Duck Pond: A Feeding Frenzy

Posted at 4:38 pm April 30, 2009 by Mike Grue

Cattle egret

Have you ever walked past the open aviary across from the Birds of Prey catwalk and wondered what it took to feed so many different types of birds? I think that most of the keepers who have had the pleasure of working with this collection will tell you that feeding the residents of the Duck Pond exhibit at the San Diego Zoo can be the highlight of their day–or one of the most difficult things they will do all week!

For starters, the sheer number of species makes a feeding challenge. A Duck Pond feeding consists of flamingo pellets, duck pellets, lettuce for the geese, insects for the egrets, ground-up meat, pinky mice, and two different types of fish! But we keepers are not able to simply broadcast all this food into the water with the hopes that everyone will be able to get their fair share of food.

Darter

There are as many ways to feed the birds in the Duck Pond as there are keepers, but the general feeding schedule is as follows:

First of all: The keeper tries to get as much duck pellet to the Zoo’s ducks as possible! This is easier said than done, as the wild mallards are numerous and can eat a seemingly endless supply of duck pellets. If a keeper pours the pellets into the water next to where they are standing, the more wary mallards will usually stay back far enough for our collection birds to satisfy their hunger.

Next, we keepers focus on the meat-eaters! The shy little cattle egrets can be challenging, as they are usually competing for their pinky mice with the intimidating (and wild) great blue herons. The cattle egrets have learned that we can usually toss their food into a clump of grass they can forage in but the larger herons cannot.

After tossing food to the egrets, the cormorants and darters are usually feeling a little neglected. Some of them will actually stand next to us and patiently wait for their breakfast, while others will noisily berate us for ignoring them! As you can probably guess, these guys also have to compete for their food with the herons. Luckily for us, the cormorants don’t back down from a challenge the way the egrets do! A tossed trout or capelin anywhere near a hungry cormorant is almost always caught in midair by their sharp, hooked bill and swallowed before the heron even realizes a fish was tossed.

Spoonbill

[The spoonbills are my favorite to feed, though, as they have learned to take their ground-up meat by hand. The herons used to pose a problem in feeding these guys, too. But with a little training and a lot of trust between keeper and spoonbill, the “spoonies” are now able to take their food directly from our hands instead of competing for it with the herons!

Visitors are sometimes lucky enough to see a Duck Pond feeding first thing in the morning or sometime in the afternoon (usually between 3 and 5). Check it out on your next visit!

Mike Grue is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

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5 Responses to “Duck Pond: A Feeding Frenzy”

1. Melissa says:
   May 4th, 2009 at 4:22 pm

   What a lucky guy you are to enjoy spending time with these avian beauties! The “spoonies” must be delightful. Thanks for letting us know how the daily feedings are carried out.

2. nancy from michigan says:
   May 5th, 2009 at 10:20 am

   I must say that I laughed after reading your post. it sounds so confusing, everyone competing, snatching, and diving for whatever they can get whether it is for them or not!! if you’ll excuse the pun, like a zoo! surprisingly, you seem to have it pretty well figured out! it would be fun to be there at feeding time! every-thing at the zoo is interesting to me. all the animals, different species, large and small animals! the keepers and all they do. ( which is plenty ) the birds, big cats, bears, great apes! it is a place to get away from stressful things in your life and to fantasize about far away places with animals that are not in our state and to learn about their way of life in the wild and now in the new wonderful zoos that house them and breed them for generations to come! sorry I rambled on for sooo long! enjoy your job!

3. Sayuri says:
   May 8th, 2009 at 1:31 pm

   Are most or all of the Great Blue Herons and egrets (Great and Snow) that hang out there and above the raptor cages wild? I see some of them stalking the red-crowned cranes across the street, especially when they seem to be nesting.

4. Margaret says:
   June 3rd, 2009 at 6:58 pm

   Thanks, Mike, for a great lesson in feeding your avian friends. It is always a challenge feeding the ‘desireables’ when the hungry wild ones are around. It is the same way at garden feeders. I hate to deprive wild birds from their food, but they are fully equiped to find their own food and feed themselves. The birds that are in the habitat and out of their natural environment would have a much harder time finding the appropriate food and feeding themselves. I am glad to hear that you have found a way to “train” the different species and provide their food in a way that provides enrichment for them as well.

5. Claudia says:
   November 8th, 2009 at 12:21 am

   I posted a question someplace in a bird blog, but cant remember which one, the question is how do you keep birds out in the open without them migrating and leaving? Just regular feeding?

   Moderator’s note: We get many migratory species that stop by during their migrations north or south. But birds in our collection that are housed in open areas either have their feathers clipped or a wing pinioned so full flight is not possible. The exception is the birds in our free-flight bird shows, of course!

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