Wood Ducks?

[Andrew]

Simple question, would you tick Wood Duck in the UK?

If yes for Mandarin then why not Wood?

[Tim Allwood]

neither for me I'm afraid

[Bluetail]

Mandarins are BOU category C birds and therefore officially part of the British List. Wood Ducks are not, the reason being they they have not established a feral population that can sustain itself without human assistance. That may change in the future, but the last I heard there was no sign of it doing so.

Of course there are those who 1) think some of the Wood Ducks that have turned up in the west are genuine vagrants and 2) who don't give a monkey's about the BOU. Your money, your vote.

Jason

[Tim Allwood]

which parakeet species are now on the list then.....?
are they breeding sustainably now?

[Bluetail]

Only Ring-necked so far.

Jason

[Tim Allwood]

not Monk?
I thought there was a small pop. somewhere...

32 Monks this year and seven nests

15 Blue-crowned at least, in 99

[Gill Osborne]

I was a teensy bit worried there as I added Mandarin to my List a couple of years ago whilst on holiday in the Lake District...lovely female on High Borrans Reservoir...please don't take it away from me!!! I'm trying to reach my 200 this year so will be really narked if I have to take things OFF instead of adding on!!! LOL

GILL XXX

[Tim Allwood]

and How many Lady A's these days....? No-one knows at present

six Green Pheasants together in Norfolk in 2000

two male and there female Reeve's Pheasants together in Wiltshire

So contrasting Lady A status with these others plus parakeets....what should be on the list?

I'm glad I don't have to make these arbitrary decisions for a list ;)


plus Eagle Owl bred for sixth year in succession - 13 young raised now

[Andrew]

The Wood Ducks were on the River Tone in Taunton just before Christmas and it was a pair so I reckon they must be living free. That is why I asked.

No ones taking my Mandarins! Hands off!

[Michael Frankis]

not Monk?
I thought there was a small pop. somewhere...

32 Monks this year and seven nests

15 Blue-crowned at least, in 99
Not reliably established yet - they haven't yet been through a severe winter, for example.

There's 6,000 Ring-necked Parakeets in west London alone.

Michael

[Highway Man]

not Monk?
I thought there was a small pop. somewhere...

32 Monks this year and seven nests

15 Blue-crowned at least, in 99

Hi Tim

I've just been reading about the Monk Parakeets on the UK 400 website. Apparently the Monk's are around Borehamwood. There's been up to 45 birds seen recently.

Mark

[Tim Allwood]

cannot believe I am discussing tickability of parrots in U.K. :eek!:

shoot them if anything brefore a problem arises

bye bye ;)

[Michael Frankis]

The Wood Ducks were on the River Tone in Taunton just before Christmas and it was a pair so I reckon they must be living free. That is why I asked.

No ones taking my Mandarins! Hands off!
Wood Ducks lay large clutches of small eggs, and as a result the ducklings are weak and have very poor survival rates; Mandarin Ducks lay smaller clutches of larger eggs; the result is that the ducklings are much stronger and survive much better - enough to tip the balance between population establishment and growth (Mandarin) and not (Wood).

Presumably the feeding conditions in America differ somewhat, making Wood Duck's strategy more successful there.

Michael

[Bluetail]

Tim, the populations of Monks and Blue-crowneds would need to be bigger before they could be regarded as self-sustaining. They could die out, just like the Budgies on Tresco did. Apparently we used to have a small population of Monks here in Devon, but they just withered away. No idea how many Lady As there are these days. but I have the impression they're a bit precarious! And don't ask me why White-tailed Eagle achived dual AC status so quickly!

Gill, both Mandarins and Ring-necked Parakeets do turn up well away from their main British breeding centres. Both species are kept in captivity and can escape. If you see one away from its main breeding centre (or even within it for that matter!) there is no sure way of being certain that the bird isn't an escape. Unfortunately I don't have a recent breeding map for Mandarin, so don't know whether there's a population "oop north".

Jason

[Bluetail]

No ones taking my Mandarins! Hands off!The Mandarin population around Plymouth-Dart Valley has been established for 20 years or more and is currently regarded as "stable". In my books that's self-sustaining.

Did you see the bit in the latest Devon Bird Report about the pair evicting a Tawny Owl from its hole?

Jason

[Stephen Dunstan]

Gill / Jason,

As far as Mandarins in the Lake District go there was a tiny population at Windermere which may now have disappeared, anywhere else they are probably escapes. People sometimes suggest birds at other waters may have moved up from Lancashire sites, but the only breeding populations in Lancs are in the south of the county.

Your tick - you decide!

Stephen.

