Sun Herald
Posted on Sat, Feb. 02, 2008
The story behind that Japanese duck
-- Last Saturday's article by Al Jones drew a "Wow!" right out of me as soon as I saw the headline - Japanese Duck Killed in Delta.


What followed was the story of how a Northern Pintail that had been banded on Hyoko Lake in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, had been shot by Georgia duck hunter Freddie Scott near Ruleville. The duck was at least 8 years old.



Now, a duck flying the 6,700 miles from Japan to the Mississippi Delta is pretty impressive, but several questions popped into my mind.



What is a Northern Pintail doing in Japan? Just where is this Lake Hyoko? Who banded this bird? How does one catch a Northern Pintail to band him? How does a wild duck get to be 8 years old? What is the best way to cook an 8-year-old duck?



Thanks to the Internet, I was able to answer most of my questions. With apologies to Paul Harvey, here is "the rest of the story."



To start with, this duck was no more Japanese than he was Mississippian. Northern Pintails do not nest in either place. They do, however, nest all across the upper half of the Northern Hemisphere wherever they can find their preferred habitat of short grass near fresh water.



The Dakotas are an important breeding area in the United States, and Siberia is considered the species' Asian stronghold and probably where our bird hatched. Many Siberian waterfowl winter in Japan and some fly to the west coast of the U.S.



It turns out that Hyoko Lake is a famous Japanese birding spot, a small man-made lake that has been key in the recovery of both Tundra and Whooper Swans in Japan. In 1950 four swans wintered at Hyoko Lake; now 5,000 swans are joined at their daily feedings by thousands of ducks, including pintails.



Ryuhei Honma, a scientist who specializes in studying the Northern Pintails at Lake Hyoko, banded the bird. On Feb. 12, 2000, he put a band reading 10A75422 on an adult bird that would fly deep into another continent before meeting up with Freddie Scott on the third of January. Honma reports that he and his team catch ducks by using a handmade net or simply by hand. Although Northern Pintails are notoriously skittish and quick to flush, a picture of the Hyoko feeding frenzy shows how it can be done.



So, how does a duck get to be 8 years old? Luck. Although just about everything out there with a tooth, claw, or firearm likes to eat duck, there is no reason that a healthy pintail couldn't live well into its teens. In fact, the longevity record for a captive Northern Pintail is 22 years and 2 months.



Through license fees and conservation organizations like Ducks Unlimited, hunters have spent billions of dollars in habitat restoration, but pintail numbers have fallen for the last 30 years. They are now third on the National Audubon Society's Common Birds in Decline list.



Duck hunters aren't the pintail's major enemy, the loss of nesting habitat is. The short-grass pothole prairies that these birds depend upon are being plowed under for row crops faster than ever.



I'm no hunter, but I'll buy a Federal Duck Stamp in memory of old 10A75422. And you'll never guess what duck is on the stamp this year.



Oh, I almost forgot - how do you cook an old duck?



Well, I didn't have to look that one up. I would make a slow-simmered pintail gumbo with some good andouille sausage and plenty of fresh jalapenos.



Ronnie Blackwell is a writer and bird watcher living in Hattiesburg. You can find links to Ron's current novel, "Serve It Cold," and his other writings at RonnieBlackwell.com. You can e-mail Ron at blackwellr@comcas<mailto:[log in to unmask]>