Hi Christine,
I think Paul and Lynn Dye breed Mandarins at their place,
Northwest Wildfowl Farm north of Lake Stevens.

On the web at: http://www.greatnorthern.net/~dye/

Your ducks might be escapees from NWF or, more likely, one of
their customers.

Ed Schulz
Everett, WA

-----Original Message-----
From: Christine Giannini <giannini at u.washington.edu>
To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Wednesday, May 01, 2002 10:04 PM
Subject: Mandarin Ducks in Everett - Wild?


>Hello Tweeters,
>I'm new to the list and was just planning to be a low-key
backyard birder
>with feeders of black sun seed, thistle, and suet until
Friday a pair of
>Mandarin ducks arrived to stay. Have added ground feeding
mix for them and,
>if they leave during the day, they now return like clockwork
by 6 PM so my
>guess is they've chosen one of the tall trees by my stream in
which to nest.
>Having researched Mandarins on the net, I found there were
about 20 breeding
>pairs in Sonoma County a few years ago, thought to be
escapees from breeders
>and that Mandarins aren't accepted as being a wild species in
the US. My
>question is - where did these come from - no local breeders
found of
>Mandarins - and at what point will they be recognized as wild
residents
>here, e.g., if their chicks survive or if they themselves
return to nest
>here again next year? Any thoughts? Regardless of what we
think, these two
>seem to be having a great time "living wild"!
>
>Christine
>
>Christine Giannini
>Everett, WA
>mail to: c.giannini2 at verizon.net
>
>
>