Thanks for the info Wayne. Your email prompted me to check eBird reports
for the west coast.
British Columbia zero
Washington zero (?)
Oregon quite a few around Portland, a few Medford and north a little
ways. Finally Yaquina Bay 2016 CBC
California Lots around SF Bay Area & LA
Bob OBrien
On Fri, Dec 13, 2019 at 1:04 PM Wayne Weber <contopus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Robert and Oregon Birders,
Yes, it is true that the Mandarin Duck has never been known to establish
breeding populations in North America. However, it is quite commonly kept
in captivity by hobbyist waterfowl breeders (of whom there are more than
you might suspect), and escapee Mandarins may be expected almost anywhere
in settled North America.
For the record, during the 1980s, there was a small population of Mandarin
Ducks in the Vancouver, BC area, and it was suspected (but never proven)
that they might have been breeding in the area. Observers were reporting
numbers as high as 12 Mandarins in a day, mostly from Lost Lagoon in
Vancouver’s Stanley Park, where they associated with the more numerous Wood
Ducks. They would generally disappear in the summer and reappear in
September, and it was suspected that they were breeding, or attempting to
breed, at an unknown locality or localities. However, this population did
not become established, but died out within 10 years or so. In recent
years, we continue to get reports of singleton Mandarin Ducks around
Vancouver, which are presumably recent escapees.
However, Mandarin ducks have escaped and become established in several
parts of Europe. From eBird data, they appear to be well established and
probably spreading around London and Manchester in England, Berlin and
Dresden in Germany, Warsaw in Poland, Paris in France, and possibly other
areas. The same could easily happen in future in the US or southern Canada.
The possibility that Mandarin Ducks COULD become established is the reason
why escaped individuals of this species should be reported to eBird. All of
the non-native bird species in North America which eventually became
established exotics began as small populations which were not “countable”
for years, and which many observers chose to ignore and not report. The
early history of many now well-established species is poorly documented
because of this unwillingness to record and report. If observers who use
eBird can get into the habit of reporting even obvious recent escapees, the
history of many introduced species will be better documented in future. As
we speak, there are several species which are increasing and are on the
verge of being declared “established exotics” by the ABA. As much as many
of us (myself included) dislike seeing more and more exotic bird species
becoming established in North America, and even if we try to prevent it, it
is almost a certainty that more and more such species will become
established in the future— possibly including Mandarin Duck.
Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC, Canada
contopus@xxxxxxxxx
*From:* obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On
Behalf Of *Robert O'Brien
*Sent:* Friday, December 13, 2019 11:14 AM
*To:* obol
*Subject:* [obol] Mandarin Duck - North American Birds - Birds of North
America
On the subject of Mandarin Duck it seems to be universally accepted that
every such occurrence is a captive escapee. It isn't on the ABA checklist .
But if one was going to show up in the US Oregon would be a very likely
spot.
But it does seem unlikely - see the attached URL which shows that its
range is not very wide nor very far north, and its migratory path is short
. There are no records from Attu since there are no ABA records at all.
It's also highly unlikely that a Common Scoter would ever show up in
Oregon. Hmmmm?
Bob obrien Carver Oregon
https://www.birds-of-north-america.net/Mandarin_Duck.html
