Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks

One day I was walking through a park and saw several ducks up in a tree. I thought this was a bit odd and later learned that these were black-bellied whistling ducks. Since then, I have seen them around but not very often. A few days ago when driving home from work I saw them at a park in my neighborhood and decided to go get my camera and come back and shoot them. They are seemingly very accustomed to people as I was able to get very close to them without them displaying any signs of alarm.

Black-bellied whistling ducks are named rather obviously for their black bellies and their whistling call. They are mainly South and Central American birds and have only recently been moving into the Southern US. From what I have read, they feed mainly at night on grain and like to hang out in farmer’s fields especially if here is water nearby. They don’t seem to be in any conservation danger as they are rather well adapted to living near and benefiting from people.

Photographically, I just grabbed my 100 – 400mm lens and put the 2x teleconverter on it as there was so much light available. I kept the shutter-speed above 1/1600s and relied on the animal eye-detect feature of the camera, which had no trouble with these birds’ well-defined eyes. The birds were not very active, but I got low to the ground and tried to get them doing something interesting. In hindsight, I should have removed the teleconverter and perhaps gotten slightly sharper images.

The next day, the BBWDs were gone. They are rather distinctive and I’ll probably see them again before too long. Texas is a good place for birds as many different kinds are migrating to and fro throughout the year.

14 thoughts on “Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks”

  1. I like their deep red bills. Beautiful shots of these birds.

    Since they hang out in farmer’s fields, these birds must be outstanding in their field. But I wonder if they eat the planted seeds, the crops, or the insects. If they’re not eating insects, they could find themselves at the receiving end of many a duck hunters’ shotgun.

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  3. Fantastic sighting and photos! We had a pair show up in Maryland only 15 miles from me couple summers ago, they stayed at a manmade water management pond for a few days, then poof gone! They are such a handsome duck, I was excited to have seen/photographed them.

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  5. Ooh I would enjoy seeing those ducks here in Pa,, but thinking that probably won’t happen.
    At least I am fortunate that I know a certain photographer that takes wonderful photos of them! 😉 Those red bills stand out so much. Adorable!

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