[TN-Bird] Re: Mexican duck 7-3-12 Shelby County
- From: Jon Mann <dback_jon@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "kings4birds@xxxxxxx" <kings4birds@xxxxxxx>, "tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:11:02 -0700 (PDT)
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.html
Jon 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, with
characteristics 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 overall
darker-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 yellow
bill without any spots, and a dark nail; evenly darker brown (than head and
neck) breast and underbelly; dull orange feet; bright white
outer edge on leading edge of speculum; dark undertail; no curly feathers on
dark tail, but there was some light buffy
feathering 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 that
cuts 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
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