I'm a pretty good wild game cook, but I've never done wild birds besides turkey. I've been given four frozen mallards and I have to figure out what to do with them. I haven't actually seen them as they arrived two to a large ziplock, covered in water, and frozen in a block so I don't know what kind of shape they are in aside from being a whole bird. These are wild, migratory birds so I know I can't just straight up use recipes for farm or non-migratory birds as they won't have enough fat on them and will dry out. Do I need to worry about a fishy/wild taste? And if so, what do I do about it either before hand or during the cooking process?

The recipe that I'm thinking about using is (I'd double the recipe):

2 ducks

2 cups red wine (dry or sweet?)

1/2 cup wild rice

4 strips bacon, chopped

medium onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

3 celery stalks, diced

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp onion salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Cook rice according to package. Prepare ducks for baking and marinate in wine in refridgerator for 4 or more hours. Cook bacon and add onion, green papper, celery, garlic salt, onion salt and pepper; cook until onion is tender. Add the rice to the bacon mixture.

Stuff the ducks with the rice dressing mixture. Brush ducks with softened butter. Baste the ducks with the wine before cooking. Bake for 3 hours at 350 degrees, basting every half hour.

Terrible recipe? Pretty solid? Any tips or changes? Side dish ideas?