Hi Folks!
Schoolhouse Pond has had many exotics... Common Pochard, Red-crested
Pochard, Madarin Duck, Black Swan and Whooper Swan. The Mandarin was fond of
popcorn. There was a large waterfowl collection associated with the Perrywood
manor house and farm located about 5 miles north of Upper Marlboto and
Schoolhouse Pond. The farm was developed in the late 1980's and the developer
was required by the landowner to name all of the streets after waterfowl. I
do not know any details about the fate of the waterfowl collection, but I
suspect there is a tie-in with the birds appearing in Upper Marlboro. The
Common Pochard, Red-crested Pochard and Madarin Duck were at Schoolhouse Pond
shorty after the resident at Perrywood manor house moved out.
Jim Stasz
North Beach MD
<_jlstasz...> (mailto:<jlstasz...>)
In a message dated 1/3/2013 1:23:22 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
<pdavis...> writes:
Hi Jim, et al.
California accepted their record (I would have lost money on that bet!).
The published article on this record is ...
Michael A. Patten. 1993. First Record of the Common Pochard
In California. Western Birds 24(4):235-240.
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/wb/v24n04/p0235-p0240.pdf
The article includes the following discussion on captivity ...
"As do many reports of vagrant waterfowl in California, this record
engendered debate over the bird's natural occurrence. Todd (1979)
indicated that the Common Pochard was "almost nonexistent in America"
in waterfowl collections. Richard Ryan (in litt. to D. Roberson; now
in CBRC files) opined that the "odds on an escape are rather slim"
with regard to this record. Simon Tarsnane, a waterfowl aviculturist
from California, indicated (in litt.) that the species is exceedingly
scarce in captivity in North America, and because of the close
similarity between Common Pochards, Canvasbacks, and Redheads, there
is little demand to keep Common Pochards in this country. Tarsnane
knew of only two collections recently holding any; one (Sea World in
San Diego) no longer has any in its care, and the other (in North
Carolina) apparently has only a "couple of pairs." Acceptance of this
record by the CBRC reflects the belief that there is a much higher
probability of natural occurrence than of captive origin."
I am a strong believer that sightings like this (i.e., exotics)
should not be dismissed out-of-hand as escaped captive birds. Often
we may not realize that an incursion or invasion is taking place
until the event is over. I highly recommend reporting and,
preferably, taking photos of such birds.
Thanks!
Phil
At 18:03 01/02/2013, Jim Stasz wrote:
>Hi Folks!
>
>I saw one on Schoolhouse Pond in Upper Marlboro a number of years
>ago. I believe it is common in waterfowl collections.
===================================================
Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland 21035 USA
301-261-0184
mailto:<PDavis...>
MD/DCRC Web site: http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
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