海参崴新闻

Mandarin duck (Mandarinka) – one of the most beautiful and known ducks in the world, lives in Primorie. It’s a medium-sized bird, 45-50 cm long with a wingspan of 60-70 cm.

Only male ducks have bright and magnificent plumage. Female ducks have more modest feathers. But during the moulting season, male ducks lose their brightness and it is hard to tell a male from a female.

Mandarin ducks live in East Asia, but they prefer to nest in Russia, in Primorskii krai. They come here in early spring and start to find a place for their nests right away. This incredible duck is different from any other duck because it nests in hollows! The bird itself can't gouge the tree so it looks for abandoned hollows. But it’s not always easy for Mandarin ducks to find a right place to live, so people help them. They make little houses (duplyanki) for birds and set these houses on trees.

Duck’s laying is from 4 to 12 eggs in average. A female duck hatches her baby birds for about 4 weeks. In autumn, ducks leave Russia and spend the winter in warm areas of Japan and China.

A really common neighbour for Mandarinka is dipper (Olyapka). This bird is usually called water thrush or water sparrow. Dippers constantly live in Primorskii krai. In spring, an abundance of Mandarin ducks irritates dippers, but they get on well with each other anyway.

News source: www.vestiprim.ru