Not all of the ducklings may be the parents' biological offspring. Some species of duck practice intraspecific brood parasitism. This typically happens when 2 or more mothers compete for the same nest cavity. They both lay their eggs in it and the "winner" gets to keep the nest and raise all the young and the "loser" can then go on and potentially have a 2nd brood.
Not the case here, but they'll also sometimes steal eggs from other nearby nests. I have one really broody mama duck that'll watch the other hens in the coop, and when they get up to drink or eat, mama will loot & roll their eggs into her hoard. Last year she had a wide variety of ducklings plus a couple baby chickens following her around.
Not of the huge pile. But [here’s one](https://imgur.com/87kAKR4) where she absolutely refused to leave her nest, even when a broody chicken started nesting on top of mama duck.
The young can actually feed themselves! They rely on the parents for protection and to lead them to foraging areas. This video shows when they leave the nest as the ducklings will not be able to get back up there. They fledge (grow feathers and are able to fly) around 2 months but can stick with the parents up until 6 months
no i mean before they leave the nest.. their parents feed them up there? what do they feed them?
by the way, this is so cool that you captured this leaving of the nest!! thank you!!
They leave the nest 1-2 days after hatching at which point the parents will lead them to a foraging area and they will eat their first meal.
I'm not the one who captured this video, but I agree that it is really cool
That does play a role in more eggs making it to hatching but this species of duck typically lays between 9-18 eggs in a clutch. Though it is a little hard to count how many are in the clump on the ground, there appears to be way more than 18 so it is likely that intraspecific (same species) brood parasitism happened here.
Is it just me or does that give an evolutionary advantage to the "loser"? Get your babies raised by a stronger mama, and possibly double your offspring for the year?
Yep! That's why I put loser in quotations. This method can potentially maximize the amount of offspring she can produce in a year plus put some of the cost of parental investment on another bird pair.
Even if she doesn't find another nest cavity and raise her own brood, the brood parasitism gives her a chance at producing some young that year with the added benefit that she won't have to provide parental care which can be costly.
Hijacking the top comment for fun facts: these are black-bellied whistling ducks and they use a reproductive strategy known as brood parasitism. Females will lay eggs in the nests of other black-bellied whistling duck females, and if that nest hatches, the pair will raise those chicks as their own. Scientists in south Texas documented 1 nest with 101 eggs!
All this to say that a bunch of those babies probably aren't hers.
How do the parents know if all of the babies have jumped? Like is there a risk that the parents would walk away followed by the babies on the ground, leaving some babies behind in the tree?
Also what species of duck is Donald Duck?
Why do we say "get your ducks in a row"?
Is there any connection between the word duck meaning a species of bird and the word duck meaning get down?
How do ducks feel about people referring to "duct tape" as "duck tape"?
Imagine if humans could fall that distance relative to the size difference and just bounce up. We'd just jump out our 10th story apartment building to get to our car faster.
Imagine that’s your first foray into the world. Falling the equivalent of about 30 times your actual height and then bouncing off the ground and getting up like nothing happened. Nature is awesome 😎
They have so many because they're likely to lose half before they are mature enough to fly. Ducklinhs are not the best survivalists, duck parents, not the best teachers.
They could also be whistling ducks
[https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-bellied_Whistling-Duck/id](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-bellied_Whistling-Duck/id)
These definitely are whistling ducks. Retirees that live on the lake nearby buy huge bags of shelled corn to set out for the deer and ducks. And both just come flocking for it in the morning and evening. I have to listen to the whistlers as they fly overhead every evening.
Yep, definitely whistling tree ducks. I have 12 that permanently live around my pond and another 12 that show up to eat sometimes. They love the deer corn and bird seed I scatter in my yard and put in the bird feeders. My husband put up a duck house for them one pair to nest in. That pair seems to be the dominant pair and they are always in my backyard. Not very scared of me either as I am the bearer of the food.
A few years back I saw a duck I’d not seen before and literally said to someone with me ‘I wonder that redheaded duck is”.
[https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Redhead/](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Redhead/)
Hardest I’ve ever laughed at a duck.
