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Ducks, Geese, and Swans 97

invertebrates in the water that have the toxin in their tissues. Affected birds display varying degrees
of paralysis of the neck, legs, and wings, and often have odorous diarrhea. Severe cases may have
difficulty breathing. Mild to moderately affected birds have an excellent prognosis. Unlike lead
poisoning, this disease may result in dozens or even hundreds of birds of mixed species presenting
at once, often from a particular water source.
Because this disease is an intoxication rather than an infection, antibiotics are of no use. Provide
birds with supportive care, including an initial tube‐feeding of activated charcoal dissolved in
water and then frequent small amounts of oral fluids to flush any remaining invertebrates from the
intestines. After 24 hours of frequent tube‐feedings, switch to a more nutritious tube‐feeding for-
mula, such as the emaciation diet given in this chapter. Keep birds clean and comfortable, with
heads elevated above the body to reduce regurgitation and ease respiration. A laundry basket with
a towel over thick bedding of shredded paper makes appropriate temporary housing for affected
birds to prevent problems with pressure sores on legs. Apply eye ointment several times daily
because some birds may be unable to blink. Unlike mammals, birds recover from botulism very
quickly, often within 1–2 weeks. Many birds will regain the ability to hold their heads up within
2–4 days and will be able to stand and eat within a week.

Human Imprinting
Human imprinting of newly hatched waterfowl is a serious problem and must be avoided.
Imprinting is a very fast and efficient learning mechanism in the very early hours and days of
a young birds’ life. The effects are an irreversible behavior pattern, and these species imprint
very easily on humans. Raising a single, newly hatched waterfowl chick without a foster par -
ent, adult model, or conspecifics assures the chick will be imprinted to humans. Large‐bodied
imprinted waterfowl can be dangerous to humans and should be kept with care at a facility
that understands the behaviors associated with imprinting. They should not be allowed to
range freely. Newly hatched waterfowl can be irreparably imprinted to humans in the matter
of a day in most species. Maladjusted individuals become aggressive to humans, particularly
once they reach sexual maturity. It is often those individuals that are the source of urban leg -
ends of attacks on humans. People destroy what they fear. The result of one person’s negative
experience with an imprinted individual can cause the reputation of large waterfowl to be
called into question with such voracity that many normal wild birds are destroyed in response
to human fear. Human‐imprinted individuals that have been reared from hatchings, once
released to the wild, NEVER integrate into the wild population and become normal. They are
not candidates for release to the wild and should be held in permanent captivity situations or
euthanized.

Habituation
Habituation is a social situation where individuals past the age of imprinting become accus-
tomed to something that does not have a negative effect on them, but does not alter their sense
of who or what species they are or their instinctive behavior. For instance, ducks being fed in a
park are comfortable with people coming and going and may seem tame, when in fact they are
only habituated to the situation. Habituation can change with circumstances and is not a perma-
nent condition. It may, however, be enough of a behavior problem that the bird needs to stay in
captivity extra long in order to socialize with its own species and become warier of humans
before release.