A species of bird considered to be rare has been found living in a man-made wetland in London.
A family of Blue-Winged Teal ducks was discovered at the Dingman Creek Erosion Control Facility by Environment and Climate Change Canada employees doing on-site waterfowl work last summer.
The fact the rare ducks have decided to call the area home is significant because the facility was designed to act as a natural wetland.
"The number of Blue-Winged Teal ducks breeding in Southwestern Ontario is on the decline,” Denby Sadler, a wildlife biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service, said in a statement issued Friday. “The fact that a successful brood was just raised at the Dingman site is very encouraging, and speaks to the quality of the habitat established at the Dingman Creek Erosion Control Facility.”
In addition to taking on extra water to reduce erosion along the banks of Dingman Creek, the facility includes fish passageways, turtle nesting sites, bird boxes, and bat boxes. It was constructed in 2016.
This is the first time Blue-Winged Teal ducks have nested in the wetland.