With elongated necks and long legs trailing behind them in flight, whistling ducks look more like an ibis than a duck.
Slightly smaller than mallards, these odd birds greatly expanded their breeding range north of the Rio Grande and eastward in recent years to include Mississippi.
“We have both black-bellied and fulvous whistling ducks in Mississippi,” said Houston Havens, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks Waterfowl Program Coordinator in Jackson. “Black-bellies seem to be increasing in numbers and expanding their range throughout the state. Fulvous whistling ducks are rarer in Mississippi.”
Formerly known as tree ducks, both species can land in trees and often congregate in woody backwaters. They also frequently land on dry ground like geese and stand straight upright with their long necks extended. They might appear in diverse habitats across the Magnolia State.
“Whistlers might be in emergent marsh habitat that has water and emergent vegetation along the edges throughout the summer and into early fall,” Havens said. “They will also be in cypress brakes, farm ponds, and fishing lakes. They get in some rice fields when those fields have water on them during the summer and rice is growing. They use them as forging habitat.”
Unfortunately for Mississippi waterfowlers, whistlers fly farther south to Mexico, and Central and South America in the fall. Legal to shoot during the regular duck season, but not the September teal season, they usually disappear from Mississippi around the time the regular duck season starts.
“Hunters occasionally harvest a few black-bellied whistling ducks, especially early in the season,” Havens said. “Normally by the time by the regular duck season starts in November, most flew farther south. We don’t know if they move because of the photo period like blue-winged teal or cold weather makes them move. They seem to be ready to head south as soon as they finish raising their broods.”
Sportsmen might bag a few whistlers if some happen to pass overhead or fly into the decoys. They respond well to decoys and calling. People who specifically want to shoot whistlers must do their scouting. However, spotting bird concentrations a week before the season starts doesn’t guarantee limits on opening day.
“We see pockets of whistling ducks in large concentrations on the Gulf Coast and up through the lower Mississippi Delta Region,” Havens said. “Some wildlife management areas in the southern Mississippi Delta might hold some whistlers. We have pretty good numbers of black-bellied whistling ducks along the Mississippi River and reports of them throughout northern Mississippi.”
If some whistlers stay around long enough, they could give Mississippi waterfowlers an opportunity to bag a different species. These tasty birds would make a welcome addition to any daily bag for hunters lucky enough to spot them during the season.
The Mississippi duck season runs from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 and again from Dec. 7 to Jan. 31, 2025. However, youths, veterans, and active-duty military members get two extra days to hunt from Feb. 8-9, 2025.
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