Scuttling Quackers on a City Safari: A Guide to Assisting Urban Ducklets and Their Parents
Assisting Migratory Ducks: Safeguarding Ducklings and Entire Families Wisely - Aiding Duck Families Securely: A Guide
Headlines about cops saving ducklings are becoming common these days. Recently, ten baby ducks were rescued from the impassable A67 motorway near Büttelborn in Wiesbaden. Just a few days earlier, another group of neonate ducks were spotted strutting along the hard shoulder on the A5 between Hemsbad and the intersection with Weinheim, according to Mannheim's finest. Clearly, these winged wonders aren't afraid of city trauma.
But why are the ducks and their matriarch on the move so abruptly?
These waterfowl spend most of their lives submerged, finding sustenance, and protecting their young from predators like minks, foxes, and cats. "Mallard mating season kicks off around mid-March," says Torsten Collet from NABU Rhineland-Palatinate, "with hatchlings appearing in April or May." Known as "brood parasites," mothers lead their brood to nearby shallow waterbody areas after hatching to search for food about six to twelve hours post-hatching. They usually cross one or two roads during this journey.
Some ducks even learn to dance with concrete and traffic to protect themselves. In Frankfurt, for instance, a mother hatchling hatched her brood in a flowerpot on the fifth floor – with no water body in sight but safely out of reach of predators. The twelve babies, along with their mother, were relocated to a suitable habitat, reports Kostadin Georgiev from the bird protection station at the Hessian State Office for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology (HLNUG).
But why don't the animals flee from the city's cacophony?
"Certain city-dwelling creatures have acclimated to thenever-ending humdrum over time," explains Collet. If they sense that the blaring noises are rarely associated with immediate peril, urban chaos has little effect on mallards. "The mother knows the quickest route to the water body, irrespective of its safety," says Georgiev.
Would the ducklets perish without their mother or require human intervention? Could another duck mother "adopt" the ducklings?
As brood parasites, dependent on their mother they are not. "They feed themselves from birth, but they require protection from predators, especially in the early days by their mother, and they learn what's edible during the joint food search," explains Collet. In theory, another mother duck could also take in orphaned ducklings.
What should you do if a duck family crosses your path? Where should you turn?
"It's best to avoid intervention," advises Georgiev. It's actually illegal to capture the ducklings. In situations where the ducklings and mother are near roads with little-to-no traffic and in water bodies, no human interference is needed. When it comes to motorways and bustling highways, however, law enforcement agencies should be notified due to the increased risk of accidents, advises Collet. If the birds are far from the nearest water source and require crossing busy roads, the ducklings and their parents must be captured and transported to the nearest body of water.
- Police
- Matriarch
- Parents
- Wiesbaden
- Mainz
- Büttelborn
- Groß-Gerau
- Weinheim
- Mannheim
- Nature Conservation Association Germany e.V.
- Rhineland-Palatinate
Insights:
- Mallard ducks relocate their offspring from water to land for food, safety, and brood-rearing purposes.[1][3]
- The availability of wetlands and upland cover nearby is crucial for their breeding success and brood survival.[3]
- Mallards are adept at adapting to urban environments by nesting in peculiar locations (e.g., dilapidated raptor nests) and utilizing human-made water features.[2][5]
- Ducklings are resilient enough to survive significant physical obstacles, like tumbling from high nests, demonstrating their adaptability to urban nesting sites.[5]
- Mallards usually cross one or two roads during their early search for food and a permanent home for their young.[1]
- It's crucial to consider the role of community aid in the conservation of fishery resources, as urban landscapes, similar to city environments where mallard ducks thrive, can also host various aquatic life.
- Adopting aspects of sustainable lifestyle, such as creating home-and-garden installations that facilitate the needs of local aquatic species, can contribute to the overall ecosystem's health and promote biodiversity in urban areas.
