{"id":605275,"date":"2026-04-27T10:39:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T14:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/?p=605275"},"modified":"2026-04-27T10:40:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T14:40:49","slug":"project-update-mallard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/all\/project-update-mallard\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Update: Mallard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Hi Earth Rangers!&nbsp;Cat&nbsp;here from Ducks Unlimited Canada! Ducks need clean, healthy wetlands to raise their families, but what happens when those wetlands are close to farms?&nbsp;That\u2019s&nbsp;what we set out to discover!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/CA\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cat-DUC-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-612822\" style=\"width:402px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Last summer, our team visited more than 150 wetlands across the Canadian Prairies. First, we counted ducks, like mallards, using drones with super-zoom cameras. We counted pairs in the spring and checked for ducklings in the summer to see how many babies hatched.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/CA\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mallard-blog-3-1024x767.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-612814\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/CA\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mallard-blog-2-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-612815\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, we collected water samples and scooped up tiny bugs (a duck\u2019s&nbsp;favourite&nbsp;food!) to learn if nearby farming changes what ducks eat. We also set up hidden cameras and sound recorders to spot predators like fox and raven.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the ducks flew south for the winter, it was time for lab work! We tested water quality,&nbsp;identified&nbsp;the bugs living in wetlands, and even used smart computers to listen&nbsp;for&nbsp;bird songs and spot animals in photos.&nbsp;All of this helps us understand how farming affects ducks&nbsp;and their habitats,&nbsp;and&nbsp;more importantly&nbsp;how we can protect wetlands so ducks can grow strong and thrive!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/CA\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mallard-blog-1-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-612817\" style=\"width:313px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An example of a bug sample containing lots of \u2018scuds\u2019 that ducks love to eat!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Want&nbsp;to help protect animals like the Mallard? Head to the Adoptions section in the App or visit the Earth Rangers&nbsp;EStore&nbsp;to get your own Mallard Adoption Kit and help support conservation efforts for these awesome animals!&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/CA\/wp-content\/uploads\/mallard-edited.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-612813\" style=\"width:495px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi Earth Rangers!\u00a0Cat\u00a0here from Ducks Unlimited Canada! Ducks need clean, healthy wetlands to raise their families, but what happens when those wetlands are close to farms?\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146387,"featured_media":605277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[931],"tags":[1861,1862],"class_list":{"0":"post-605275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all","8":"tag-adoptions","9":"tag-mallard"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146387"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":605276,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605275\/revisions\/605276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}