The Best of Enrichment

The Pinola Conservancy of Louisiana shared this beautiful footage of a pair of its Australian freckled ducks, hard at work building their nest.  Pinola is one of the powerhouses of avian reproduction in the United States, having one of the largest collections of birds - especially waterfowl - anywhere.  They supply many birds to other facilities, helping to maintain sustainable populations under human care.

We don't always think of it from this perspective, but reproduction in waterfowl isn't just important for the continuation of the species - it's also great enrichment. The ducks have to engage in courtship material, construct the nests, and defend that nest from any perceived intruders (you know, like the keepers - parent swans always have a great sense of humor about us coming by for a visit). Even the act of sitting on the nest for long periods of time, while maybe not the most exciting behavior from our point of view, is enriching - the parents have to make constant decisions about what to do with the eggs, and for that month or so of incubation, their lives and daily activity budgets are essentially identical to what their wild counterparts would be doing.

If the bird is part of a very social, colonial species, like flamingos, penguins, and puffins, the constant bustling action around the nesting site as parents jostle for nests (and partners stray) provides more drama than a season of Gossip Girls. Sometimes stressful, sometimes messy, but guaranteed to keep the minds and bodies of the parents in keen shape.

And that's not even touching the behavioral stimulation they receive when the eggs hatch...

Breeding isn't just good for building up healthy populations - it's great for providing an outlet for natural behaviors.