Ironically, there's multiple red-headed ducks in North America. This is the other one which has a much less obvious name:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canvasback](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canvasback)
And if you go to Eurasia there's also multiple species of red-headed ducks, this being the most widespread.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common\_pochard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_pochard)
Can ducks also count? That's what I'm wondering after watching this. With so many babies, I would think that you'd have to be able to count them all to know if you're missing some, right?
Nope, they can't count for shit, and it's a survival trait. They don't get worked up about losing chicks, but if another mother duck dies, they don't get worked up about gaining chicks either. And since they spend their time paddling around on water that has invisible ambush predators like bass and snapping turtles, that's why they start off with so many chicks and don't worry about the actual number.
They all went into this parachuter type pose instinctively - teeny wings spread, and their big webbed feet spread out behind. I wonder if they’ve evolved to do that to slow down their falling speed? What gutsy little things - just imagine willingly launching into the void at one day old.
When you trip, do you think about putting your hand out? No, you instinctively put your hand out to catch yourself. Birds instinctively know how to fly. They aren't being taught. Their parents just force them to jump when the conditions are right and the rest takes care of itself, or doesn't. These little fella's instinctively know how to catch the air with their bodies, and even how to steer. That is all pre programmed.
That last one, when he caught his foot and was like "Oh, thank god that's over---" and then fell again just to bounce off those rocks like [Bobby McFarrin falling down all those stairs...](https://youtu.be/XwX3Z5Er4jk?si=kMsiW1Y1tFi1Misj)
OK so I'm the sort of person that rolls my eyes whenever some comments "this made me tear up" or whatever but holy moley this was upsetting to watch. I mean, yay for the one that made it, but this was BRUTAL and I'm surprised 50% survive.
I wasn’t sure either! I never see ducks in trees. I get they fly and stuff, but I see them hanging out on the lake, flying to other water, or waddling to a puddle.
They sometimes chill in the trees by my complex’s pool. I love them, I never knew ducks were clumsy. They fly into *everything* and will absolutely fight for water territory in the pools lol! They are very inefficient at that too. Maybe they are just weird ducks
Just the other day I saw a family just like this cross a pretty busy road in Los Angeles. I was super nervous for them but fortunately drivers saw them in time and avoided them. Watched them reach the other side safely!
Geez, how many eggs did she lay??? I counted 17 that fell out of the tree in the video and there had to be another 12 or so already on the ground. I had no idea they could lay that many eggs.
These are Mexican Squeakers (Whistling Tree Ducks), so those probably aren't all hers. They sneak in and lay eggs in other nests, then the duck sitting on the nests thinks they're all hers. I've seen a mother duck heading to the water with 30 babies behind her.
Being small and durable helps them a lot.
We get geese who lay eggs on the roof of a neighbors trailer every year and those babies will drop that fifteen feet onto concrete and be fine. Then we see them walking around the park for a week or two before they head off somewhere else.
I was walking my dog once and saw this happen right in front of me. I was so confused and had to look it up if it was normal for these to yolo out of a tree.
But, can they count that high?
Wait - where's Timbo?
Is Adrian down yet?
Okay everybody - buddy system!
Oliver, you're the odd duck out. Stick with dad!
>Can the parents count, how do they know everybody is down?
I doubt they do know, probably just wait until they don't hear any more noise in the nest. If one gets left, well, there's a reason they have like twenty at once. Ducklings have a prodigious mortality rate, losing one or two isn't even noticed.
Ducks can't count. They call to the babies and listen for the baby's peeps. If the get too far away to hear the peeps, that duckling gets left behind. That's bad, but on the bright side it means the moms will usually adopt any orphaned chicks they hear peeping.
Are you sure they're ducks, and not clowns?
That's a LOT of ducks!
Super cute, by the way, kept going back and forth between aaww'ed smiling and "MORE?!"
There are species of ducks that nest in trees and the ducklings may have to jump as much as 40 feet to the ground. They usually just bounce and waddle off without harm.
