Whistling ducks

The wind must be exceptional if they blew up to Decatur Tx….
Excuse the pic, but it was the best I could do with my iPhone at a distance.

Dead branch….further up.

Cool, I did a "spot the critter" thread with it on the TFF, so if you read it here, don't cheat and say something over there...

https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/14350789/spot-the-critter#Post14350789

I saw a pair in dallas last year. There is also several on lake fork, or atleast there use to be. I dont hunt/fish that lake as much as I use to.

They are up there, but no where near the numbers they are down here!

Used to see a lot of them around Three Rivers and Choke canyon on the leases. Up at Uvalde on the river, they fly in and out in bunches. I wish you could get one in the Spring, when their plumage is so pretty.

They're currently in a hole in one of my oak trees. Back neighbor has a little tank. If it'll rain, they'll be all over here.

They aggravate the hell outa my blue lacy.

I must be a blue lacy.

have had them in the Cedar Creek area (Bastrop county) had not seen any lately

Dumb as a box of rocks. They landed 40 yards away from us while we were fishing.

Bird brain!

We have several every spring here on LAKE BOB SANDLIN.

I noticed these weren't skittish compared to other waterfowl.

They are everywhere here, year round. I've always heard they are good eating. Might have to shoot a couple one day.

I have about 50-75 whistling ducks (not exaggerating) that eat the corn at the feeder every evening. It is a little annoying when I'm pig hunting and the ducks eat all the corn right after the feeder goes off so by the time the pigs come out there is no corn left.

You might, but I believe there is a one duck limit per day on them.

They aren’t a mottled/dusky duck/Mexican-like duck, you can shoot 6 a day.
Ones I’ve eaten were good table fare.

We had a nocturnal one at our yard. Would show up about sundown and hang out under the security lights wearing the bugs out till around 2-3 am then head out. We could get with 10’-15’ of him before he would walk away….

We names him Larry…cool bird!

I live in a suburb of New Orleans. There is park and drainage canals near by and the Tree Ducks gather on the canal bank by the thousands different times of the year. I shot this video of what they do. You can hear them whistle as a drive by. Tree Ducks are very comfortable living in the city.

We always have a few that hang out at this time of year.

We have several pairs who nest on campus and at the cemetery across the road at Tarleton in Stephenville.

They are literally everywhere around Houston. There,s a small lake in front of a subdivision on my way to work that holds several hundred. They utilize nearly every body of water around here no matter how small.

I have seen them in Ennis and we have lots of them on the river/tanks East of Corsicana. I was on the King Ranch last week and they follow the deer/turkeys around behind the trucks throwing corn. They sure are a cool bird.

A couple years ago we had roughly 200 showing up everyday at the stock pond.... had quite a few raise ducklings.

How many you get in duck season?

ive got a small 1/4 acre pond out back here i had dug in 2020. in 2020 we had a pair that raised 11 outta 13 hatchlings and we watched those babys go from about the size of a golf ball to fully feathered and flying then they all left one day, in 2021 it was a repeat of a pair and 8 hatchlings raised, this year there is anywhere from a pair to upwards of 60 at any onetime back there.. the wife and i really enjoy watching them just be ducks but in my opinion they act more like geese???

i built a few nest boxes and i really think that they dang things lay eggs in each others nest!! wife looked a couple days ago in a box and says theres 23 eggs give or take in one and i been watching multiple birds go in and out of it for a few days and theres a pair that go absolutely crazy everytime another bird goes in that box.

They have been showing up every summer for the past few years at our place west of Graham.
They like our big tank.

zero. they had all left by then... Plus i wasnt sure then if you could take them or not.

We have a big group that hangs out in a neighborhood by my sons school in Humble, TX. They're always in the trees, powerlines, or on peoples roofs.

We used to HAMMER them at our place in SW Louisiana. We call them Squealers. Our marsh was full of them for about a decade. Large flocks of the big, dumb, slow flying ducks were easy to shoot and could make for quick limits. After a while, my cousins that live down there let most of them pass for the big greenheads, Pintail and other puddlers. Not much of a challenge. They would come to a whistle, but calling wasn't really necessary. They would light on mud flats, sand bars and trees near a food source or loafing spot. Never saw one land in water though.




The are , by far, the best eating duck in the marsh. Much better than teal or wood duck, in my opinion. Surprisingly, they're not near as gamey or ducky tasting as the puddlers we kill. I didn't believe I was eating duck the first time I had them. Great table fare plucked or just breasted out. Cook them to medium rare and you'll be amazed.




We still kill em out there pretty regularly, but there's not near the numbers we had in recent years. I hear that some have migrated as far north as Michigan and are showing up on the Atlantic flyway as far as North Carolina. That's kind of exciting.

And they are delicious!