Waterfowl Forsyth Technical Community College Fran Martti Content:

• Identify Waterfowl

• Capture Techniques

• Temporary Housing (Used until the waterfowl can be transferred to a federally licensed rehabber) What am I ?

Why ID is IMPORTANT What am I ?

Why ID is IMPORTANT Canada Geese (Goslings)

•Canada Geese feed by dabbling in the water or grazing in fields and large lawns. They are often seen in flight moving in pairs or flocks; flocks often assume a V formation.

•Geese are very loyal. They mate for life and are protective of their partners and offspring. ... When a 's mate dies, that will mourn in seclusion—and some geese spend the rest of their lives as widows or widowers, refusing to mate again.

•In a pattern biologists call “assortative mating,” of both sexes tend to choose mates of a similar size. Great Blue Heron

•Great Blue Herons can hunt day and night thanks to a high percentage of rod-type photoreceptors in their eyes that improve their night vision.

•Despite their impressive size, Great Blue Herons weigh only 5 to 6 pounds thanks in part to their hollow bones—a feature all birds share.

•Thanks to specially shaped neck vertebrae, Great Blue Herons can quickly strike prey at a distance Common Gallinule

• Common Gallinules build nests to raise their young, but they also build platforms of matted vegetation to display for potential mates

▪ The Common Gallinule has long toes that make it possible to walk on soft mud and floating vegetation. The toes have no lobes or webbing to help with swimming, but the gallinule is a good swimmer Juvenile anyway.

▪ Newly hatched Common Gallinule chicks have spurs on their wings that help them climb into the nest or grab onto vegetation. American Coot

• Makes scratchy clucking noises and series of "kuk-kuk-kuk" notes.

• The American Coot builds a floating platform made of stems of marsh plants for its nest. • The coot has large feet with lobed toes. • The chick's downy plumage is a colorful orange on the head and neck. Mallard Duck • Mallards, like other ducks, shed all their flight feathers at the end of the breeding season and are flightless for 3–4 weeks. They are secretive during this vulnerable time, and their body feathers molt into a concealing “eclipse” plumage that can make them hard to identify.

• The standard duck’s quack is the sound of a female Mallard. Males don’t quack; they make a quieter, rasping sound.

• Mallard pairs form long before the spring breeding season. Pairing takes place in the fall, but courtship can be seen all winter. Only the female incubates the eggs and takes care of the ducklings. – Canada Goose / Domestic Goose Geese hybridize readily among feral populations and among wild bird populations.

This picture shows a good example of a hybrid Canada / Domestic Goose that is bonded to a Canada Goose mate in Greensboro.

Notice the light feet Ring Billed Gull

• Comfortable around humans, they frequent parking lots, garbage dumps, beaches, and fields, sometimes by the hundreds. These are the gulls you're most likely to see far away from coastal areas— in fact, most Ring-billed Gulls nest in the interior of the continent, near freshwater.

• While the species is common on coastal beaches, particularly during winter, many Ring-billed Gulls lead inland lives, never setting eyes on the sea.

• These sociable gulls often fly overhead by the Juvenile hundreds or feed together at a golf course, beach, or field. Strong, nimble flyers and opportunistic feeders, Ring-billed Gulls circle and hover acrobatically looking for food; they also forage afloat and on foot. Ruddy Duck • Ruddy Ducks lay big, white, pebbly-textured eggs—the largest of all duck eggs relative to body size. Energetically expensive to produce, the eggs hatch into well- developed ducklings that require only a short period of care.

• Male Ruddy Ducks have blackish caps that contrast with bright white cheeks. In summer, they have rich chestnut bodies with bright blue bills. In winter, they are dull gray- brown above and paler below with dull gray bills. Females and first-year males are brownish, somewhat like winter males but with a blurry stripe across the pale cheek patch. In flight, Ruddy Ducks show solidly dark tops of the wings. Trumpeter Swan

• Trumpeter Swans are impressively large— males average over 26 pounds, making them ’s heaviest flying bird. To get that much mass aloft the swans need at least a 100 meter-long “runway” of open water: running hard across the surface, they almost sound like galloping horses as they generate speed for take off.

• Trumpeter Swans take an unusual approach to incubation: they warm the eggs by covering them with their webbed feet.

• Trumpeter Swans form pair bonds when they are three or four years old. The pair stays together throughout the year, moving together in migratory populations. Trumpeters are assumed to mate for life, but some individuals do switch mates over their lifetimes. Some males that lost their Juvenile mates did not mate again. Great Egret (White Heron)

• Great Egrets fly slowly but powerfully: with just two wingbeats per second their cruising speed is around 25 miles an hour.

