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SUNNY Temp: 51 °F Wind: N at 3 mph Wednesday, February 5, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend February 5, 2003 An exotic male mandarin duck swims in an Ashland pond. Native to China, mandarins found in this neck of the woods are escapees of a life of captivity as pets or barnyard animals. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Rare duck ruffles interest in Ashland Mandarin has birders wondering whether it’s an escaped pet or a sign of adaptability By BILL VARBLE Mail Tribune B.W. Jay wondered about this one duck near his Ashland home. The bright, almost surreal fowl with the amazing orange "sails" showed up in a pond with several dozen wood ducks. But this was no wood duck. "He was beautiful," Jay says. "We wondered." On a sunny afternoon a month later, the mandarin duck glides on the sunlight-dappled pond, still with the woodies. "He thinks he’s a wood duck," a binocular-peering Gwyneth Ragisone says. The Audubon Society’s Ragisone is one of those who has been drawn to the colorful exotic after John Kemper tracked it down, first in a nearby pond, then here. Word of a possible mandarin duck reached Kemper, secretary of Audubon’s checklist committee, a couple weeks ago. The mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is native to China but has been raised in captivity as an exotic pet or barnyard animal. The male’s "sail" is so unlikely it looks like an artist’s whimsy. The females look much like a female wood duck. No females are seen today, but they could easily be overlooked. Mandarins have been seen on the Rogue River and in Bear Creek before and looked upon as escapees, like such exotics such as ruddy shelducks and black swans (Ruddy shelducks are natives of Asia, Black swans of Australia). Birders don’t count such birds or report them as they do a naturally occurring bird. Data from the California Waterfowl Association in Sacramento, Calif., indicate that mandarin ducks are starting to breed in the wild. "Because of their extensive wood duck nest programs they have frequently observed mandarins," Kemper says. A breeder in Sonoma County is thought to be a source of many escaped mandarins. Like wood ducks, they nest in tree cavities and will use man-made nest boxes put up to compensate for habitat lost to deforestation or sprawl. A genetic incompatibility makes it unlikely that wood ducks and mandarins would produce offspring, although they are in the same genus. Four mandarin ducks are stirring excitement among birders around Portland this winter. They are reportedly quite tame, which suggests escaped birds. The Ashland duck acts wild and flies off from humans if they get within 30 yards or so, suggesting (but not proving) it may come from the wild-flying population in Northern California. At least one Christmas count of birds has suggested a decline in California mandarin numbers. The birds may still depend on human support to survive, although it’s not clear. To be listed in a check-list of American birds, a bird must be present in sufficient numbers to breed without human support. "I think there’s a very good chance of that" Kemper says. "They live successfully in England." Final arbiter is the American Birding Association’s checklist, which requires enough birds in the wild to find each other and live without human assistance. The mandarin has not been listed by anybody. "It’s a matter of opinion," Kemper says. "It’s got a long way to go." Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S