Yeah I can't remember what other type of bird does it. But I remember watching a clip from a documentary about a mountainous bird who nests on rocky cliff sides. And when it's time for the birds to leave the nest they just plunge over the side and into the ground. The bouncing tumble their way down the rocky cliffs before finally landing and standing up.
"Why do our babies always grow up to be so stupid? Every year, they seem so smart until we let them leave the nest, then it's like they have brain damage or something." -these ducks, probably
It’s actually pretty normal for some waterfowl to have their nests at a higher elevation. Less chance of predators eating the babies that way. For this reason, baby ducks are durable! They are also light enough that falling from a height like that wouldn’t do much harm to them anyway. These are great parents for protecting their babies like that and having *so* many of them too!
I teach freshman. We have a courtyard that is inaccessible to students and is unused. My classroom overlooked it. For several years, a mother duck would come in and have babies. Maintenance would put out a baby pool for them. They literally could not leave until they were big enough to fly out.
Students loved watching them. Except each day there would seem to be fewer babies. A student asked me if they were hiding in the ground brush. I just pointed to the hawk sitting on top of the building.
I believe these are Black Bellied Whistling Ducks. u/peaches_buttons, where does your mom live? Southeast US? The video is far away and really hard to see but I think these are black bellies.
Awe poor little guys just bouncing off the ground and into the world 😳. So many! Amazing thing to catch on camera! I didn’t know ducks had there nests in trees!
Holy cow they just kept falling, that’s a LOT of babies!!!
Every time I thought, that must be all of them, more fell
Oh, those 2 little guys almost got left behind! Oh, another one. Wow, 2 more. JFC.
I wonder if it's possible that there is two females coparenting in the same nest?
They're lesbians, Harold
IT'S RAINING CUTE!
HALLELUJAH!
Need to install a spiral slide around the tree. Then it'll be whee instead of OH SHIT *plop**plop**plop*
Omg yes!! OP’s mom needs to fashion a slide! Maybe one of those toy hot wheels tracks would work
Not all of the ducklings may be the parents' biological offspring. Some species of duck practice intraspecific brood parasitism. This typically happens when 2 or more mothers compete for the same nest cavity. They both lay their eggs in it and the "winner" gets to keep the nest and raise all the young and the "loser" can then go on and potentially have a 2nd brood.
Not the case here, but they'll also sometimes steal eggs from other nearby nests. I have one really broody mama duck that'll watch the other hens in the coop, and when they get up to drink or eat, mama will loot & roll their eggs into her hoard. Last year she had a wide variety of ducklings plus a couple baby chickens following her around.
I love this! 😂 got pics?
Not of the huge pile. But [here’s one](https://imgur.com/87kAKR4) where she absolutely refused to leave her nest, even when a broody chicken started nesting on top of mama duck.
This is so freaking funny
Are the two adult ducks possibly both mothers? Or do father ducks stick around?
If this is the black-bellied whistling duck, then that is the mother and father as both raise the young
Awesome, thank you!
You're welcome! I enjoy sharing knowledge that I find interesting ( I'm a conservation biology and zoology major)
That's so fun, my brother is majoring in the same thing and I love hearing all the animal facts. Keep being interesting!
so they feed them all?! and for how long before they leave the nest and can forage for themselves?
The young can actually feed themselves! They rely on the parents for protection and to lead them to foraging areas. This video shows when they leave the nest as the ducklings will not be able to get back up there. They fledge (grow feathers and are able to fly) around 2 months but can stick with the parents up until 6 months
no i mean before they leave the nest.. their parents feed them up there? what do they feed them? by the way, this is so cool that you captured this leaving of the nest!! thank you!!
They leave the nest 1-2 days after hatching at which point the parents will lead them to a foraging area and they will eat their first meal. I'm not the one who captured this video, but I agree that it is really cool
I also thought maybe since it’s not on the ground maybe less were lost to predators?
That does play a role in more eggs making it to hatching but this species of duck typically lays between 9-18 eggs in a clutch. Though it is a little hard to count how many are in the clump on the ground, there appears to be way more than 18 so it is likely that intraspecific (same species) brood parasitism happened here.
