Duckling season is here: how you can help
Duckling season is underway, and this year avian influenza changes what we can and cannot do.
H5 bird flu was detected in New Zealand in July, in a brown skua found on Petone Beach. That is close to home, and it means every decision we make about which birds enter our facility has to be weighed against the risk to the birds already inside.
Here is where we stand.
Why waterfowl are the problem
Ducks are among the highest risk species for H5N1. They can carry and shed the virus while looking well, and sick waterfowl is exactly what an avian influenza case looks like.
Our facility holds birds that are already injured, stressed and immunocompromised. Introducing a duck that may be shedding virus puts every one of them at risk, and would end our ability to help any bird at all.
Trauma cases: yes, call us
We can take ducklings and ducks with traumatic injuries, including mallards.
Trauma means a visible physical injury from a known cause. For example:
Hit by a car
Dog or cat attack
Fishing line, hooks or netting entanglement
Broken wing or leg, or an obvious wound
Caught in a fence, drain or grate
These birds have a clear cause of injury rather than an unexplained illness, and we can manage them safely with our biosecurity protocols in place. Call us on 021 195 5509.
We can also take orphaned native ducklings, including paradise shelduck (pūtangitangi), grey teal (tētē) and New Zealand scaup (pāpango).
Sick ducks: please do not bring them to us
We cannot accept ducks or ducklings that are unwell with no obvious injury.
This is not us being difficult. It is the national guidance. Biosecurity New Zealand and DOC both advise the public not to take sick birds to wildlife rehabilitation centres, precisely because of the risk of introducing avian influenza into a facility full of vulnerable birds.
If you find a duck that is lethargic, unable to stand, twisting its head or neck, having tremors or seizures, or struggling to breathe, do not pick it up and do not bring it to us.
If you see three or more sick or dead wild birds together, report it to the Biosecurity New Zealand exotic pest and disease hotline on 0800 80 99 66, or online at report.mpi.govt.nz.
Keep your distance, note the exact location, and take a photo from a safe distance if you can. Keep children and dogs away from the birds.
Healthy orphaned mallards: please find a foster
The other thing we cannot do this season is take in healthy, uninjured mallard ducklings.
A healthy duckling does not need a hospital. It needs warmth, feed and time. Bringing it into a facility during an avian influenza season adds risk for every patient there and offers the duckling nothing it could not get in someone's back garden. We also have a maximum capacity of 25 patients at any one time.
Healthy ducklings need a foster, not a facility.
The Duckling Register
We helped set this up. Flock worked with Avian Empire to establish a national volunteer duckling register, because we could see this season coming and knew that turning healthy ducklings away without offering an alternative was not good enough.
The register connects orphaned ducklings with people willing to raise them. Rather than every duckling funnelling into a handful of overloaded facilities, a network of home fosterers shares the load, and the birds stay well away from concentrated groups of sick and injured wildlife. In an avian influenza season, that is not just kinder logistics. It is better biosecurity.
There are two ways in.
If you have found ducklings and need a foster home, use the Find a Foster Home form.
If you would like to become a foster, use the Become a Foster Home form.
There is also an active community group where fosterers share advice, coordinate pickups and troubleshoot problems together.
If you need to step back from fostering at any point, there is a removal form on the Avian Empire rescue list page. You can rejoin whenever you are ready.
What fostering actually involves
Fostering ducklings is genuinely rewarding, and it is also real work. Ducklings need warmth for the first few weeks, appropriate feed, constant access to clean water, and a safe space they cannot escape from or drown in. They grow fast, they are messy, and they need supervised swimming.
Most broods need care for several weeks before they are ready for release, and they should be raised with other ducklings rather than alone so they stay wild and bond with their own kind.
One biosecurity rule matters more than any other this season.
If you keep backyard poultry or pet birds, keep foster ducklings completely separate from them. Separate space, separate equipment, wash your hands and change footwear between the two, every single time. Avian influenza moves between wild waterfowl and poultry, and this one habit is the most effective thing a fosterer can do to protect both.
If a foster duckling becomes suddenly unwell, develops neurological signs such as head twisting or tremors, or dies unexpectedly, stop handling your other birds and ring the hotline on 0800 80 99 66.
Before you pick up a duckling
Not every duckling needs rescuing. Ducklings frequently get separated from mum briefly and reunite on their own, and a healthy brood with a parent nearby is better left alone.
Step in when you can see a clear problem: the mother is confirmed dead, the ducklings are in immediate danger such as a road or a drain, or a bird has a visible injury.
If you are not sure, call us on 021 195 5509 or email flockwellington@gmail.com and we will help you work out what the bird needs and who should be handling it.
Supporting the work
Flock is Wellington's only independent native bird rehabilitation facility. We are a registered charitable trust (CC64878) and we run on donations.
Our biggest current need is infrastructure. We are fundraising for a kererū flight aviary, a suitable seabird enclosure, and a smaller native bird aviary. These builds are what will let us move from holding and transferring birds to fully rehabilitating and releasing them here in Wellington.
If you would like to support that work, you can donate here.
Nys 🐦
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