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Orphaned Waterfowl
Young waterfowl should never be found alone without an adult bird around. If you find a waterfowl baby without an adult, and don’t see adults and other babies in the immediate vicinity, you can safely assume this baby is an orphan that should be contained and taken to your local wildlife rehabilitator.
It is exceptionally important that orphaned waterfowl are taken to licensed wildlife rehabilitator as soon as possible to prevent inappropriate imprinting on humans. Imprinting is a form of learning where a young bird learns to identify with their own species.
For young waterfowl, they imprint on their mother very quickly after hatching which allows them to follow their mother who will provide them with protection. If a young bird sees a human instead during this critical learning period, they will imprint on a human. Imprinting is a permanent, irreversible process, and if they are imprinted on a human, they will never relate to their own species, and can be dangerous to people once older if released into the wild.
