Black-bellied Whistling Duck 28 Jul 2021 Artemisa Prov © Marcos Abel González Rabeiro
The Black-bellied Whistling Duck, known locally as Yaguasa, is a rare bird in Cuba. Four were seen at a place in Artemisa Province just last week and photographed by Marcos Abel González Rabeiro. I'm not sure if they are the first records for Artemisa or not. The map given in the Birds of Cuba (Garrido & Kirkconnell) published in 2000 gives the range as Ciego de Avila and Sancti Spiritus. It says that a nest has never been found in Cuba but it isn't known if these are resident birds or if they are birds that had bred further north and have already dispersed further south. Such post-breeding dispersal of ducks is known here in Europe too and here in the UK there are currently quite a few Ruddy Shelduck which it is thought have dispersed here from mainland Europe.
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