A rare duck from Missouri

By Aaron Horrell

I found these two ducks on May 6 wading in a shallow Scott County drainage ditch.

They are a kind of duck I have never encountered before.

They are black-bellied whistling ducks.

I contacted a member of the Missouri Bird Records Committee and was told these ducks are listed as rare for Missouri. A view of their records posted online revealed their bird list shows the black-bellied whistling duck has been officially documented only 19 times in Missouri since the year 2000.

An online check at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology informed me the black-bellied whistling duck is a common duck in much of South America.

It is, however, spreading its range north, and currently has resident flocks in several U.S. southern states such as Texas, Louisiana and Florida.

Shown in my photo is an adult female being followed by an adult male.

Black-bellied whistling ducks mate for life and usually nest in cavities in trees.