Looking more into the recent events, this would be at least the 4th wildly extralimital Mexican Duck for 2012, with several others since 2010. Earlier in 2012 there was a bird in far northern Utah, and two apparently different birds in Colorado. Tennessee is only a bit more "out of range" than northern UT, but in a different direction of course. It makes one wonder if something set this movement off, or if it is heightened observer awareness. Has the Texas drought extended into the Mexican Duck's northern range?
The article John links to is very interesting, and raises hopes that this might again be considered a full species some day.
Bill Pulliam Hohenwald TN On Jul 10, 2012, at 4:11 PM, Jon Mann wrote:
Very interesting sighting - Mexican Ducks tend to not migrate greatly, so one so far from it's native habitat certainly raises questions on origin.Side note - while currently lumped with the Mallard (having been a separate species at one time), genetic studies show it is more closely related to the Mottled Duck - see this nice summary: http:// www.azfo.org/journal/mottled_duck.htmlJon Mann Phoenix From: "kings4birds@xxxxxxx" <kings4birds@xxxxxxx> To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 11:47 AM Subject: [TN-Bird] Mexican duck 7-3-12 Shelby County On Monday July 3 I relocated the duck Jeff Wilson has described, withcharacteristics of a Mexican mallard. I observed it, for about 30 minutes, resting and preening, on a berm in one of the smaller ponds in the center of the Earth Complex, Shelby Co. My apologies for not reporting sooner; holiday duties kept me off the computer.I'll provide more details in a report to the records committee, and would be happy to do so for anyone who asks,but I'll condense it some here since it seems the bird may have moved on. I noted the overalldarker-than-the-other-mallards-around coloring; evenly colored tan- brown face and neck, without a contrasting cheek,and with a darker line from in front and through to behind the eye, plus darker median crown stripe; evenly dull yellowbill without any spots, and a dark nail; evenly darker brown (than head and neck) breast and underbelly; dull orange feet; bright whiteouter edge on leading edge of speculum; dark undertail; no curly feathers on dark tail, but there was some light buffyfeathering on outer tail. My view was mainly from the front and part of one side, and i didn't pay attention to back feathers.It turned to walk away, giving a look at the tail and undertail when it waddled down the other side of the berm.The bird was in the second pool on the right (north), as I was facing toward the river (west) on the levee road thatcuts east/west from the upper lagoons and the north/south gravel road.As always I appreciate timely posts and the time and effort it takes to make them, and regret mine is tardy this time.Gail King 5595 Ashley Sq. N. Memphis, TN 38120 901-268-0035 kings4birds@xxxxxxx
