Avocet and scoter youngsters are strange bedfellows
Two types of hatchlings shared a rearing tank at the Incubation and Rearing rooms.
Common scoter ducks and avocets both live in our Coastal Creek aviary exhibit.
When adult birds of both species built nests in the middle of this busy exhibit, we moved the eggs into the incubators in our Incubation and Rearing Room building.
Once in our incubators, one avocet chick and two common scoter ducklings hatched, the scoters on June 23 and the single avocet chick on June 24.
Solo chicks don’t do as well on their own, so we put both of these water loving species in the same wet rear tank in our incubation room and the room mates are loving it! Wet rearing means the tanks contain a small “pond” where the dry rearing tanks have grass for grazing.
Twiggy, the new long-legged avocet chick, and Gonzo & Rizzo, the common scoter ducklings, got a big thumbs up on their health checks from our veterinarian today, Thurs 3 July. They had grown large enough by July 14th to be moved from the rearing tanks into the off-show area beside the Coastal Creek aviary.
On the UK Conservation status traffic light system Common scoter are Red and Avocets are amber. Breeding these species at the wetlands helps to protect the species for the future.
There are new youngsters in the Incubation and Rearing Rooms this week. Pop by and say hi to the new ring necked ducklings and white-headed ducklings in the Rearing Room tanks.
A ring necked duckling and white-headed duckling hatched last week and are in an incubation tank together.
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