South Lakes Wild Animal Park

RESCUED DUCKLINGS VENTURE OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME

Wood Duck mum laid 5 eggs and on the 26^th June when 2 hatched she wandered off to show her new pair the big world leaving 3 eggs behind.  She never returned so keepers placed the 3 remaining eggs in the incubator and when just a couple of days later all 3 eggs had hatched placed mum and all 5 ducklings into the vet centre together.  Mum took over and today mum and her 5 ducklings were released into the top tropical aviary.

Check out the video of her and ducks exploring and swimming for the first time. http://www.youtube.com/user/SouthLakesAnimalPark

It’s all go in the duckling world though - As one brood of very cute ducklings move out of the vet centre to explore the big outdoors for the very first time another brood move in.  Hatched on Sunday the latest mum has 8 ducklings to take care of – like the others these can be viewed in the vet centre until big and strong enough to venture outside. 

Wood ducks some facts:

• Wood ducks arrived in South Lakes Wild Animal Park October 2010
• One of the most colourful ducks of North America
• Not quite as big as a mallard males, like most males in the duck world, are the most colourful with multi coloured iridescent plumage and red eyes.
• They are easy to spot when swimming as they bob their heads back n forth
• Usually 7-15 eggs are laid which hatch after an average 30 days
• In the wild after hatching wood ducklings will jump down from their nests and make their way to water – sometimes that jump can be up to 88 metres without injury!
• Wood ducks are a dabbling duck feeding on berries, seeds and insects, in short shallow dives.