Bird Board
Peaceful Waters very active - and question on rarity of a non-native bird
I often skip Peaceful Waters in favor of two closer parks to me - Wakodahatchee and Green Cay, hitting it maybe once for every 50 visits to the other two. I decided this weekend to pop up to Peaceful Waters just to change the scenery as GC and Wako have both been fairly quiet and slow. Well, Peaceful Waters is very active and quite full of birds and some wintering ducks. Loads of roseated spoonbills - upwards of 30-35 of them. Half a dozen white American pelicans, along with some brown pelicans. Royal terns, belted kingfishers, solitary sandpipers, least sandpipers. A dozen or more hooded mergansers, a lovely sight as I don't often get to see them at GC or Wako - at least in 5-6 years. Quite a few northern shovelers - maybe 10?
Also a question for TASboard members...how rare a sighting would a white-faced whistling duck be? I've never seen one, and I know they're exotic - I saw some reports of them on the non-native list at FL Fish & Wildlife, but they only show 3 counties in 91, 98, and 2000. A friend of mine got a shot of one in flight hanging with a bunch of black-bellied whistlers...I'm just wondering if it's a fairly common or not noteworthy sighting, or worth having him report or post it.
Comments
There have been several reports of White-faced Whistling Duck in south Florida in recent years. In most cases, they are found in association with other exotic waterfowl and are thus presumed to be exotic themselves. Their native range is South America and Africa.
Thanks Brian. It sounds like it's probably nothing that I need to encourage him to post on e-Bird or make a report on the sighting then.
The photo he got clearly identifies it, and it's a striking duck - he mentioned it seemed to be spending all its time with a flock of black-bellied whistlers. I've had the same thing with a fulvous whistler hanging out with black-bellies.
I still wish I had seen it, as I've never photographed a white-faced whistling duck before.
Justin, I would actually suggest that your friend does report the White-faced Whistling Duck on eBird. The latest guidance from Cornell is that any bird non-captive bird (even if it was previously captive) should be reported. Even domestics (white Mallard, etc.) should be reported as long as they are not confined. Who knows what the next breeding exotic might be here in Florida!
White-faced Whistling Ducks have been seen off and on at Green Cay since late May early June. There are two of them and they regularly associate with Black-bellied Whistlers. They have been documented on e-bird see ....... http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23759548
When I checked eBird, I hadn't seen that one pop up - only a few older ones from 2010 and 2012 in St. Lucie and under the lake. Good to know.
I notified my friend and he has listed it with the photos on eBird - his was spotted at Wakodahatchee.
Where exactly is Peaceful Waters located?
Peaceful Waters is at the south-west corner of the Village Park Athletic Complex park in Wellington...the address is 11676 Pierson Road...Google maps:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Peaceful+Waters+Sanctuary/@26.6327955,-80.23282,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xa18108c1dcd39bea
It's west of 441/State Road 7, and just north of Lake Worth Road.
I have been lucky enough to see and get pictures of the white faced whistling duck a week ago at Green Cay. It was hanging out with the black bellied whistling ducks. I consider it a gift to have seen it.
Saw a flight of three white faced whistling ducks in Lee County this evening. At first pass I didn't take much notice, thinking them to be some Muscovy mutants. At the second pass their heads were definitely not Muscovy. I needed to look them up to identify them.
White faced whistling ducks (2) seen in the past month on two occasions, with a third siting by their call only. I live in Davie in Broward County, on a man made lake.
I just took a pic of 3 White Face Whistling Ducks in Davie Florida. Man made lake near Golf course. One of them had banding on both legs.
I live in Davie and saw a White Face Whistling Ducks behind my house this morning., 12-20-2020. Beautiful bird!
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