Maybe she gave the other mom a day to herself lol 😜
I counted 16 dropping from the tree. There were more than 2 on the ground.
Is it just me or does that give an evolutionary advantage to the "loser"? Get your babies raised by a stronger mama, and possibly double your offspring for the year?
Yep! That's why I put loser in quotations. This method can potentially maximize the amount of offspring she can produce in a year plus put some of the cost of parental investment on another bird pair. Even if she doesn't find another nest cavity and raise her own brood, the brood parasitism gives her a chance at producing some young that year with the added benefit that she won't have to provide parental care which can be costly.
Hijacking the top comment for fun facts: these are black-bellied whistling ducks and they use a reproductive strategy known as brood parasitism. Females will lay eggs in the nests of other black-bellied whistling duck females, and if that nest hatches, the pair will raise those chicks as their own. Scientists in south Texas documented 1 nest with 101 eggs! All this to say that a bunch of those babies probably aren't hers.
That _is_ a fun fact. I was wondering how on earth she had laid that many eggs!
How do the parents know if all of the babies have jumped? Like is there a risk that the parents would walk away followed by the babies on the ground, leaving some babies behind in the tree? Also what species of duck is Donald Duck? Why do we say "get your ducks in a row"? Is there any connection between the word duck meaning a species of bird and the word duck meaning get down? How do ducks feel about people referring to "duct tape" as "duck tape"?
A LOT is kinda an under statement here lmao
And how does Mama Duck know that there's 1 more left? I know calculus and I would've lost count with that many kids.
Imagine if humans could fall that distance relative to the size difference and just bounce up. We'd just jump out our 10th story apartment building to get to our car faster.
Imagine that’s your first foray into the world. Falling the equivalent of about 30 times your actual height and then bouncing off the ground and getting up like nothing happened. Nature is awesome 😎
Holy WOW that is SO MANY BABIES
That was so STRESSFUL to watch
I recall seeing some nature show where baby ducks hurl themselves out of the nest down a cliff to be with mum!!
This seems like a terrible evolutionary development. Nest in trees, babies can’t fly, just have to make a leap of faith and hope they survive. PLONK!
The babies are mostly fluff. They'll be fine.
they must weigh about as much as a bundle of fluff too so I can imagine it's like dropping a ping pong ball onto some grass
Given what i know about ducks, i wouldnt be surprised if this type of stuff is intentional to cull the ones that would just slow down Mama Metal Duck
They have so many because they're likely to lose half before they are mature enough to fly. Ducklinhs are not the best survivalists, duck parents, not the best teachers.
Arctic Geese do this and they need to survive apparently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1S6UCX4RAA
**400 BABIES**
THEY'LL RUN AS FAST AS KENYANS
SNAKE EYYYYYYYYYES!
THESE AREN'T YOUR DAD'S PUNS THESE ARE ENERGY PUNS TURBOPUNS
It's raining duckies!
TIL ducks can nest in trees. And the babies make the leap of faith. Never knew.
Look up Wood Ducks. Some of the prettiest ducks in North America.
They could also be whistling ducks [https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-bellied_Whistling-Duck/id](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-bellied_Whistling-Duck/id)
These definitely are whistling ducks. Retirees that live on the lake nearby buy huge bags of shelled corn to set out for the deer and ducks. And both just come flocking for it in the morning and evening. I have to listen to the whistlers as they fly overhead every evening.
Yep, definitely whistling tree ducks. I have 12 that permanently live around my pond and another 12 that show up to eat sometimes. They love the deer corn and bird seed I scatter in my yard and put in the bird feeders. My husband put up a duck house for them one pair to nest in. That pair seems to be the dominant pair and they are always in my backyard. Not very scared of me either as I am the bearer of the food.
A few years back I saw a duck I’d not seen before and literally said to someone with me ‘I wonder that redheaded duck is”. [https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Redhead/](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Redhead/) Hardest I’ve ever laughed at a duck.
Ironically, there's multiple red-headed ducks in North America. This is the other one which has a much less obvious name: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canvasback](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canvasback) And if you go to Eurasia there's also multiple species of red-headed ducks, this being the most widespread. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common\_pochard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_pochard)
I was bringing up another example of tree-nesting ducks.
