When Brent Cizek, wildlife photographer, purchased a small boat in the winter of 2017, his intention was to capture the beautiful world in the northern part of Minnesota and make amazing photos from animals in their natural habitat.
And, indeed, he took one of the most adorable shots ever- a mother duck being followed by more than 75 ducklings. Is this possible?!
The photo went viral after he shared it on his Twitter and Instagram. Let’s find out more…
The Day when He Took the Beautiful Photo
While driving with his boat, he saw something that seemed as bevy, but as he approached further, he saw a mother duck and ducklings, a lot of them.
The closer he got, the more he got excited as he never saw something like this-that many ducklings.
He knew this was an once-in-a-lifetime chance for a photo, so, he took as many shots as he could, hoping they’ll turn out well.
At first, he thought there were fewer ducklings, but when he looked at the photo better, he could count 76 babies!
Could One Duck Have that Many Babies?
Seeing a lot of ducklings with one mother isn’t an unusual thing; however, they’re usually 20 or 30, but 70-plus is definitely extraordinary.
The photo which has been shared among bird conservationists and also featured on the National Audubon Society’s website is the ideal example of a common natural phenomenon.
He says ‘it was remarkable’. Probably, this wasn’t just a single brood, but rather a mixed family. These babies couldn’t all be all hers as she’s a common merganser, a duck that lives in freshwater lakes.
Female common mergansers are able to lay up to dozen of eggs or so. But, here’s a twist- a common mergansers doesn’t incubate solely their eggs. According to experts, they “dump” the eggs in other nets hoping to spread their offspring and increase their survival.
Some birds, including common mergansers and ostriches, raise their little ones in a day care system known as crèche.
In a crèche, the females leave their babies in the care of one duck, often an elderly female that has experience in raising ducklings. So, she’s kind of like their grand-grandmother.
Be that as it may, this is definitely the mother of the year, right?
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