pi-piTEEEW or pitheeew
Found in small flocks in shallow ponds or grassy marshes, this colorful duck can be active at night. It also whistles continuously while in flight. They run to take off while in the water, and will stretch the neck and legs down while landing.
This species started coming to Hackberry Flats in 2010 and still does so to the present day, but more often now. It appears that this is the only location in the state that it frequents other than possibly Red Slough, but it was not in McCurtain County in 2018.
The fulvous tree duck is known to wander hundreds of miles in roving flocks, yet unlike the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, they rarely perch in trees.
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
TX 2015
Both diurnal and nocturnal this cavity nester breeds in southern Louisiana and Texas, and has large global range. This rust colored duck with gray bill, long legs, and a distinctive white band is shown across the tail while in flight. Though the are herbivorous, the female will partake of worms, insects, and mollusks prior to egg laying. A quarter of her diet will consist of cereal grains while she is incubating.
They are susceptible to power line collisions and have trouble with pesticides used in rice crops, but despite this, as well as hunting, it still manages to be a species of least concern in its large sweep in the southern hemisphere.
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