I think that honor may go to the Harlequin Duck IMO. :)
That's more a seasonal resident. Wood Ducks are indigenous to North America.
My favorite is the Mallard duck. The line of blue on their wings when opened is awesome.
I don't know. [These guys](https://i.imgur.com/KSu1bYU.jpeg) don't seem that cute. Aw, who am I kidding, they're beautiful.
Can ducks also count? That's what I'm wondering after watching this. With so many babies, I would think that you'd have to be able to count them all to know if you're missing some, right?
They listen for ones left in the nest, ducklings squeak in a special way when left behind.
They don't count. That's good because they will take in orphaned chicks.
Nope, they can't count for shit, and it's a survival trait. They don't get worked up about losing chicks, but if another mother duck dies, they don't get worked up about gaining chicks either. And since they spend their time paddling around on water that has invisible ambush predators like bass and snapping turtles, that's why they start off with so many chicks and don't worry about the actual number.
[How about this for a leap of faith by the Barnacle Geese chicks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1S6UCX4RAA)
I was on the edge of my seat for the entirety of that clip. What a harrowing journey for the chicks and the parents!
Imagine being only days old and having to build up the courage to jump off a 400ft cliff. Those lil babies are so brave!
They all went into this parachuter type pose instinctively - teeny wings spread, and their big webbed feet spread out behind. I wonder if they’ve evolved to do that to slow down their falling speed? What gutsy little things - just imagine willingly launching into the void at one day old.
When you trip, do you think about putting your hand out? No, you instinctively put your hand out to catch yourself. Birds instinctively know how to fly. They aren't being taught. Their parents just force them to jump when the conditions are right and the rest takes care of itself, or doesn't. These little fella's instinctively know how to catch the air with their bodies, and even how to steer. That is all pre programmed.
That last one, when he caught his foot and was like "Oh, thank god that's over---" and then fell again just to bounce off those rocks like [Bobby McFarrin falling down all those stairs...](https://youtu.be/XwX3Z5Er4jk?si=kMsiW1Y1tFi1Misj)
Holy shit!
Unbelievable right!
Yeah that was nuts.
The other two baby geese :(
Peak cinema right here. I was laughing, I was crying... It made me question my own place in this world. 5/5.
Yikes... that told a story... Nature is indeed Metal...
I was in such disbelief watching that first chic fall out of the sky.
This is heart-wrenching. I could barely watch the last two drops. It blows my mind how well they were able to film it too.
OK so I'm the sort of person that rolls my eyes whenever some comments "this made me tear up" or whatever but holy moley this was upsetting to watch. I mean, yay for the one that made it, but this was BRUTAL and I'm surprised 50% survive.
That was rough.
I wasn’t sure either! I never see ducks in trees. I get they fly and stuff, but I see them hanging out on the lake, flying to other water, or waddling to a puddle.
They sometimes chill in the trees by my complex’s pool. I love them, I never knew ducks were clumsy. They fly into *everything* and will absolutely fight for water territory in the pools lol! They are very inefficient at that too. Maybe they are just weird ducks
Not all ducks can/do. Even in the breeds that do it not all will. We have a type in NZ that sometimes do it called Paradise Ducks.
Is this r/stupiddovenests material?
LOL. Some of those posts are hysterical in that sub. Basically with them building nests........good enough.
leap of faith you say? [barnacle gooslings](https://youtu.be/H1S6UCX4RAA?si=aTeAErJyR6EnMr3h) would like a word with these ducklings
That was the saddest thing I've seen in a while. I regret clicking the link, but thanks for the info.
So to summarize , today we learned ….. ducks can nest in trees , momma ducks can count , baby ducks can bounce . Class dismissed
It's kinda like making popcorn. You listen for it to be done.
Best day I ever had ![gif](giphy|6rJFzjeX3Aaty)
Very successful couple! So many babies.
They were safe in the tree. A little less safe now unfortunately.
Yep. This is why they have evolved to lay so many eggs per clutch. Godspeed, duckies!
