Status of Muscovy Duck on the British List. (1 Viewer)

[Freezo]

Can anyone please explain to me why the Muscovy Duck I saw the other day in the River Wharfe at Ilkley isn't on the British list and yet other introductions / escapes such as Mandarin Duck, Egyptian Goose or even pheasants are?

 

[Steve Dudley]

See this paper here -
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/118644709/PDFSTART?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

 

[Freezo]

Thanks for an exceedingly full answer Steve, although I don't quite understand why the Camridgeshire (Ely) population doesn't constitute a viable self-sustaining population and therefore qualify for C1. Did it come close?

Not that the Yorkshire individual would be part of that C1 population, but then by my own rules for my own list, if the species isn't on the British list then I'll tick it on my world list but not on my British one.

Cheers,
Fraser

 

[tomjenner]

if the species isn't on the British list then I'll tick it on my world list but not on my British one.

I find I tend to go the other way - I've ticked Common Pheasant, Ring-necked Parakeet, Canada Goose, Mandarin etc in the UK, but when I've seen a 'real' one abroad it feels like its finally a world tick. In a couple of weeks I'm off to Korea where I hope to catch up with my first properly wild Mandarin.

Tom

 

[Farnboro John]

Thanks for an exceedingly full answer Steve, although I don't quite understand why the Camridgeshire (Ely) population doesn't constitute a viable self-sustaining population and therefore qualify for C1. Did it come close?

Not that the Yorkshire individual would be part of that C1 population, but then by my own rules for my own list, if the species isn't on the British list then I'll tick it on my world list but not on my British one.

Cheers,
Fraser

I think the argument was that the Ely population is so dependent on food from humans as to be not self-sustaining, but I suspect the BOU was just desperate not to include the ugly things on the List. Certainly they started off with a number of specious arguments such as needing approval from English Nature, when for years BOU propaganda has insisted they are the only and fully peer-reviewed scientific keepers of the British List. I've never heard they put proposals to add vagrant species to any other body, anyway!

John

 

[Steve Dudley]

See our follow up statement in the BOURC's 37th report at -
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121577421/PDFSTART

 

[Farnboro John]

I can't open that, Steve, (firewall I expect) - can I have a one line summary?

Cheers

John

 

[Richard Klim]

I can't open that, Steve, (firewall I expect) - can I have a one line summary?

• Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata
  As part of the Category C review (Ibis 147: 803–820), it was stated that this species now met the criteria for elevation to Category C4. This outcome is suspended to allow further research on the stability and longevity of an isolated, inbreeding population originating from domesticated stock, and to investigate the population's dependency on supplementary feeding.

Richard

 

[Farnboro John]

• Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata
  As part of the Category C review (Ibis 147: 803–820), it was stated that this species now met the criteria for elevation to Category C4. This outcome is suspended to allow further research on the stability and longevity of an isolated, inbreeding population originating from domesticated stock, and to investigate the population's dependency on supplementary feeding.

Richard

= please don't make us do this!

Thanks Richard

John

 

[Hotspur]

we had 4 young fledge on our local pond plus another pair attempted to breed and at least 4 spare adults. They are present on a few other village ponds locally. Dont know about interchange but some are grey as opposed to the usual pied birds and this colour morph i have seen in two villages 5 miles apart. They are always at the front of the scrum for bread so i dont know how they would fare without this.

 

[Pete Mella]

I'm sure they'll end up being a particularly manky armchair tick before too long...