Reporting Muscovy Duck to eBird.

[Joe Roller]

Instead of succumbing to the usual Sunday morning ennui and hunger pangs, I explored the topic of reporting "Muscovy Duck" on eBird checklists. 

* See below for links to recipes.

** There is a whole page of information in the eBird Help section about all the ins and outs of the three ways to report MUDU on an eBird checklist.

To boil it down (see below for links to recipes*), ebird distinguishes among three categories (aka "flavors") of "Muscovy Duck".

1) Muscovy Ducks happily inhabit Central and South America. "Happily", that is, except for the frightened and thus secretive ones hunted for sport and/or food.**

ebird wants those reported as:

"Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata)". 

So if you are birding in Costa Rica where Muscovy Ducks "belong", that is the way to report them and thereby add them to your Costa Rica list. None in this "wild" category can be seen in Colorado and if reported to eBird, will not appear on your Colorado eBird list.

2) In a very few parts of the world, eg, South Florida (and Portugal of all places), Muscovy Ducks have well-established, stable, breeding populations and are properly reported as:

Muscovy Duck (Established Feral) (Cairina moschata (Established Feral))

(Notice the sweet use of the double end parentheses marks). (Or sweet and sour, I suppose).

In those widely separated locales, Muscovy Duck is "countable" on your Florida or Portuguese list.

3)  Finally the Muscovy Ducks that we see in Colorado are properly reported as:

Muscovy Duck (Domestic type) (Cairina moschata (Domestic type))

These ducks may have been present at a location for many years, but they are not considered  "established" in the ornithological sense of the word - "many generations of a stable or growing population of breeding birds, free of re-introductions". They will not appear on your eBird checklist.

So, yes, enjoy gazing at these embarrassed, red-faced, plump waterfowl, and recognize that

they belong in the same category as Colorado's Mandarin Ducks, Black Swans and Mute Swans.

This is a good time to set your oven to 400 degrees F.

* https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1569-roast-muscovy-duck

When roasted, the duck undergoes the well-known "Maillard reaction", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction,

bringing out delicious, savory flavors. Named after French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard and not to be confused with the "Mallard reaction". 

  https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pan-roasted-muscovy-duck-breast-with-a-clementine-tomatillo-sauce-recipe-1924675

"When young, these ducks are considered very good eating, with lean, tender meat, with a taste more like veal than other duck. (Previously I had assumed that they "taste like chicken"). As a Muscovy Duck gets old, its flesh can get stringy and acquire a musky taste and odor. 

** https://help.ebird.org/customer/en/portal/articles/2259953-reporting-muscovy-ducks-to-ebird?b_id=1928

[Ira Sanders]

Joe

What about S Texas?

Ira Sanders

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[SeEttaM .]

I have spent a considerable amount of time in So Texas in recent years and most Muscovies are considered domestic. The only Muscovies considered wild (not domestic) are those seen along the Rio Grande River upriver from Roma,Tx.  

These screenshots are from a recent Rio Grande Birding group discussion (Mary Gustafson is the ebird person and considered one the RGV bird experts and Justin LeClaire is a biologist in and RGV bird expert):

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CABF3siGGM0JfkfbrmyUWg_iVq71nURF--9-%3DUcYUZZpbdL1yCw%40mail.gmail.com.

[SeEtta]

My apologies my email went out with duplicate screenshots and lacking my info.

SeEtta Moss
Canon City

[Joe Roller]

Thanks, SeEtta. Always nice to hear from you.

The information you sent is consistent with my Sunday note.

One needs to know where one is standing to use the correct name for Muscovy Duck on a checklist.

Most in Texas are domestic and live outside that short segment of the Rio Grande Valley, so are described as:

Muscovy Duck (Domestic type) (Cairina moschata (Domestic type))

As you described, "wild" Muscovy Ducks occur upstream from Roma, Texas (easiest to see near Salineño, below Falcon Dam) and fly back and forth across the river. I consider them part of the "Central and South American (except for Patagonia)" population I mentioned, with the name:

"Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata)". 

Please pass the orange sauce.

Joe Roller, Denver

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[Ted Floyd]

On Sunday, October 6, 2019 at 8:34:49 AM UTC-6, Joe Roller wrote:

So, yes, enjoy gazing at these embarrassed, red-faced, plump waterfowl, and recognize that

they belong in the same category as Colorado's Mandarin Ducks, Black Swans and Mute Swans.

eBird reports of Mute Swan are prolific in the public database for the states of Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. In other words, we in Colorado are surrounded by Mute Swans. And Mute Swans are widely indicated in the public database for Colorado. Here is a map showing some eBird records of Mute Swans from Larimer, Weld, Adams, and Arapahoe counties:

By far the most valuable function of eBird is that it has the potential to powerfully and accurately document changing bird populations in a changing environment. But that power and accuracy is critically dependent on best-practices reporting by eBirders. So be sure to always submit complete checklists, giving particular care to the matter of documenting dynamic populations like those of the Mute Swan.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County

P.s. Nice tan-morph White-throated Sparrow yesterday, Oct. 8, at Waneka Lake, eastern Boulder County:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/181104231

P.p.s. And perhaps the last Allard's ground crickets of the year at Waneka Lake, a few hours ago, Oct. 9, when the temperature was 35 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it is right now:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/34137409