Birders flock to Waterloo, Ont., pond to glimpse rare black-bellied whistling duck

Birdwatcher Piper Smith, 15, and her mom Amy have been visiting the ponds at RIM Park in Waterloo, Ont., to catch a glimpse of the black-bellied whistling duck.

It's the first time the duck has been spotted in Waterloo region. Normally, it hails from the southern United States, such as Texas or Florida, or even farther south in Mexico and South America. But this duck appears to be doing just fine in Waterloo, making friends with the other ducks, geese and herons in the pond.

The mother and daughter birdwatching duo from Kitchener were so excited when they received alerts that the duck was in Waterloo, they cut short a trip to the cottage to go observe it. 

"It's got a bright, bright, bright orange bill. It's got very very long legs, and a white stripe across both wings and a black belly — hence the black-belly whistling duck," Amy Smith said.

"The other unusual feature about it is it whistles instead of quacking, and anytime it flies, you'll hear it whistle."

They've been out to see it about six times since the start of the month, although they've only heard the distinctive whistle once.

"It came flying right over us and it was whistling while it flew," Piper said.

"It was amazing because there was a previous one in Niagara and a few other places and I wanted to see those, but we couldn't go see them. So it was really nice to see it."

Sightings increase

Ken Burrell is the regional co-ordinator for the bird-tracking app e-Bird and the regional co-ordinator for the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas. He said there have been reports of the duck in other parts of Ontario, including last summer when a flock of about 13 were seen along the northern shoreline of Lake Erie.

"From a provincial overview, it's only about the 20th record ever for the species and it's kind of an interesting species because it's really increasing," he said.

"With climate change, southern birds are spreading further north because our climate is more resembling the climate that they're used to."

He said for water birds like ducks, drought conditions can also be a factor. 

He suggested that if people want to see the duck, they should keep their distance to avoid making it fly away. As well, they should make plans to go see it soon because it's expected the black-bellied whistling duck will head south in the coming weeks.