Looking for love in all the wrong places
She can’t place a classified, or put her profile on Tinder, but there is a wee lass in Waikato in need of a mate.
A paradise shelduck, nicknamed Daphne, has made her home in Tawari Street, Matamata, where she has become a welcome visitor to many of the people there.
What concerns them most is waterfowl like Daphne generally have a mate, which is not the case for this lonesome feathered female.
New Zealand Birds Online said paradise shelducks disperse as territorial pairs for breeding, and pairs occupy their territories year-round except when at a communal moult site.
‘‘Hence birds are invariably seen as single pairs.’’
One person concerned for Daphne is Matamata resident Roger Potter, who first noticed the unusual visitor about a month ago.
‘‘She seems to like humans cause she was following me around. I don’t know when she arrived.’’
Potter said she is very friendly and often wanders into his house.
He has been working on finding her a pond in a rural area where there is potential for her to find a mate.
However as friendly as she is, Daphne is a vagrant and comes and goes as she pleases. Catching and caging her until a permanent home can be found has been a challenge.
‘‘If we could catch
‘‘If we could catch her, we could take her to a pond, somewhere safe.’’
her, we could take her to a pond, somewhere safe. It would be good to find a mate for her.
‘‘People race their cars around these streets and I amafraid she is going to get bowled.’’
Potter’s house isn’t the only one where Daphne has often been seen.
Mary Johnson, also on Tawari, says Daphne has been in the residential area for a while now.
Johnson started putting a water bath and a bowl of food out for Daphne.
But would also like to see the duck settled on a farm and with a mate.
‘‘She just looks lonely,’’ she said.
Daphne has been seen on Findlater Street, Maple Place and Magnolia Drive.
Could you help Daphne find love? Let us know if you have a pond or a lonely male shelduck for Daphne to meet.