In 2009, two pairs of ferruginous ducks were brought to Israel from France to establish the breeding program at the Jerusalem Zoo. Since 2011, nearly all have spread their wings and been released.
By LIAT COLLINSDIVING DUCKS born at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo were recently spotted in the Jezreel Valley(photo credit: ELDAD AMIR)
If you hear someone excitedly shout “Duck!” and you happen to be in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel, it might not be a recommendation to quickly bend down, but an invitation to look at the water fowl.The Aythya nyroca, a diving duck, inhabits wetlands from Europe to Asia, but it has been seriously threatened by hunting, the introduction of non-native species, harm caused by fishing and the destruction of its natural habitat. Particularly in Europe its numbers have sharply declined and the beautiful bird is listed as “Near Threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.Sometimes called the fudge duck or ferruginous duck, the species has all but disappeared from Israel. Until the mid-20th century, the duck commonly nested in the northern region, particularly in the Hula Valley, where dozens and perhaps hundreds of pairs made their homes. When the swamps there and elsewhere were dried out, their numbers declined drastically, dropping to fewer than 250 adult birds. In the past decade, the species has almost stopped nesting in northern Israel, although its distribution spread to the Judean foothills and southern Dead Sea regions.The smallish duck, weighing about half a kilogram, is a dark, rust color with a white stripe on its wings and a white patch on its abdomen. It is an excellent diver, it feeds by diving up to 10 meters in the water.Concerned about the birds' dwindling numbers, the Jerusalem Tisch Family Biblical Zoo a few years ago took them under their wing, as it were, and established a special breeding and conservation project in conjunction with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.It’s easy to spot the ducks in the program. Apart from their distinctive plumage and special diving technique, the ducks in the conservation project have an extra giveaway feature: a nasal ring.While most birds in conservation and tracking programs are ringed only on their legs, because the timid diving ducks spend so much time in the water, this isn’t a practical way to identify them. Hence, the zoo adopted the practice of fitting the ducks that hatched there with a nasal ring that can be easily seen but doesn’t bother their hunting or eating.In 2009, two pairs of ferruginous ducks were brought to Israel from France to establish the breeding program at the Jerusalem Zoo. Some 110 ducks have hatched in the capital as a result of the project, and since 2011, nearly all of them have spread their wings and been released, some in the zoo’s lake and others further afield, including in the Hula Valley and elsewhere.A particularly shy bird, usually active at night, whenever they are spotted in the wild in Israel it is a cause for excitement. Recently, the zoo was happy to receive a report that two of the ferruginous ducks born in 2017 at the zoo’s Furgatch Marshland Aviary and released at the Ein Afek Nature Reserve, close to Kiryat Bialik, in June 2018, had been spotted at a reservoir in the Jezreel Valley, having grown and flown. The pair, a male and female, prove that the project is no lame duck.Zoo staff members note that because the bird is migratory, an increase in the numbers of the local population could eventually impact on the recovery rate of the species elsewhere.The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo’s chief veterinarian, Dr. Nili Avni-Magen, says: “Receiving regards from this pair of diving ducks is particularly important for us.“We can’t tell for sure whether this pair of diving ducks that was born in the zoo migrated to other continents and returned, but we believe that there is a high probability that this is the case. Since this is a migratory bird and the couple were spotted in the nesting season, we are hopeful that there will be another generation.”The diving ducks obviously took to the conservation project like a duck to water. Hopefully, one day they will be rare birds no more.
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