Mandarin Duck

Being colorful kills you apparently...

Habitat

Location:

  • Asia (BBC)
  • China (BBC)
  • Europe (BBC)
  • Russia (BBC)
  • Japan (HONO)
  • Siberia (HONO)
  • North Korea (HONO)
Terrain:
  • Lakes and ponds (BBC)
  • Rivers and streams (BBC)
  • Broad leaf and coniferous forests ( BBC)
  • Mountain areas with streams (HONO)
  • Marshlands (HONO)

Food

-Omnivore

- Food:

  • Seeds, grain, and acorns (HONO)
  • Aquatic plants and fish (HONO)
  • Insects and land snails (HONO)
  • During fall- acorns and grains (HONO)
  • During spring- insects, snails, fish, and vegetation (HONO)
  • During summer- dew worms, grasshoppers, small fish, frogs, mollusks, small snakes, and rice from paddy fields (HONO) (BIWA 76)

-Predators:

  • Mink (WIKI)
  • Raccoon Dogs (WIKI)
  • Otters (WIKI)
  • Polecats (WIKI)
  • Eagle Owls (WIKI)
  • Grass snakes (WIKI)

Description

Classification:

  • Bird (BIWA 76)
Special Body Covering:
  • Feathers, colorful
Size:

  • 16-20 inches in length (BIWA 76)
  • 27-29 inches in wingspan (BIWA 76)
  • 15.5- 17.9 oz. in weight (BIWA 76)
Communication:
  • Acoustic (BBC)
  • -Visual (BBC)
Unusual Characteristics:

  • Male is very colorful appearance (BIWA 76)

Reproduction

  • breeding season in fall ( BIWA 76)
  • female chooses mate at end of winter (BIWA 76)
  • lays eggs at a suitable tree hole even if it is 50 feet up (BIWA 77)
  • eggs are glossy buff to ivory (HONO)
  • 8-10 eggs (HONO)
  • eggs hatch, chicks fall to the ground, and follow their mother for six weeks (BIWA 77)

Adaptation

Adaptations for Protection:
  • Agile flyers (BIWA 76)
  • able to do sharp turns between trees from danger (BIWA 76)
Structures:
  • Light body (BIWA 76)
  • Broad wings (BIWA 76)
Behaviors:
  • calls are short for courtship and alarm (BIWA 76)
  • semi- migratory (HONO)
  • social (HONO)
  • shy, can not tolerate human disturbance (BIWA 76)
  • males fight each other for females (HONO)
  • sticks with same partner (HONO)

Reasons for Endangerment

  • Deforestation and loggers (BIWA 77) (HONO)
  • Hunters mistake bird for other (HONO)
  • Poachers kill for the beauty of males (HONO)

Critical Information

What is currently being done to help:
  • 150 reserves throughout Russia (HONO)
  • Class II state protection in China (HONO)

What you can do:

  • Fundraisers
  • Create your own group to help donate
  • Make a petition to protect these animals
  • Help other people become aware of them


Next link!

http://www.smore.com/bmme-red-squirrel