Hand-rearing orphaned baby birds

Our nursery is quickly filling up with orphaned chicks. On the 22 Sept we admitted this 29 gram cutie, rescued from Blockhouse bay. It's fully brown down feathers suggest it may be a Pāteke Brown teal- one of NZ's rarest ducklings!

It is growing well, next door to enclosures of orphaned Pūtangitangi Paradise shelducks (also endemic). Soon, as more mature feathers develop, we will be able to confirm its identity. Stay tuned for their progress in our nursery.

Photocredit: volunteer Sherry