# Tree Ducks



## Mustad7731 (May 23, 2004)

For the last week a flock of "Tree Ducks" have been landing in the
trees surrounding my home in Highlands [20 mi East of Houston].
They look a lot like Mallard hens, Brown plumage, orange bill and feet.
They don't quack, they kind of...squeel/whisle (not really sure how to 
discribe their noise). They land on the large dead nearly horizonal limbs,
They make their noise and fly back and forth between the limbs,like kids
playing together on playground equipment.
I have seen Tree Ducks at a distance before, but never at 20-30 yds.
Are these Mexican Tree Ducks??? Any ideas???
Mustad7731
Jackie


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## TXwhtlHNTR (Nov 19, 2008)

Whistling Ducks?








Fulvous Tree Ducks?








= Same thing?


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## TheAnt (Jul 1, 2008)

They are also called whistling tree ducks. I can get them to respond to me when I mimic them.

Seems I have seen black-bellied tree duck, whistling tree duck, fulvus tree duck, mexican tree duck but don;t know whether that is all the same or multiple names for a species.

Anyway, lots of folks won't believe there is a duck that lands in trees. They make good eatin' I know that!


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## CCducker (Nov 21, 2008)

They are Black Bellied Whistling Ducks and they are a blast too shoot and taste great!
Fulvous Whistling Ducks are a different species that are not as common during the season.


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## Van (May 21, 2004)

*BBWDs*

They've been expanding their range over the years. We've had a bunch take up residence on the neighborhood ponds and we can expect to either hear or see them, if not daily, at least a couple times a week.


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## CHARLIE (Jun 2, 2004)

always beeb called mexican squealers. Folks now days are beginning to eat them.

Charlie


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## wet dreams (May 21, 2004)

Buddy of mine calls them flying chickens, says they tastes as good as chicken, I'm thinking here of late they have moved their migration pattern to where we are seeing them more as this IS their Summer nesting grounds...WW


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## Fish-a-mon (May 21, 2004)

Mexican whistlers aka Tree Duck and is the most up right duck in NA. Just watch them they stand very up right.


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## Captn C (May 21, 2004)

Seems I read somewhere they are the only fully web footed duck that can land on a limb. Pretty cool looking duck. 

They are getting pretty thick out in the Cy-Fair area.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Used to see them 30 years ago hunting the Neches River at Holly Bluff, just like he said they would land on a large horizontal limb and make whistling noises, I thought they were whistling tree ducks, lol.


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## castnblast4life (Jun 12, 2007)

some people believe they are more closely related to the goose due to the fact that the hens and drakes are identical. The birds in the pic are black bellied whistiling ducks and the falvuls has a lot less coloration but both tast great and the limit is 5 or 6 birds depending on the bag limit for the year


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## Levelwind (Apr 15, 2005)

Cool birds. We have two species in Texas, Black Bellied and Fulvous. Black bellied ones are far the most numerous around here and as has been mentioned they are expanding rapidly. This is good and bad. The good is they're a nice game bird in their own right, pretty stupid, easy to kill (soft feathered), and probably the best eating duck besides a canvasback. 

The bad is they are driving out our native Wood ducks. They compete for nesting cavities and the tree ducks are very aggressive and usually win. One of my favorite wood duck holes from years past is now taken over by these ducks and wood ducks are rare in the area. 

I've suggested to TPW that we should be allowed to shoot some and thin them out during early teal season as they DO migrate down the coast and are more plentiful during the early part of the duck season. TPW agrees, at least Mr. Morrison, the waterfowl director, but it must be approved by USFWS as there are treaty issues etc. involved. Hasn't happened yet. 

They are the only ducks which are total vegetarians as adults (chicks and juvies eat insects). They have lots of nicknames. Tree ducks, whistlers, whistling tree ducks, Mexican whistlers, Mexican squealers etc. 

It's been a while since I read up on them but I believe they are somewhere between a duck and a goose, a family called sheldrakes if I remember right. They're the only ones in North America but there are other species around the world. 

They'll respond to a call on a whistle mimjicing their cry, and fly over and look at decoys. When they do, shoot them. They don't ordinarily "finish" as they usually prefer standing to swimming. That's not 100%, sometimes they do come all the way in. Their body is surprisingly small - their large wingspan makes you expect a much bigger duck, they're about the size of a spooner, a little bigger than a teal.


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

they are counted as regular ducks, you can't shoot them out of season

both adult black bellied whistler has the orange bill


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## Redfishr (Jul 26, 2004)

Those are some beautiful ducks and they hang out everywhere.
I saw two at Jack in the box parking lot the other day and two more in a neighbors yard and standing on his wooden fence........
Crazy......


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## bluegill addict (Aug 13, 2005)

They are expanding in range. I see them just about every time I'm up in Boerne.


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## Redfishr (Jul 26, 2004)

They now nest regularly in the south and dont migrate north.........around my house anyway.


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## Neck-deep (Jun 27, 2007)

So that's what those ducks are that continuously fly over my land in the evening (Good eating huh, Hummm?). They fly over my land and feed on dropped grain from trucks that is loaded into a train. It's seems like there has been more and more everyyear in my location.


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## saltyj (Aug 11, 2005)

*tree ducks*

All over down here.


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## Sean Hoffmann (May 24, 2004)

For comparison purposes the top bird is a fulvous I took back in January at...yeah, January.


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## MackerelMan (Aug 16, 2005)

*In First Colony (Sugar Land)as well*

There is a group of 100-150 that hang around the Sweetwater Country Club and areas close by. They fly over the house and can be heard calling daily. Often will sit on the rooftops or on the fences.


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## Van (May 21, 2004)

*Sugar Land*

There used to be a ton hanging around Brooks Lake / Oyster Creek (Hwy 6 & 59) but the new construction that's been going on the past couple years drove them off. :hairout:

Here's an old pic from a few years back.


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## pg542 (Oct 9, 2006)

saltyj said:


> All over down here.


That looks like a job for Johnny Quest......


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## CCducker (Nov 21, 2008)

I for one am glad they are expanding they breed like mad and its just another species to shoot during the season!


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