Female Mandarin – Positive ID!

Male Mandarin wanted for fun and games in the park!

The duck that was photographed on the lake over the weekend is certainly a female Mandarin duck. Have a look at the RSPB site by clicking here and comparing the picture. There is also a lot of further information about the Mandarin duck on the site and it is clear that this is not the normal location to see these birds.

We also asked the opinion of the British Trust for Ornathology (BTO) and this is what they said:

“This is indeed a female Mandarin. There is a feral breeding population in the UK and they are also widely kept in captivity, so its not possible to say whether this is a ‘wild’ (feral) bird or an escapee. The species originates from SE Russia, NE China & Japan, where it breeds in hollow trees/stumps/logs; the UK stronghold is around London but there is evidence that they are spreading northwards. There’s a map showing where they’ve been recorded so far this year at the bottom of this page: http://blx1.bto.org/bt-dailyresults/results/s63-20-09.html“