Waterfowl have been an early and enduring interest for S. Dillon Ripley who spent weekends and summers in Litchfield, Connecticut, during childhood. He started his first duck pond at the age of 17 with the gift of a pair of blue-winged teal and a pair of redheads from his mother. Later Alain White, the naturalist who gave the 4,000 acre White Memorial Foundation to Litchfield, added additional waterfowl. Dillon Ripley's interest in birds grew over the years, and his collection of rare waterfowl grew with it. He named the network of ponds, pens and barns where he raised numerous rare species "Paddling Ponds," and he expanded his interest with scientific studies at Yale and later at Harvard. Mary, his wife, became his partner in this interest, and together they built a collection which at the time numbered over 80 species of ducks, geese, and swans.

In addition to raising waterfowl to trade with zoos and other collectors, Mr. Ripley raised various endangered species in Litchfield for re-introduction to the wild. One important example was during the late 1950s and early 1960s when the Ripleys were the only people on the North American continent raising Nenes or Hawaiian geese, which were threatened with extinction in the wilds of Hawaii. They sent a small flock of birds to Hawaii where, along with birds raised by Peter Scott's Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in England and birds raised in captivity in Hawaii, they were released on the island of Maui. This program was successful, and by the late 1960s, the total population of Nenes increased to 500, up from only 50 birds fifteen years earlier.

Dillon Ripley wrote about his duck ponds in Paddling of Ducks, which was published in 1957. He continued to research and write in Litchfield about birds and his expeditions to track them even during the years when he ran the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., from 1964 to 1984. Throughout his life, Dillon Ripley wrote many books about birds, including scientific, scholarly treatises and others more oriented towards his travels.

In 1984, Dillon and Mary Ripley became concerned about preserving this part of his life's work for future generations. They decided to create a foundation and over time began gifting parcels of land. The foundation was granted tax-exempt 501(c)3 status in 1985 by the IRS.

After the death of Mary Ripley in 1996 and Dillon Ripley in 2001, the Ripley's three daughters, Julie, Rosemary, and Sylvia, continued the Foundation's work along with the Conservancy's Board of Directors. The goal of the Conservancy is to become preeminent in breeding rare and endangered waterfowl, while fostering research, education, and conservation action for waterfowl and their habitats.

Today the Conservancy consists of 15 enclosed acres of ponds and meadows with breeding barns and pens, incubation facilities, a wintering barn, and several enclosed aviaries. It has developed a collection management plan and intends to focus its breeding efforts on those species considered most endangered in the wild, and therefore, which are most in need of breeding in captivity. Its current captive breeding program includes the Meller's Duck, a critically endangered species only found in Madagascar, the Bewick's Swan, native to northern Europe and while prolific in the wild, rare in captivity, the White-headed Duck, endangered in its native habitat in western Europe, and most recently the Swan Goose, threatened in the wild in Russia.

In addition to its breeding program, the Conservancy is committed to education and research. Over the next several years, it will continue improving accessibility for visitors by constructing exhibits, viewing stations, pathways and boardwalks inside the grounds. It is also exploring ways to involve colleges and universities, particularly in New England, with a research site at which waterfowl studies can be conducted.