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| Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks These are five of the nine that visited Yorkville in May. |
Black-bellied whistling ducks pay rare visit to Illinois
(published 6-8-14)
Like most birders, I was out and about often during May,
enjoying the prime of spring migration. It’s the best month, and always full of
surprises. A black-throated gray warbler popped up in Elgin, and a snowy egret in
Glen Ellyn. Most amazing of all, a fork-tailed flycatcher appeared in Geneva.
I missed each of these goodies because birding, like most
things in life, is all about timing. Few of us can drop what we are doing to chase
a rare bird. At least not very often. My favorite rarities are the “sticky”
ones that allow time to go see them. The Evanston varied thrush of 2013 comes
to mind, and the Chicago sage thrasher in 2011.
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| Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks are rarely seen in Illinois but the species has a tendency to wander, especially in the spring. |
How big? Well, a good
indicator was in the driveway outside the home of Irene and Wayne Kaufman in
Yorkville. There, on a table, sat a three-ring binder with the names of 218
birders who’d visited the Kaufman’s tidy backyard since the vagrant ducks
arrived. And those were just the ones who signed the guest book.
“One young man came in a suit and tie on his lunch hour,”
said Irene. “I told him he was the best-dressed birdwatcher so far.”
For all of us, the opportunity was almost too good to be
true. Here was a chance for an up-close
look of a species rarely spotted this far north, and a friendly homeowner who
was welcoming any and all birders. Irene even put chairs in the yard. Need some
bug spray? No problem, she provided that too.
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| Irene Kaufman, who sings baritone with the Sweet Adelines, is a friend to birds and birders alike |
I went to Yorkville twice and each time the ducks were AWOL
when I arrived. But after a short wait,
they came wheeling back to Irene’s yard, flashing large white wing patches and
sounding their trademark whistle. This is one conspicuous duck.
When the birds first appeared Irene didn’t know what they
were. Her field guide didn’t show them so she called a bird store in Geneva.
The store put her in touch with Kane County Audubon Society. “I sent them an
email and boom!” she said.
The parade of visiting birders commenced that afternoon, and
Irene quickly learned a lot about the birding culture.
“I had no idea this world was out there,” she told me. “They
all knew each other.”
Irene said she was surprised to see so many young people
interested in birding. The big camera lenses also made an impression.
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| The duck's pale eye ring and brilliant pink bill are distinctive. |
“They were friendly,” she added. “They all said thank you
and seemed very grateful that I was letting them in my yard. I heard a lot of ‘awesome’ and ‘this is a
lifer.’ I had to ask what a lifer was.”
Unlike the birders coming and going, Irene got to observe
the black-bellied whistling ducks on a daily or even hourly basis. She found their behavior patterns to be very
predictable. She also kept a close eye on one of the ducks that was getting
picked on by the others. “No. 9,” as she
called it, walked with a limp but seemed okay otherwise.
On the ground, the first thing you notice about the ducks is
their brilliant pink bill and pale eye ring. Birding guru Pete Dunne calls them “harlot
faced.” Their long necks and legs also stand out, giving them a goose-like
appearance.
The species is regular in Texas and Louisiana, and even more
common south of the United States. But over the last 20 years its range has
been expanding across the South. I saw the bird myself in Florida a few months
ago.
“This range expansion has led to an extraordinary increase
in sightings far outside their normal range,” said Josh Engel, a Bird Division
research assistant at Chicago’s Field Museum. “They occur regularly, especially
in spring, in the Midwest. This year alone there have been records on the Lake
Erie shore of Ohio, Horicon Marsh (Wisconsin) and southwest Michigan. This year
seems to be exceptional, with more records than normal this far north.”
For Engel, like most of us who scurried to Yorkville, this
was a first-time sighting in Illinois. Many birders added the species to their
life lists.
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| More than 200 birders signed The Kaufman's guest book. |
That would include Irene Kaufman, if only she kept one. I encouraged her to at least begin keeping a
yard list, if for no other reason than to make black-bellied whistling duck her
first entry. How many Illinois birders,
after all, could claim BBWD as a yard bird?
The Kaufmans are new on the block, having moved in last
September. This is their first experience living by a pond. Cormorants, egrets
and herons entertain them daily. “It’s all new to us,” Irene said. “Every day
is a new adventure to watch.”
I asked if she had a favorite backyard bird. “Right now it’s
the black-bellied whistling duck.”
And one final question: Any regrets about opening your life
and yard to the birding paparazzi? On this point she was emphatic. “Absolutely not! I think something as rare as
this needs to be shared.”
The ducks were last seen on May 30. I wonder if they flew
north or south.
Copyright 2014 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.