Terence Schiefer reported the fifth local record of the black-bellied whistling duck occurred May 2, 2017. Two adults were observed at the east bank recreational area of the Columbus Lake.
As good fortune would have it, my walking partner, Shirley, and I encountered a gentleman at Plymouth Bluff who was outfitted in dust-colored clothing, a vest full of pockets, and looking altogether like a National Geographic “birder.” The two discussed Shirley’s recent sighting of the black-bellied whistling ducks, and she agreed to send him photographs for verification. As it turns out the gentleman was Terence “Terry” L. Schiefer, curator of the Mississippi Entomological Museum at Mississippi State University and a renowned birder. Mr. Schiefer graciously allowed the sharing of his correspondence with Shirley:
“In the United States, black-bellied whistling ducks used to be found only in southern Texas. Over the years, they have expanded their range, first to Florida and southwestern Louisiana.
“In Mississippi, the species was first seen in 1985, and they first nested in the state in 2003. Early records are concentrated in the Mississippi Delta where the species now occurs regularly, although it is not common there. Whistling ducks have also established populations along the Mississippi River and Mississippi coast. Elsewhere in Mississippi, the species is quite rare. There are a couple of recent records from the Tupelo area. Locally, your sighting is the fourth record. The first was in August 2015 of five adult birds along the Tombigbee River south of Highway 50. These were coming to feed on spilled grain where the Tom Soya Grain Co. loads grain into barges on the west bank of the river. The number of birds gradually increased to up to 19 (11 adults and eight juveniles) by October, and they left in early November. The presence of adults and juveniles raises the question of whether the species might have nested in the area undetected.
“The second local record was a pair of adults photographed and present for one morning only at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in May 2016.
“The third record is of about a dozen birds (one adult photographed) in the cypress slough along the River Trail at Plymouth Bluff in June 2016. So, you can see that the species is quite rare for our area, and any future sightings would certainly be worth reporting. The fact that your birds were on top of a wood duck box suggests the black-bellied whistling ducks might be using them to nest, as they are also cavity nesters. So far, nesting has not been documented in Mississippi away from the Delta and Coast, so any observations of adults with dependent young in this area would be a significant record. Whether or not black-bellied whistling ducks establish a breeding population in our area only time will tell, but I have a suspicion that they may have started to already.
“The map you sent was very useful for knowing where you saw the birds. I want to make sure that I record the birds in the correct county since the Clay/Lowndes county line runs down the middle of Tibbee Creek. The arrows on your map seem to indicate the birds were on the north side of the river which would be Clay County. If you happen to see the birds again, I would appreciate it if you could record the number of adults, juveniles, or downy young, the date you saw them, and their location. If you see adults with young it would be great if you could photograph them, so that we can document nesting in this area.”
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