Here is one of five ducks I recently salvaged from Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge, thanks to the excellent staff there. There was a duck die-off in early September and many ducks succumbed to a botulism outbreak due to over-crowding around the shrinking waters of Tulelake. This duck will be processed in Frances White’s lab by one of her excellent students, under the supervision of Andrea Eller and Samantha Buckley. We will use its bones to help identify the genus Aythya in archaeological assemblages.
adult male ring-necked duck