Six baby ducks were at a local rehab center for weeks after they were rescued from a storm drain in Arlington. (Courtesy of Felicia Schwenk)

Six baby ducks rescued from a storm drain in Arlington last month are said to be in good shape after spending some time undergoing rehabilitation, according to a caregiver.

Felicia Schwenk of Falls Church said she was helping the six ducklings at a local rescue facility and last week took them to a farm in Calverton, Va., where another rehab specialist will help them prepare to go back into the wild in the coming months.

“They’re doing well,” Schwenk said of the six ducklings. They were only a few days old when they were rescued by Officer Kim Corcoran, who works for the Animal Welfare League of Arlington.

Corcoran responded after an administrator at Wakefield High School called authorities on May 10 to report that the ducklings had fallen down a storm drain near the school’s entrance.

[Six baby ducks rescued after falling down a storm drain in Arlington]

One of the six baby ducks rescued after they fell down a storm drain in Arlington. (Courtesy of Felicia Schwenk)

Using a net and some duct tape, Corcoran scooped each of the ducklings through the grates out of the eight-foot-deep area. None of the ducks was injured.

Authorities had said they couldn’t locate the ducklings’ mother, even after they watched quietly for her to return for several hours following their rescue.

Mother ducks typically lay their eggs in a nest near water. After the eggs hatch, the mother may try to lead the ducklings to the water, experts said.

That may mean having to walk a couple of blocks, toddling behind mama duck.

Chelsea Lindsey, a spokeswoman for the Animal Welfare League, had said the mama duck likely walked over the drain without thinking about it, and the little ones followed.

“And, oops, they fell down,” she said.

Once the mother duck didn’t return to the area near the drain for her little ones, animal experts decided that since the ducklings were so young they couldn’t be left alone. So they took them to a Falls Church rehab facility.

There, they’ve grown a few inches and eaten well. One of the most crucial things in caring for them, Schwenk said, was to make sure they kept a healthy fear of people because when they are eventually released into the wild that would help protect them from predators.

“They can’t be tamed or a predator may get them or they might get run over by a car,” Schwenk said. The ducks will be released once they are able to fly, experts said.

The few times Schwenk said she got to hold them was in cleaning out the bin they lived in. She did little things to try to create the feeling of a mama duck, like placing them under a heat light to stay warm, Schwenk said. And putting a feather duster in the bin so they could sit under it.

“It’s like being under their mother,” Schwenk said.