Falcated Duck, Anas falcata
This beautiful and extremely rare duck was
present at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, north of Sacramento, during
December and January of 2011-12, where it was seen and photographed
from the Refuge's viewing deck by hundreds of birders from far and
wide, to much media attention. I made my pilgrimage to Colusa January
16, 2012, and the duck appeared, but we were not to be
among the relatively few to see him close enough for good photography,
as his nearest approach to the deck on that sunny but cold morning was
about a hundred yards. This heavily cropped picture was the least bad of the ones I was able to take.
Falcated Ducks breed in eastern Siberia and
Mongolia, and winter mostly in China and
South-east Asia. Their beauty makes them
popular captives, and birds seen in the
wild in North America were once all presumed to be escapees, but in recent years it has been recognized that a few vagrant wild birds of the species do reach the Pacific Coast. This avian celebrity seems to be one of these, and is likely to be officially accepted as California's third wild Falcated Duck.
Falcated Ducks breed in eastern Siberia and
Mongolia, and winter mostly in China and
South-east Asia. Their beauty makes them
popular captives, and birds seen in the
wild in North America were once all presumed to be escapees, but in recent years it has been recognized that a few vagrant wild birds of the species do reach the Pacific Coast. This avian celebrity seems to be one of these, and is likely to be officially accepted as California's third wild Falcated Duck.