A long-legged waterbird with a pink bill that feeds on plants near shallow water and fields.
Adults in the northern population have a chestnut breast, black belly, pink bill, and long legs. Juveniles lack the black belly and have a dark bill and pale legs.
In coastal South Carolina, cameras monitored 78 American alligator nests from 2016 to 2021. The photographs documented 81 wildlife species, including birds, mammals, and reptiles. Animals used the nest mounds or surrounding area to feed, travel, rest, and carry out other activities. The records covered visits both on the mounds and nearby.
One image showed a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck pair and its brood standing on a flooded alligator nest mound. Both adult ducks were preening while the family stood on the raised nest. Other animals also rested or searched for food around nests, making these coastal wetland structures part of a varied wildlife scene.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Cameras at 78 American alligator nests in coastal South Carolina recorded a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck pair and brood using a flooded nest mound. The survey documented nest mounds as places where birds and other wildlife rested, foraged, or moved through the coastal wetland.