Extralimital Records of Louisiana-Banded Mottled Ducks Recovered in North Dakota

Abstract

Anas fulvigula (Mottled Duck) is a non-migratory year-round resident species of the western Gulf Coast and peninsular Florida. We report on 2 male Mottled Ducks banded in southwest Louisiana and harvested in south central North Dakoa, having traveled a minimum of 1991 km. It is unknown whether these birds paired with migratory female A. platyrhynchos (Mallard) during fall–winter 2016 and subsequently followed them to a breeding area in North Dakota, or whether these birds themselves may have been hybrid offspring of such a pairing. Previous extralimital records of Mottled Ducks have been reported in the Prairie Pothole region, but our data represent the northernmost records for this species. Increasing extralimital reports of Mottled Ducks or hybrid ducks should be cause for concern among conservation planners. Additional research into Western Gulf Coast Mottled Duck genetics and hybridization rates is warranted.