[Michael Frankis]

There's a healthy, and expanding, Mandarin Duck population in the North Tyne area, most often seen around Ridley Stokoe (NY 745 858)

Michael

[Gill Osborne]

Jason, the female that I saw was on her own with just a Little Grebe,few Mallard, a Kingfisher,2 Grey Heron and a group of 16 Canada Geese that flew in at dusk...no sign of a male or other Mandarin Ducks around.
Stephen, High Borrans Reservoir is quite close to Lake Windermere...don't have a map handy so can't give map reference...on the right hand side towards Troutbeck if I remember rightly! Saw no other Mandarins anywhere else on our holiday so don't know if she WAS an escape or not...certainly no sign of any rings when she was observed through my scope as she rested on the Reservoir banks.
And as Andrew says...the Mandarin is staying on my List!!! LOL

GILL XXXX

[Andrew]

The Mandarin population around Plymouth-Dart Valley has been established for 20 years or more and is currently regarded as "stable". In my books that's self-sustaining.

Did you see the bit in the latest Devon Bird Report about the pair evicting a Tawny Owl from its hole?

Jason
Yes, shocking thing is they failed to rear young!

[Gerry Hooper]

There was a Wood Duck on the Exe a couple of years ago Andrew, I saw it most days as I cycled to work, I haven't put it on my list . Give it a couple of years 'n they might be upgraded to category C.

[Jasonbirder]

I`d have thought Wood Duck was along way away from being upgraded to Category C.

Regarding the "Tickability" of Parrots - why not? There are as has been pointed out already thousands of them and the population is still growing. Whilst they are "Exotic Aliens" I always love seeing them, I think they are very characterful bird and that, coupled with their stunning appearance makes an encounter with them always memorable....I`d be gutted if anyone suggested Culling them - but then i`m a big opponent of the Ruddy Duck Cull too.

Our Avifauna is not fixed and we have been blessed (or cursed) with many additions over the years, some natural, some human assisted - Little Owl, Golden Pheasant, Collared Dove, Ruddy Duck, Cetti`s Warbler, Ring-necked Parakeet etc. I`d have to say that I view them all as "positives" rather than "negatives".

It does look as though Lady Amhursts Pheasants may be on the way to dying out as a British Bird which will be a great shame as they are a real "stunner".

[Harry Hussey]

Hi all,
Just a few thoughts on this subject:
Mandarin breed ferally in the vicinity of Tollymore Forest Park,Co.Down,and are considered to be self-sustaining(indeed,the population is increasing up there).As such,they are on Category C of the Irish list,and treated as a valid 'tick' by Irish birders,for what that's worth.
I must say that I was left distinctly underwhelmed by them,especially as they fed on grass at close range....
We have no feral parakeet species as yet(thankfully),but Ring-necked is regularly seen in a free-flying state,and may establish itself?
Lady Amherst's Pheasant seems to be less of a British bird than Red-legged Partridge is an Irish one....;)
Harry H

[david kelly]

The Wood Duck breeds in North America at lower latitudes than does the Mandarin in Asia. The Wood Duck's breeding strategy is more adapted to warmer climates than ours while for the Mandarin our climate, especially in Spring is near perfect. This was in a paper somewhere but I can't remember the reference. Maybe with milder winters Wood Ducks will be able to establish a British population.

Peach-faced Lovebird has bred in the wild in Lothian, believe it or not.

[Art Thorn]

Wood Ducks breed in our waters in southern Ontario (nesting boxes actually) but really require an interesting habitat. They leave though, because it is now -27 Celcius in my backyard. I don't see climate as an issue for Wood Ducks in the UK.

[Colin]

I seem to have read somewhere that there are probably more Mandarin Ducks in the UK than in their homeland of the far east and that the former may be their saviour if the eastern population continues to decline.

[Steve Lister]

[QUOTE=Tim Allwood]and How many Lady A's these days....? No-one knows at present

He-(Lee)-who-knows-these-things says there are only six males, all at Woburn Abbey and so out-of-reach. Don't know about females.

Steve

PS Like you Tim, I will wait and see them in Asia.

[david kelly]

Wood Ducks breed in our waters in southern Ontario (nesting boxes actually) but really require an interesting habitat. They leave though, because it is now -27 Celcius in my backyard. I don't see climate as an issue for Wood Ducks in the UK.

The feral birds in the UK do not migrate and are resident all year round. I have seen lots of Wood Ducks in Winnipeg but they are summer visitors, and the summers are a lot warmer than the UK's. The paper I referred to said that Wood Ducks nesting behaviour is more suited to a warmer Spring than the UK's, while Mandarin was pre-adapted to the UK's cooler Spring weather.