One of the striking features of the Werribee birdscape, waders apart, is the sheer number of several kinds of waterbirds – hundreds of pelicans, thousands of whiskered terns and various ducks. The terns were congregating in their hundreds on the roadways between the conservation ponds, strangely reluctant to fly at the advance of a vehicle. The most common ducks are teal - overwhelmingly chestnut rather than grey, in a reverse of the proportions in Canberra and on the NSW coast. Some species of ducks prefer their own company, like these pink-ears, possibly drawn together by a concentration of nutrients.
