Re: Ruddy Shellduck

[Mark Stackhouse <westwings at sisna dot com>]

Nice sighting, and I would be confident that you have the i.d. correct - it's an easily recognized species. It's also a species which is very commonly kept in captivity in the US and Europe. If what Bill Fenimore says about the decline of he wild populations is true, then it may be that there are more of them in captivity than in the wild.  In addition to Tracy Aviary, I believe Hogle Zoo may have some, and, at least a few years ago, a number of private collections in the Salt Lake area had them as well. I don't know who in the St. George area may have some. However, even if no one close by has any, they can travel quite a distance on their own, as evidenced by the two I saw some years ago at Neponset Reservoir on Deseret Ranch - a long ways from any aviaries private or public.

In spite of the fact that Ruddy Shelducks are seen "in the wild" with some degree of regularity throughout North America, none of these sightings have been considered to be vagrants or anything other than escapees. There are no accepted records for this species on this continent. I'm sure the bird you have there is no exception.

Mark

Mark Stackhouse
westwings@sisna.com
801-487-9453 (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
011-52-323-285-1243 (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico)

On Jan 29, 2005, at 10:50 PM, Bill Hunter wrote:

> Jim... and others
>
> Perhaps we need to provide the pictures. We are hoping the bird will venture closer to the viewing area so better pictures can be obtained before submitting them.
>
> My only concern was separating it from the Egyptian Goose, female. However, the very black legs and feet, uniform body color - tan, and dark neck ring, visible on the ventral surface, separate this bird from the goose. Remarkable size. First thing that struck me was how big it was. Wing and tail were dark, with just the smallest patch of white in front of black wing.
>
> Bill
>
> On Saturday, January 29, 2005, at 08:35  PM, BirderB@aol.com wrote:
>
> > The Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) is a member of the duck family Anatidae. It is in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae.
> >
> > There are very small resident populations of this species in north west Africa and Ethiopia,  but the main breeding area of this species is from south east Europe across central Asia.  These ducks are mostly migratory, wintering in southern Asia.
> >
> > It is presumably this population which gives rise to vagrants as far west as Iceland and Great Britain. However, since the European population is declining, it is likely that most occurrences in western Europe in recent decades are escapes or feral birds. Although this bird is observed in the wild from time to time in eastern North America, no evidence of a genuine vagrant has been found.
> >
> >  
> > Bill Fenimore
> > (801) 525-8400 Store
> > (801) 699-9330 Cellular
Mark Stackhouse
Westwings, Inc.
westwings@sisna.com
801-487-9453 (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
011-52-323-285-1243 (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico)