whistling-Duck is definitely an ultra-rare species for New Brunswick.  It has never been recorded as being present in the province before now.  It has been seen very occasionally in Nova Scotia and Maine but none has been seen or photographed here.  The species has, however, been experiencing a northeasterly flow of vagrants over the years and it was an expected species sometime for NB.  Given that, the few birders, who were lucky enough, did not expect to be able to see and photograph this rare duck this year.  

There was one prior possible sighting of this species in NB a number of years ago.  A person allegedly saw one on the Miramichi River near Boiestown, took a distant photo and reported it.  Unfortunately the photo was not clear enough to prove it was a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck so the record was not accepted.  However, on 11 June 2021 that all changed!  On that day Steve Ouellette found 6 Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks behind the Atholville lagoon along some of the rubber berms.  He reported them through Andrew Olive who saw and photographed them (see above).  A few birders were able to make their way north to see them.  Unfortunately they must have left during the night because they were gone early the next morning.  Apparently a few days earlier a small group of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks was reported from Connecticut and then New Hampshire.  These might have been the same ducks that arrived in Atholville.  Bird movement is interesting!

All ducks are members of the Anatidae family.  The family Anatidae includes 3 subfamilies found in North America; Dendrocygninae (Whistling-Ducks),  Anserinae (true geese and swans) and Anatinae (ducks).  The Dendrocygninae subfamily is by far the smallest group including 8 species which are all found mainly in tropical regions.  Anatomically they are distinctive.  They are slim, long necked, and they have long bills.  They stand noticeably upright.  They have whistling calls and some perch in trees.  They were formerly known as 'tree ducks'.  Notice the long necks, long legs and long bills in the photo above.  

The Black-bellied Whistling-Duck's normal range is the coastline of south-eastern US mainly Louisiana and Texas and Mexico.  It ranges through Central America and into South America.  It prefers quiet shallow freshwater ponds, estuaries, wetlands and marshes.  I have been fortunate to see them in Georgia where they were feeding on roots and seeds of marsh plants.  When I first saw them I immediately recognized the long pink legs and upright stance as being different.  See the photo below.  

                                        Black-bellied Whistling-Duck  [Bev Schneider Photo]

The Black-bellied Whistling-Duck is a large duck (53 cm [21 inches long]),  just a bit smaller than the Mallard.  Besides the features mentioned above, its red bill and bubblegum pink legs and feet are very noticeable.  It has a gray face, rufous brown breast and back, white wings and a black belly.  The white eyering is easily seen.  It appears tall and slim when it stands.  Imagine how amazed and excited the birders were who got to  see it.  

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks nest mainly in tree cavities.  They also nest on the ground in a poorly-formed nest.  Twelve to sixteen white eggs are laid and incubated by both adults for about 28 days.  The ducklings fledge at about 56 days and remain with the adults for the rest of the year.  This species feeds mainly at night on seeds, roots and grasses.

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks are named for their whistling vocals.  That is described by some as a multi-syllabic nasal whistle, a pe-che or a pe-che-che-ne.  

Another close relative of the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, the Fulvous Whistling-Duck has been seen in NB.  A flock of 21 of them arrived on Grand Manan in the autumn of 1961.  This flock broke up and smaller groups were seen on Grand Manan and at Evandale, Kings County.  Five were shot by hunters and are preserved in both the Grand Manan and the NB Museums.  

I think we can agree the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck is an unusual duck.  One early American ornithologist described it as 'most un-duck-like'.  Being a tree duck, it readily uses duck boxes.  This has undoubtedly helped its range expansion.  You never know, we just might witness a 'brace' of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks soon in one of our Ducks Unlimited areas.  Wouldn't that be nice!