[cobirds] Taxonomic status of Mexican Duck, gleanings from the literature

Here I take a brief flight into the rarefied air breathed only by demi-gods, semi-devils and birding royalty.

I am a curious but under-informed watcher from the bleachers in the parlor game of Taxonomy

of the Mexican Duck, presently a subspecies of Mallard or as they say in the U. K. ... malLARD.

So I tried to educate myself about this teapot-worthy tempest. The first reference I found seemed

to me to be a  readable summary of the pros and cons of splitting Mexican Duck from Mallard. (Actually

this would be a "re-split" as in the past they had been considered two separate species. 

Way before that they were lumped with Pintails, Black Ducks, etc. by indigenous people as "good eatin' ducks," and thus split

from the other category "don't try 'em" ducks like Mergansers and cormorants.

Here is a link to the one page summary I found, which itself has links to more detailed analyses.

http://10000birds.com/aou-to-leave-mexican-duck-in-limbo.htm

I am confident that there are many more sites worth visiting for those of you who might not follow college basketball.

Your faithful correspondent,

Joe Roller, 

Denver

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