Mandarin Ducks in the wild

[ryan112ryan]

So this past thanksgiving I was with my family up in Western North Carolina, up in the mountains. I was walking around a lake in Black Mountain, NC and saw these ducks and was awe struck at how amazing they are. I looked them up, found out they are Mandarin Ducks, from Asia and Siberia. What the heck were they doing hanging out here in the wild in NC?

I enjoyed them so much I kind of want to start raising/breeding them. Anyone know where in NC I can purchase them?

 

[Denninmi]

A lot of people keep them as pets, just because they are so pretty. Probably escaped from someone's farm. I guess they are fairly wild in terms of behavior -- if they get out of a pen, they don't hang around like your average domestic breed such as pekins or muscovies, from what I've heard.

They should be easy to come by -- quite a few hatcheries carry them. A lot of people on E-bay or here on the trading forum sell eggs or birds at the appropriate time of year.

 

[KansasKid]

They are related to the wild wood duck and are a migratory bird so once there loose, they are wild. There in north carolina there is a huge waterfowl park called slyvan heights. I doubt they escaped from there but if you are ever around they have an amazing aray of beautiful birds to check out.

 

[kangababy]

Quote:
I want to go there.... No I don't need to because I would end up with who knows what!!

 

[desertdarlene]

Wow, those are pretty! We have some at one of our lakes, too. I didn't know that they were related to wood ducks, but that makes sense. I also read that the male actually reunites with the females and ducklings after they hatch, which is unusual for ducks.