Margaret said "The Male Mandarin Duck
has spent the winter on the pond for the last two winters and seems to have
returned again this year with a Leucistic female."
Mandarin ducks
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Pale 'leucistic' Mandarin duck seen in East
Yorkshire by Margaret Richardson
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The species was once widespread in eastern Asia,
but habitat destruction and an unsustainable level of exports for the pet trade
reduced populations in Russia and China tojust a few hundred pairs in each
country, whereas there are estimated to be 7000 pairs in UK, where the bird
isn't even a native, as a result of escapes and releases. Japan still has a
healthy population.
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