Saving ducks from family violence
The threat of family harm has prompted a tweaked approach to protecting some of New Zealand’s most at-risk birds.
Three pairs of breeding pa¯ teke at Palmerston North’s Wildbase Recovery centre have shown signs of running out of patience with their adolescent offspring and potentially hurting them.
Rehabilitation technician Martin Steer said staff had witnessed several incidents of a drake displaying aggression in his desire to get rid of the ducklings and have some intimacy with their mum. So the middle-sized ducklings, not quite old enough to prepare for release to the wild, are getting a new home.
Menzshed volunteers including Daryl Dean have heeded the call for intervention to keep the young pa¯ teke or brown teal safe from male violence, adapting a pool initially designed for seabirds to temporarily house the awkward teenagers. The revamp involves building a raised gravel bed around the pool to cater for their preference to spend time at the edge of the water.
The gravel is important to protect their feet.
Steer said if the ducklings had to pad around on a solid floor, they would get pressure sores on the knuckles of their feet – a condition called pododermatitis.
Steer said the additional facility would help ensure ducklings continued to safely graduate from the breeding aviaries – one within the
Wildbase Recovery Centre, and two others outside the centre in the Esplanade.
The captive breeding programme produced well, with each pair of pa¯teke raising two or three clutches of four or five ducklings each year.
‘‘They are in suitable environments, with a great diet, and they do what ducks do best.’’
He said pa¯ teke were traditionally good parents when their ducklings were young and at their most vulnerable, and staff did not want to see their impatience with the older offspring lead to actual harm.
Steer said the help of the Menzshed volunteers had already been invaluable on other projects, such as providing nesting boxes and bird feeders. This project involved creating a customised solution where the adolescent ducklings could be safe for a few weeks. ‘‘Everything is bespoke and tailored to our needs.’’ The new halfway house would soon be available for a group of ducklings whose parents were, ‘‘playing nice at the moment’’. The ducklings would follow years of other graduates from the programme to the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust facility near Christchurch for ‘‘hardening’’ and preparation before their release into the wild.