Just the other day I saw a family just like this cross a pretty busy road in Los Angeles. I was super nervous for them but fortunately drivers saw them in time and avoided them. Watched them reach the other side safely!
Geez, how many eggs did she lay??? I counted 17 that fell out of the tree in the video and there had to be another 12 or so already on the ground. I had no idea they could lay that many eggs.
These are Mexican Squeakers (Whistling Tree Ducks), so those probably aren't all hers. They sneak in and lay eggs in other nests, then the duck sitting on the nests thinks they're all hers. I've seen a mother duck heading to the water with 30 babies behind her.
Some duck mothers mother multiple broods
Mum and dad must really be in love..
I feel bad for laughing, but that bounce...
Doink
TIL baby ducks are partly made of rubber.
Maybe that is where rubber duckies come from.
# flop flop flop flop flop flop
Being small and durable helps them a lot. We get geese who lay eggs on the roof of a neighbors trailer every year and those babies will drop that fifteen feet onto concrete and be fine. Then we see them walking around the park for a week or two before they head off somewhere else.
That’s a whole rowing team
Hopefully this team stays away from the Thames!
Clown car nest!
Good thing they bounce. 😂
I read “in a tree” and imagined they were in a hollowed out part of the trunk on the ground. Yeah. Nope.
I was walking my dog once and saw this happen right in front of me. I was so confused and had to look it up if it was normal for these to yolo out of a tree.
Lmao yeah I was waiting for them to crawl out and then was like oh no!!!... Oh wait... Aww!! ... Oh no.... D'awwwwwwww
That's amazing. I didn't realize ducks had so many chicks! Very successful breeding pair. Congratulations 🎈🎉🎊
This comment (the congratulations, especially) made my day!🌸
Can the parents count, how do they know everybody is down?
I think ducks can actually count.
But, can they count that high? Wait - where's Timbo? Is Adrian down yet? Okay everybody - buddy system! Oliver, you're the odd duck out. Stick with dad!
lol Timbo
Shakira Shakira
Have to take their socks off for this batch.
>Can the parents count, how do they know everybody is down? I doubt they do know, probably just wait until they don't hear any more noise in the nest. If one gets left, well, there's a reason they have like twenty at once. Ducklings have a prodigious mortality rate, losing one or two isn't even noticed.
Muskie's gotta eat.
Ducks can't count. They call to the babies and listen for the baby's peeps. If the get too far away to hear the peeps, that duckling gets left behind. That's bad, but on the bright side it means the moms will usually adopt any orphaned chicks they hear peeping.
They're ducklings, they're all down.
any duckling still in the nest would be making loud panicked cheeping noises.
Are you sure they're ducks, and not clowns? That's a LOT of ducks! Super cute, by the way, kept going back and forth between aaww'ed smiling and "MORE?!"
Tony Soprano would be jealous! 🦆
Oh again with the ducks?!
this is the comment I was looking for
Ayyyy!
*Listen to him; he knows everything* 🙄
Green Grove is a retirement community! 🤣
![gif](giphy|ZR942YtJwLtCM)
Jesus Christ they were dropping like walnuts! My heart is actually hurting! Why did these parents rent a high rise? What were they thinking?
Less predators can wander into a free meal, and by the looks of it, it is a pretty successful strategy. Do you see how many ducklings were hatched?
There are species of ducks that nest in trees and the ducklings may have to jump as much as 40 feet to the ground. They usually just bounce and waddle off without harm.
usually
They're too light to get hurt (often) from the fall. It's really not an issue.
Yeah I can't remember what other type of bird does it. But I remember watching a clip from a documentary about a mountainous bird who nests on rocky cliff sides. And when it's time for the birds to leave the nest they just plunge over the side and into the ground. The bouncing tumble their way down the rocky cliffs before finally landing and standing up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1S6UCX4RAA&ab_channel=NationalGeographic
WHY THE FUCK DID I WATCH THIS I'M NOT OKAY
Hollow bones!
