It's a first for WildCare

WildCare recently released 7 first year wood ducks and we are very proud of this accomplishment. Wood ducks are very difficult to raise in captivity, they become easily stressed and do not survive to be released. Director Rondi Large receives a newsletter from the national wildlife rehabilitation association (NWRA) that contained an article about raising wood ducks. We already knew that these ducklings were different since at birth they jump and climb vertical walls with their webbed feet and toe nails. There were a few new ideas that we used on our little babies. We quickly moved them into our nursery building. It is much quieter there. We also limited their vision from other species. We found this to be one of the keys for avoiding stress. We kept them together as always, but this time we did not introduce them to any other duck species. We also added a box for them to hide in when they were scared, something we have never done before. Once they were three weeks old they were moved into a 12' x 20'outside enclosure. We added tin siding around the perimeter of their enclosure so their vision of other species and the habitat outside of the enclosure would be minimal. We also included their "hide" box as well as perching because these special ducks prefer wooded swamps, rivers and ponds.

Once their feathers had grown in and they were flying, our volunteer, Sally Meeks, loaded them into crates and took them to their new home. We weren't sure if we should aim their transport cages towards the pond or the trees. Every other duck we have released in the past, we released toward the water, but these are wood ducks. We decided to do the same for these guys. "Once I opened the cage doors the ducks took a b-line straight for the trees", Sally said after returning from the release. Now we know how to successfully raise and release wood ducks.