Tag Archives: Mandarin Ducks

Late Monday and early Tuesday in Bird World

Oh, goodness. Bazza spent the night on the nest in the same spot as Ervie did. Bazza has been there all day waiting for a fish delivery. No one thinks this is unusual – it is Bazza! But, when Ervie did the same thing, we worried. It was out of character for him.

It is windy and the water is choppy today, too. Falky and Ervie are no where in sight. It is Mum and Bazza on the barge. Maybe Ervie and Falky are out trying their luck fishing with Dad.

Ervie will eat that fish tail that he left last night when he wakes up.

Bazza is certainly a handsome Osprey.

Sometimes Bazza hunkers down duckling style on the nest when it is windy or he is tired of standing up. You can just see Mum on the ropes at the right near the bottom of the image.

No fish deliveries so far despite Bazza’s fish calling.

In the video clip below, Xavier calls Diamond up to their scrape box on the water tower at Charles Sturt University at Orange today. Their bonding ritual with its bowing and eh-chupping is fascinating. It took place a few minutes ago. What a beautiful couple they are!

Right now OGK, the male Royal Cam Albatross parent, is incubating his egg for a straight 13 days, 14 tomorrow. His mate YRK has not returned. There are two possibilities: she has had to travel so far to find enough food to eat to sustain her on incubation duties or she has been caught and killed by the long lines on the fishing trawlers. As we are aware, the oceans are warming. At the same time there are countries who have huge trawlers scooping up the fish 24/7. Each are causing havoc for our sea birds and it will get worse. Let us all hope that YRK is alright. The NZ DOC rangers have already removed the fertile egg from under OGK and put it in the incubator. OGK is incubating a dummy egg in case he has to leave to save his life before YRK returns, if she does. The rangers are also prepared to give OGK supplementary feedings. In terms of their birds, NZ is enlightened. They recognize what climate change and humans have done to destroy the environment for the animals and the birds and they are doing something positive for them. I hope that YRK shows up while I am writing this. It would be the best thing!

I have been trying to find live bird cams in Japan for one of my readers, ‘A’. I found this one that has three different cameras for three different wildlife or bird boxes. The boxes are located at the base of Mount Lizuna which is northwest of Tokyo. One is for Mandarin Ducks, another is for Ural Owls, and another is a wild bird feeding station. Please enjoy and if you know of other streaming cams in Japan, please let me know so I can spread the news!

It is the beginning of a new year for all of us and what could be a better time than now to reflect on the beauty, the inspiration, and the sheer joy that our feathered friends brought to us over the past year. They taught us so much. How many times would we be able to see a Peregrine falcon couple bonding? or a Bald Eagle tenderly feeding its chick? or a third hatch be clever and courageous? We are so blessed. I am starting to make a short list of resolutions for this year and they include writing to everyone I know to try and end the harm that longline fishing is doing. I also want to work towards a ban on the manufacture of rodenticide, which causes secondary poisoning to birds, and lead in hunting and fishing equipment. All of those require persistent e-mail mails. Protective covers for power poles need to be put in place and there needs to be awareness of the dangers of monofilament line and a clean up of the shores of lakes and rivers. That is a start! I am certain that you can think of many more ways to make the lives of our birds better. Maybe you have made some resolutions, too. I would love to hear about them!

Thank you so much for joining me. It is always a pleasure to have you with me. Take care everyone!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and video clips: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, the Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, and Cornell Bird Lab and the NZ DOC.

Mandarin ducklings leap out of Owl Box in Japan

Today in Nagano, Japan, a paddling of ducklings took a leap of faith at 7:07:59 and leapt out of the Ural Owl Nest Box where they hatched yesterday.

Mandarin Ducks are some of the most beloved birds in the world. It is mainly because of the beautiful plumage of the male.

“Mandarin Duck” by Mike’s Birds is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

The female, on the other hand, is quite plain in comparison although I think she is quite beautiful with her white eyeliner extending back and her pinkish purple bill. In fact, I think she is much more beautiful than the male – she is quiet and serene. Were I to describe the male in art historical terms, he might be Baroque or Rococo while she might be monochromatic and minimalistic.

“Female Mandarin Duck” by Larry Crovo is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

Mandarin Ducks were originally found in China, Japan, eastern Russia, and Korea, only. They are a symbol of love and fidelity and a pair of Mandarin Ducks was a popular wedding gift in Asia. However, much of their habitat has been destroyed with the growth of cities and industrial areas. They now thrive as far away as Europe and the United States and are listed as ‘of least concern’ despite the fact that their numbers are declining!

The female will lay 9-12 eggs in a hollow of a tree that is at least 8 metres off the ground or, in the case of the nest we are going to watch, the female laid the eggs in a Ural Owl Nest Box. It takes 28 to 33 days to hatch. The male will stay with the female protecting the nest and helping until the ducklings hatch and then poof – like a magician – he will disappear only to return again during the next breeding season. The ducklings will need to get to water after 24 hours. They are precocial. This means that they are fully feathered, their eyes are open, and they know, by instinct, how to feed themselves. They are completely capable of taking care of themselves but they will stay with the mother for security and warmth.

Here is the video of the ducklings following their mother – taking that leap of faith – and jumping out of the nest box in Nagano. They fledged this morning on 22 June 2021.

Thank you so much for joining me today. It is the Summer Solstice on the Canadian Prairies and it feels more like fall than the warm sunny days of summer. I hope you have enjoyed seeing these little ones jump – follow their mother – to start their new lives.

Thank you to Hukurou Shimasen for their streaming cam where I took my video clip.

The featured image credit is to: “Mandarin Duck” by Mike’s Birds is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0