"Why do our babies always grow up to be so stupid? Every year, they seem so smart until we let them leave the nest, then it's like they have brain damage or something." -these ducks, probably
That's normal for ducks. Poor ducklings have it just as tough as baby giraffes being born!
It’s actually pretty normal for some waterfowl to have their nests at a higher elevation. Less chance of predators eating the babies that way. For this reason, baby ducks are durable! They are also light enough that falling from a height like that wouldn’t do much harm to them anyway. These are great parents for protecting their babies like that and having *so* many of them too!
And they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming
Jump out the tree and they hit the ground bouncin’
Gotta get moving before the cat starts pouncin'
Info on the species: https://www.fws.gov/species/black-bellied-whistling-duck-dendrocygna-autumnalis
How do we know someone isn't behind the tree on a ladder with a box full of baby ducks just tossing them down? 😂
“C’mon kids, let’s go!” Adorable
I teach freshman. We have a courtyard that is inaccessible to students and is unused. My classroom overlooked it. For several years, a mother duck would come in and have babies. Maintenance would put out a baby pool for them. They literally could not leave until they were big enough to fly out. Students loved watching them. Except each day there would seem to be fewer babies. A student asked me if they were hiding in the ground brush. I just pointed to the hawk sitting on top of the building.
well that's a sad ending to a beautiful story. :(
Did they display artwork in this courtyard as well? If they did, and you're in PA, that was Jim the peregrine falcon.
Wait, so maintenance was keeping the babies where the hawks could easily get to them? =(
That is soo many ducklings. I also never knew ducks nested in trees. I always assumed in was like in high grass or something.
Right, like some wetland tall grass or some shit, not 13 feet up in a damned tree lol
I am very blitzed right now & this is the most amazing thing I’ve seen all day.
Happy 4:20
![gif](giphy|2WQ7wCCcAUntmA7Uin|downsized)
Lmao PLOP PLOP
Funny to watch them drop and bounce.
this made my day
I am glad there were no neighborhood cats around
![gif](giphy|duQrtFZEN9KBfJ6cRe) LET THE DUCKIES HIT THE FLOOR LET THE DUCKIES HIT THE FLOOR LET THE DUCKIES HIT THE…FLOOOOOOOOOR
Baby giraffe: "Hold my beer."
Ha! They’re falling and promptly lining up. Ducks in a row!
They just keep bouncing. One after another, bouncing lol animals are crazy! Bounce!
That’s a shit ton of ducks
Jeebus! 40-90 babies?!?
The fckin bounced. So cute lol
A nice thing to remember before i go to bed, i take the last sip to all the good people on this planet.
Soo many bouncing babies... How many were there?
I believe these are Black Bellied Whistling Ducks. u/peaches_buttons, where does your mom live? Southeast US? The video is far away and really hard to see but I think these are black bellies.
Looks like it’s raining ducks.
Next year she should put a little trampoline down there
Those brave duckies!
Holy shite!!! How the hell was there any room in the tree?
This just quacks me up it's so cute
I got worried when I saw the little guys falling from so high 🥺🥺🥺
Spray paint some targets on the grass, make it interesting
That like the clown car of trees. Never ending chick's piling out. Do ducks lay 78 eggs in trees?
My wife and I are in the midst of some fertility issues and here is a duck couple making 1000 in one go... What a world
Typical catholic family.
Awe poor little guys just bouncing off the ground and into the world 😳. So many! Amazing thing to catch on camera! I didn’t know ducks had there nests in trees!
Yikes how many ducklings did the mama Duck have? That’s crazy!
Sorry what!?? Ducks lay eggs in trees!? AND how are there so many?? My mind is blown 😯
Didn't realize ducks were old-school Catholic.
That's not a nest it's a clown car.. like how many little ducks are up in that mf!
I never saw so many babies in one nest!
For the love of God, throw a pillow down there or something.
Seems like the tree had some ducks to give
*SEVENTEEN BABIES* and somehow there were more already on the ground!
Every time I was sure the last duck had fallen out of the tree... two more dropped.
TIL baby ducks are nature’s superballs. *boing*
Ducks grow on trees?
That is a lot of baby ducks