Mallard lifespan
Tue, 13 Mar 2001 00:03:38 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
Judy Schlosser asked:
What's the average Mallard life span?
It's pretty hard to define an "average" for wild birds in any meaningful fashion.
The Birder's Handbook (1988) lists 23 years 5 months as the maximum recorded lifespan for a Mallard. However, The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds (1996) cites a 1975 report of a bird banded in Lansing IA and found dead when 29 years 1 month old. These are very exceptional reports - most of the longer lifespans recorded for wild Mallards are around 15 years.
http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/PGC/pubs/w_notes/mallard.htm tells us that "The life span of the mallard is seven to nine years, although over half die before they reach two years of age."
http://www.zoobarcelona.com/zoo_ingles/angles/vv_anecverd.htm gives a lifespan of 10 to 12 years for the Mallard.
http://www.sfbbo.org/longevity.html says "the average Mallard may survive only a few years in the wild, but may live 20 years in captivity."
Take your pick.
By the way, the duck with the pom pom is a domestic duck, one of a few someone released in the lake several years ago. It probably is from one of the breeds called crested ducks.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Original Message Subject Index
Re: White-throated Sparrow
Tue, 13 Mar 2001 08:20:00 -0800
From: Scott Hein
Denise and EB Birders,
Coincidentally, Claudia and I spent our first weekend at home in Concord in several weeks and discovered a White-throated Sparrow in our backyard flock of White-crowned Sparrows and Golden-crowned Sparrows. We saw it several times on both Saturday and Sunday, so who knows how long it has been hanging around our feeders. Pretty nice getting a county bird in your own backyard.
Scott Hein
Concord
Original Message Next Reply Subject Index
Blue-winged Teal at Garretson Point - sort
of
Tue, 13 Mar 2001 09:08:50 -0800
From: Mike Ezekiel
Dear EBBers,
Last evening, at the seasonal pond in a vacant lot at the end of Edgewater Drive (just before the parking lot for Garretson Point at Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline in Oakland), I saw two Blue-winged Teal along with a gaggle of other ducks such as Cinnamon Teal, Gadwall, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon and Canada Geese.
When I parked, there were two Blue-winged Teal in the outflow of the creek.
As I had not seen the Blue-winged Teal with the Green-winged Teal which have been hanging at the base of Arrowhead Marsh for some time, it was nice to see the blue-winged so close to the fence.
There were the usual ducks and shorebirds at Arrowhead - although the enormous flocks of ducks were not present.
Mike Ezekiel
Oakland Ca.
Re: White-throated Sparrow
Tue, 13 Mar 2001 11:01:56 -0800
From: Nancy Harrington
Scott and EBBirders,
We had a White-throated Sparrow in our yard for a couple of days late last week as well. He was hanging out with the Golden-crowned and White-crowned Sparrows.
I remember having at least one last year also.
I've been here a couple of years only - is it unusual to see them here?
Nancy Harrington
Blackhawk
Original Message Subject Index
Red-shouldered Hawks mating
Fri, 16 Mar 2001 10:33:43 PST
From: Sylvia Sykora
For the last half hour I've been watching three birds flying overhead, calling and cavorting, sometimes close together, occasionally one flying off on its own. From time to time, one or another would land in one of our tall Deodar Cedars and call. Eventually, one landed in a Monterey Cypress, was joined by a second bird and mating took place. After a minute or two, both birds flew off.
The Red-shouldered Hawks have become increasingly numerous and visible over the last three years in this neighborhood, adjacent to Moon Gate of Redwood Regional Park in Alameda County. This is the first time I've seen more than two birds at the same time.
Sylvia Sykora