It’s that time of year when you might not see a lot of birds at the Orlando Wetlands, but you’ll likely find Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.
These strange-looking brown, black and white ducks with pink feet have a special place in my heart.
During the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic when we were all in lockdown, I would head out to my backyard in the evening just to get out of the house. Around sunset, a flock of birds would fly over my house making these strange whistling noises as they passed.
This continued to happen night after night, so I finally became curious enough to try to find out what were those birds. And, as you probably guessed, they were Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. These were the birds that got me interested in birding.
But it’s not just their strange look and loud whistling call that make them interesting. You may see these birds in trees as much as in water. And they look for hollowed out areas in trees to lay their eggs – they don’t create a nest. Once their young ones hatch, the ducklings almost immediately jump down from the trees to get to the ground and water.
It’s also interesting that Black-bellied Whistling Ducks didn’t expand their range into Florida until the late 1960s; they’re were more often seen in Texas, Mexico or South America. The Orlando Wetlands is definitely one of their favorite spots now.
Here are some pictures of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks – and some other birds – from an early September trip to Orlando Wetlands.
