# Has anyone ever seen a Mandarin Drake in GA?



## bukhuntr (May 9, 2017)

I saw one of these recently and got to looking for info and can't find anything about them being in GA.  I thought it was very odd.  Was mingling with wood ducks.

The species was once widespread in East Asia, but large-scale exports and the destruction of its forest habitat have reduced populations in eastern Russia and in China to below 1,000 pairs in each country; Japan, however, is thought to still hold some 5,000 pairs. The Asian populations are migratory, overwintering in lowland eastern China and southern Japan.[4]
Specimens frequently escape from collections, and in the 20th century a large feral population was established in Great Britain; more recently small numbers have bred in Ireland, concentrated in the parks of Dublin. There are now about 7,000 in Britain, and other populations on the European continent, the largest in the region of Berlin.[5] Isolated populations exist in the United States. The town of Black Mountain, North Carolina has a limited population,[6] and there is a free-flying feral population of several hundred mandarins in Sonoma County, California. This population is the result of several mandarin ducks escaping from captivity, then going on to reproduce in the wild.[3]
The habitats it prefers in its breeding range are the dense, shrubby forested edges of rivers and lakes. It mostly occurs in low-lying areas, but it may breed in valleys at altitudes of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft). In winter, it additionally occurs in marshes, flooded fields, and open rivers. While it prefers freshwater, it may also be seen wintering in coastal lagoons and estuaries. In its introduced European range, it lives in more open habitat than in its native range, around the edges lakes, water meadows, and cultivated areas with woods nearby.[4]


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## GAGE (May 9, 2017)

I would say that someones pet/penned bird got loose.


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## king killer delete (May 9, 2017)

GAGE said:


> I would say that someones pet/penned bird got loose.


This.


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## jeremyledford (May 9, 2017)

Sure have! It was in one of the public ponds in Peachtree City. craziness.


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## 2busy2work (May 9, 2017)

I had one on my pond for many years but it disappeared.  It was the most colorful duck I had.  Maybe that is him?


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## rnelson5 (May 9, 2017)

My taxidermists sent me a pic of one he was working on that was shot in GA last season. Surely it was an aviary escapee, but pretty cool none the less. I also know of one killed in NC and a couple in LA. All were killed in woodie swamps.


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## across the river (May 9, 2017)

Had two buddies I used to hunt with a lot both kill one a year or two apart in the same spot around Macon.  Both came in with some wood ducks, like the ones above.  As state above, they pretty much had to be escapes from someone's pen that took up with some wood ducks.  I've a alway wondered if those my buddies killed escaped from around Macon or escaped somewhere else and flew down with woodies from somewhere else.


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## bukhuntr (May 10, 2017)

Would have to be one of the rarest ducks to kill in North America right?  The one I saw came in with woodies and was wild just like they were.

I wonder if there are any breeding pairs or if the drake would breed with a Wood Duck hen?


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## Gut_Pile (May 16, 2017)

Had a friend kill one in GA last season. Came in with two other wood ducks


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