Mandarin Ducks

[Hughjangillilan at aol dot com]

One of my birding surprises in the last couple of weeks was learning about a 
free-flying group of Mandarin Ducks in the Cottonwood area. Owen Hogle of the 
Wild Bird store attributes their existence to his brother Hugh Hogle 
importing a pair back in the '60's the offspring of which became free-flying. 
 Today, for instance, my wife and I observed 6 males and three females 
grouped with a few Mallards along Big Cottonwood Creek near the Cottonwood 
Mall. Other Mandarins have also apparently been seen on other ponds in the 
area over recent years.  A friend even mentioned reports of hunters 
occasionally shooting Mandarins by mistake. One wonders how much distribution 
of the ducks will occur in future years.  Does anyone have any further 
information on this local example of exotic ducks going wild?   Hugh Gillilan
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