A Miraculous Mallard Story: How 7 Abandoned Ducklings Joined a Family of 14
Posted by
身近な生き物語
on
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
In the early summer of 2022, I was observing mallard families along a river, as I always do. That year, the mallards were late to arrive, and when they finally did, the river became crowded with new families, leading to minor squabbles.
Wildlife Observation Date Code: 2022-08-28
Among them, my attention was drawn to seven ducklings who had lost their parents.
They had been huddled together for a day, all by themselves. Their mother was nowhere to be found, and it seemed they had been abandoned.
These seven ducklings were likely a group of strays from different broods. A group of four, another of two... the numbers didn't add up. One more might have even been an escapee from a different family.
They came from different circumstances, but had ended up together. For ducklings without a parent, survival is a huge challenge. I watched over them, full of anxiety about their future.
The next day, when I returned, the number of ducklings had dropped from seven to four.
It's incredibly dangerous for them to spend the night without a parent.
Worried, I went back at night to check on them. In the faint light of the streetlamp, the four tiny shadows huddled together, resting.
Without a parent, they could also be seen as a threat by other mother ducks. Mallard mothers can be aggressive during the nesting season and will sometimes attack ducklings that aren't their own. I feared they wouldn't survive.
To my surprise, the following day, something amazing happened.
The number of ducklings had grown from four to five!
Perhaps another lost duckling had joined them.
Even without a parent, their will to survive seemed much stronger than we can imagine.
Then, on the very next day, I witnessed something truly unbelievable.
I found the mallard mother of the Gc brood, who had ten ducklings, and noticed the number of her ducklings had suddenly increased.
I looked closer and saw that the ducklings were of different sizes.
It turned out the Gc mother had adopted the lost ducklings as her own!
This new, miraculous family now consisted of 15 ducklings.
They quickly assimilated, moving together in perfect formation.
Later, the group size went down to 14, but they continued to grow together. By July, they had all grown into beautiful young mallards.
This miraculous record shows the harshness of nature, but also teaches us about the deep bonds and the preciousness of life. It’s a story of how these small lives bravely persevered, and how a kind mother duck accepted them with an open heart.
Comments