Day 100: West Indian Whistling-Duck

Today is a big day. Not only is it my 100th post in a row for this blog, but it also happens to be my six month wedding anniversary with my sweet husband! So, I thought I would do a special bird today, to mark the occasion.

The West Indian Whistling-Duck is the only endemic waterfowl to the Caribbean. Though it was once widespread, the species is now endangered and is restricted to the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Cuba, Cayman, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Antigua, and Barbuda. The greatest threats have been from hunting and loss and degradation of wetland habitats. In Puerto Rico, the species is thought to number no more than 250 birds.

During our trip, we made two visits to Laguna Cartegena, a lagoon in the southwest part of the island. On our second trip, we saw over 50 West Indian Whistling-Ducks - a huge portion of the Puerto Rican population.

You can see the ducks standing along the shoreline

The ducks were far away, so we did not get good pictures. Here is what one looks like up close, though (not our photo):

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