• Though it mainly hunts while wading, the Great Egret occasionally swims to capture prey or hovers (somewhat laboriously) over the water and dips for fish.

• The pristinely white Great Egret gets even more dressed up for the breeding season. A patch of skin on its face turns neon green, and long plumes grow from its back. Called aigrettes, those plumes were the bane of egrets in the late nineteenth century, when such adornments were prized for ladies’ hats. • The Wood Duck nests in trees near water, sometimes directly Wood Duck over water, but other times over a mile away. After hatching, the ducklings jump down from the nest tree and make their way to water. The mother calls them to her, but does not help them in any way. The ducklings may jump from heights of over 50 feet without injury.

• Wood Ducks perch and nest in trees and are comfortable flying through woods. Their broad tail and short, broad wings help make them maneuverable.

• When swimming, the head jerks back and forth much as a walking pigeon's does. You often see Wood Ducks in small groups (fewer than 20), keeping apart from other waterfowl. Domestic Waterfowl

White Chinese

Goose Runner Ducks Muscovy Pekin

Goose Pekin Ducklings Cygnet / Goslings Capture Techniques Capturing Waterfowl – Keep in Mind:

• Swans and geese use their wings in defense and a blow from a wing may cause severe bruising. • These birds may bite, but this will produce a bruise at the worst. As with all birds, they should be held away from anyone's face and eyes. • These species are likely to be particularly aggressive when defending their nest or young.

Carrying waterfowl by the wings, particularly with both wings held in one hand and particularly for the larger species, may cause undue strain on the muscles and joints, and even result in nerve damage. Capturing Waterfowl

Safety First !!! • Catching waterfowl on a lake may require several people, some on land and others in boats. • It should be remembered that ducks in particular are capable of a near-vertical take off, while swans require a run-up to achieve flight. • A long-handled deep net is useful for catching waterfowl. The size of net and mesh should be matched to the size of the bird being caught. • A large piece of cloth, such as a large towel or a lightweight coat, may also be dropped over the bird if it is on land. Once caught under a net or cloth, the bird may be pressed against the ground and the wings gathered to and held against the body through the material of the net or cloth. – The grip is then transferred to hold the bird under the net/cloth. – The net/cloth should not be lifted until the handler has control of the bird, including control of the wings, body and (for long- necked species) the head. Watch and Wait Capture Traps Watch and Wait Injuries / Rehabilitation Goose Shot with Arrow: Goose Shot with Arrow: Goose Shot with Arrow RELEASED! Gosling Hurt Foot Gosling Boot Injuries Foot, Wing, and Leg Bumble Foot

Bumblefoot (ulcerative pododermatitis) is a bacterial infection and inflammatory reaction on the feet of birds, rodents, and rabbits. Ulcerative pododermatitis is referred to as "sore hocks" when it affects a rabbit and "bumblefoot" when it affects a bird. Injuries: Hurt Foot Injuries: Hurt Foot Injuries: Hurt Foot Critically Injured Injuries: Inverted Wing Mate RELEASED! Injuries: Ingested Nail Injuries: Ingested Nail Injuries: Fishing Hook and Line Injuries: Fishing Hook and Line Injuries: Fishing Hook and Line Goslings Ice Flock Goose – Lure Goose – Oil Goose – Oil Waterfowl – Snapping Turtle Injuries Waterfowl – Angel Wings Urban Setting – Waterfowl Set – Up for Goslings Gosling Set-up Set – Up for Geese / Ducks / Swans Sooty Tern ▪ The name “Wideawake Tern” comes from the never-ending calls coming from a colony of the birds.

▪ The Hawaiin name “Ewa Ewa” basically means “cacophony.”

▪ Sooty Terns spend the vast majority of their lives at sea. They can stay away from land (aside from breeding) for up to 10 years.

▪ However they do sometimes get blown onto land by the weather.

▪ Sooty Terns will sometimes take 1 or 2-second naps while flying. This is necessary since they don’t float and don’t have anywhere to land to sleep while at sea. • Sooty Tern is a long-winged flier, it ▪ Sooty Tern feathers are not waterproof and they can become wanders tropical oceans, nesting on waterlogged, so they spend a great amount of their time at sea remote islands. constantly on the wing.

▪ Sooty Tern colonies are so noisy that it is against OSHA (Occupational • Noisy around its nesting colonies by day Safety & Health Administration of the U.S.) standards for workers to be and night; a sailors' name for the bird is exposed to the noise for longer than half an hour. "wide-awake." Sooty Tern Vets and the waterfowl that love them! Questions?