Date: 4/16/25 11:30 am From: Nate Dias (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: First report/record of Fulvous Whistling-Duck in NC since 2001
There was a Fulvous Whistling-Duck seen and photographed and eBirded by
many birders in late April 2022 at Kingfisher Pond, Savannah NWR.
"These days I prefer to hunt with a camera. A good photograph demands more
skill from the hunter, better nerves and more patience than the rifle
shot." -- Bror Blixen
On Wed, Apr 16, 2025 at 10:35 AM Christopher Hill <carolinabirds...>
wrote:
> The most recent one I remember in South Carolina is one photographed and
> banded at the Tom Yawkey center in Georgetown County in 2015, in late
> August:
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.carolinabirdclub.org/chat/issues/2016/v80n1sc_brc_2015.pdf__;!!OToaGQ!vv7gmSwBpJXWfMWlgKbl-MXvtNMmwAyAchm8FpzZeaFeV3boxx8DTLn3a0mYWQ_Gtp4VBwKimBVsusBLcjS8QXoWuNTG$ .
> Not in eBird but in the Chat database since the SCBRC voted on it.
>
> There was an April 2022 bird seen by many at the Savannah River Site
> that's in ebird. That one doesn't seem to be in the 2022 SCBRC report,
> though.
>
>
> Chris Hill, Ph.D.
> Professor
> Biology Department
> Coastal Carolina University
> Office: Douglas 207H
> (843) 349-2567
> email: <chill...>
>
> On Apr 16, 2025, at 9:59 AM, Harry LeGrand <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>
> Folks, On April 14 (2025), Doug Racine, who visits the North River
> Wetlands Preserve in Carteret County almost weekly, posted three
> photographs of a Fulvous Whistling-Duck taking flight from a pond there.
> He posted these on the Carolina Bird Club Phot
> *Warning: Unusual sender* <carolinabirds...>
> You don't usually receive emails from this address. Make sure you trust
> this sender before taking any actions.
> Folks,
>
> On April 14 (2025), Doug Racine, who visits the North River Wetlands
> Preserve in Carteret County almost weekly, posted three photographs of a
> Fulvous Whistling-Duck taking flight from a pond there. He posted these on
> the Carolina Bird Club Photo Gallery:
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.carolinabirdclub.org/gallery/Racine/fuwd.html__;!!OToaGQ!vv7gmSwBpJXWfMWlgKbl-MXvtNMmwAyAchm8FpzZeaFeV3boxx8DTLn3a0mYWQ_Gtp4VBwKimBVsusBLcjS8QcourPlY$ > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.carolinabirdclub.org/gallery/Racine/fuwd.html__;!!OToaGQ!tOs2ckNpJ0KmZH-5FVbvNxfRudhiELFGfL4nI6aDSRbG4mAolWIVIQOVsvDHcQpdvEKUVKfqQ5CE5WgOaQJpwHE$> >
> There is no eBird report for this very important record, but there are
> comments in the NC Rare Bird Alert on the GroupMe app. Thankfully, photos
> on the CBC website are permanently documented. I now write the "Briefs for
> the Files" for *The Chat*, and I will include this record there for
> documentation as well. This will later go onto the *Birds of North
> Carolina* website, which says the last NC record based on The Chat
> database was on January 1, 2001.
>
> Note that this species was an almost annual fall and early winter visitor
> back in the 1960s and 1970s (see the NC website) along the coast, and
> ranged sparingly inland into the inner Coastal Plain and twice in the
> eastern Piedmont. I have been fortunate to be birding NC back then, and I
> have seen them maybe 5-6 times, including seeing the amazing flock of 11 at
> the (former) Greenview Farm south of Raleigh, back in 1975. In fact, the
> peak NC counts were 61 in 1989, and 55 in 1960, indicating that it at times
> could be found in some numbers. The range in the USA has been strongly
> declining, and it is now difficult to find in Florida, being found mainly
> now from coastal Louisiana into coastal Texas, and southward.
>
> I would really doubt this is an escaped bird, as it is seen taking flight
> and as there are no nearby aviaries. Plus, no other strange out-of-range
> waterfowl have been reported lately in the region. This species is not a
> review one for NC, but as there have been no reports in the state in 24
> years, it is up to the NC Bird Records Committee chair to decide if a
> review is warranted. I feel sure that most Carolina birders have never
> seen a Fulvous Whistling-Duck in NC or perhaps in SC as well, and thus the
> great interest in relocating these birds.
>
> Harry LeGrand
> Raleigh
>
>
>
>
