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| Photo: © Luther Goldman |
The Mottled Duck is found in peninsular
Florida and along the Gulf Coast from Alabama to Tampico,
Mexico. It lives in freshwater ponds in Florida prairies,
where it reaches its greatest densities in the grasslands
of the southern part of the state, and in fresh to brackish
non-tidal marsh ponds along the Gulf Coast. The species is
a year-round resident within its range but may move in response
to changing habitat conditions. It feeds on aquatic vegetation,
including rice, aquatic invertebrates, and small fish. It
occasionally dives for food and to avoid predation.
Among its mammalian predators are feral
dogs and cats, in addition to raccoons, otters, skunks, coyotes,
and foxes. Alligators, snapping turtles, bullfrogs and avian
predators such as harriers and peregrine falcons also prey
on the duck. Populations of the duck fluctuate widely in response
to drought conditions. The most serious threat to the bird
in Florida is drainage for development and for citrus orchards
and cattle pasture. Drainage, coastal erosion, channelization,
degradation by salt-water intrusion and urban and industrial
development have led to the loss or degradation of much habitat
for the Mottled Duck in Louisiana and Texas. An additional
threat is the interbreeding with domestic strains of the closely-related
Mallard released into the wild. Little is known about the
bird’s status in Mexico.
In terms of conservation, habitat loss
and problems of habitat degradation should be addressed in
several ways, including educational programs aimed at landowners,
since most of the bird’s populations occur on private
lands. Wetland drainage should be discouraged or controlled,
fires to generate forage for cattle should be timed not to
affect the birds particularly when breeding, and overgrazing
of the grasslands should be avoided.
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