IDAHO BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE
RARE BIRD REPORT FORM

SPECIES:

Mandarin Duck

HOW MANY:

1 mature drake

REPORTER:

John and Carol Rinehimer
3042 S Stonington Ave
Eagle, ID 83616
(208) 938-7878

REPORTER EMAIL:

john.rinehimer@intel.com

OTHER OBSERVERS:

Emily and Erica Rinehimer (our kids, 4 and 6 yrs old)

DATE REPORT PREPARED:

04/24/07

DATE SIGHTING OCCURRED:

04/18/07 (eyewitness) and 04/22/07 (captured on video)

LOCALITY OF OBSERVATION:

Banbury Subdivision, Eagle, Idaho

HABITAT:

backyard feeder

CONDITIONS:

Have it on video, ~60 seconds. You can see bird from all sides with relatively good clarity. All the markings match that of a drake Mandarin Duck. I think once a professtional birder sees the video, all skepticism will be gone.

DID YOU TAKE NOTES?:

Yes, another day after the observation

DID YOU CONSULT FIELD GUIDE OR OTHER REFERENCES?:

Yes, another day after the observation

WHAT GUIDE(S) OR REFERENCE(S) DID YOU CONSULT?:

Google search until we found the exact match online. If you type "mandarin duck" in the search engine, pictures come up that match that of what we have in the video.

DESCRIPTION:

Mandarin Duck. Red/orange bill. Orange feet. Top of head green/black with white side patches. Neck rusty brown hackles that flare making his neck wider when he appears to strut. White under body. Two distint white and black stripes down side. Sides are brownish patches. Distinct sail feathers on back (these are very noticable). Blackish top of tail. White and black stripes on back between sail feathers and tail.

BEHAVIOR:

Have a feeder with clean corn and sunflower seeds. It attraches ducks (mallards), quail, chukar, dove, finches, squirrels. Last year we had 3 pheasants come in, one of which was a solid rusty orange/brown hen (also have pictures and I know was a rarity). The potential mandarin duck would flare his rust-colored neck feathers, making him all "puffy". From the back you could see his sail feathers pointing straight up. He appears to have a hen mallard for a mate. He is very protective of her and chased off other birds including a quail in the video. During our first sigting he was claiming a very dominant postiion anything that moved around him.

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE BIRD, AND WHAT CLINCHED THE IDENTIFICATION FOR YOU?

We first spotted him mid week and tried to capture him on camera, but the pictures were hard to see. For several days we searched all over the web for pictures that matched, but couldn't find any that were identical. On Sunday, 4/22, he came in again and Carol captured him on video. We positively identified him on Monday, 4/23. Maria Freitas, Carol's mother, sent us a google link to pictures that she said looks like the bird. We took the web pictures and paused the video several times. Every single key marking was identical.

HOW DID YOU ELIMINATE SIMILAR SPECIES, AND WHAT WERE THEY?

Wood duck and all those found on Ducks Unlimited website.

EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SPECIES (AND SIMILAR SPECIES):

We are not a bird experts by any means, however John is an outdoor enthusiast and spend a lot of time in the woods. We know most of the local species and sub species. This is clearly a rare bird. Out guess is it was one that escaped from captivity given that they are only

GENERAL BIRDING EXPERIENCE:

We are not avid birders, however we enjoy seeing birds of all types in our backyard. We've been feeding them for about 4 years now. This year we have more ducks coming in as they seem to be telling their friends.

WERE PHOTO(S), VIDEO, AND/OR AUDIO OBTAINED BY YOU?:

Video