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April 1997, Volume 30, Number 7
Does the Mandarin Duck Count? | Does the Mandarin Duck Count?by Betty Burridge THE MANDARIN DUCK (Aix galericulata), one of the flashiest ducksin the world, is a native of Asia. It is not necessary to travel to Japanor China to see this spectacular bird, however, for a free-flying breedingpopulation now lives in the wild in Sonoma County. According to the SonomaCounty Breeding Bird Atlas, the Mandarin Duck population in the townof Sonoma was estimated by one observer at 20 pairs in 1986. There alsois a sizable population on Chalk Hill Road near Healdsburg. Because the Mandarin Duck uses the same habitat as the handsome nativeWood Duck, the impact of the non-native species is of some concern to theAmerican Ornithologists' Union (AOU) (see secondarticle). A beautiful 232-page book on that very subject, The WoodDuck and the Mandarin, by authors Lawton L. Shurtleff and ChristopherSavage, was published in 1996. It describes the two species and their interactionas observed at author Shurtleff's Indian Meadow Ranch in Sonoma County. The history of our local Mandarins began with frequent escapes of captivebirds from a wild bird collection, as the volume explains. Meanwhile, beginningin 1968, Mr. Shurtleff was creating habitat on his ranch specifically toattract Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa). His nurturing efforts attractednot only Wood Ducks, which had previously thrived at the site, but theirnear relative, the incredibly beautiful Mandarins. Mr. Shurtleff's loveof nature and concern for the welfare of these birds are clearly reflectedin his careful and sensitive observations. "...When the Mandarin drake is on the water, his dominant colorsof copper, buff, and white create a seemingly golden image that contrastsharply with his surroundings," Mr. Shurtleff writes. "His mostconspicuous feature is a pair of unique copper-colored sail feathers, actuallypart of the tertial plumage, which extends vertically two inches or moreabove and forward of his tail feathers. His cheeks and neck are the samebrilliant copper hue accentuated by a large triangle of pure white abovehis dark eye. Traces of luminous iridescent blue on his back and sides,even on the sail feathers, highlight the otherwise golden image. His flankfeathers, the almost identical barred buff color as those of the Wood Duck,and also prized by flytyers, suggest the close relation of the two species."These two drakes are surely the most spectacular of all the ducks. The Mandarindrake, when excited, displays a gorgeous blue-green and copper head crest. The females of the Wood Duck and the Mandarin, continues Shurtleff, "intheir subtle hues of grays and browns, highlighted by turquoise in theirwing feathers...can barely be distinguished, one from the other, even byexperts." The Shurtleff and Savage book generously illustrated with magnificentcolor photographs was published by the University of California Press, Berkeleyand Los Angeles, in 1996. Royalties from the book are being donated to theNature Conservancy in the U.S. and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in England.Co-author Christopher Savage, wrote The Mandarin Duck in 1952, abouta prospering colony of that bird in England, and it was he who researchedthe Mandarin in Asia for this book. The Sonoma County Breeding Bird Atlas,was edited by me and published by the Madrone Audubon Society last year. Many thanks to Dick Cuneo for introducing me to The Wood Duck andthe Mandarin. |
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