Bemidji Photographer Snaps Photo Of Mama Duck With 76 Babies

CBS Minnesota ^ | July 25, 2018

[EdnaMode]

A mama duck in Minnesota has captured hearts across the nation after a Bemidji photographer snapped an image of her leading an astonishing 76 ducklings across a lake.

Amateur wildlife photographer Brent Cizek noticed the exceptional common merganser, which he now calls Mama Merganser, late last month during a photo session on Lake Bemidji

Brent Cizek @brentcizekphoto I'm so proud of Mama Merganser. ❤️

While it’s not uncommon to see a troupe of 20 or so ducklings lining up behind a single hen, 76 of them is another story.

“It was mind blowing,” Cizek told The New York Times. “I didn’t know a duck could care for that many chicks.”

An earlier photo of the same bird was featured by the National Audubon Society, in a July 13 story that explained that ducks sometimes put their eggs in others’ nests and that separated duckling sometimes cling to ducks that look like their mothers.

Still, it’s not quite sure how Mama Merganser amassed such an impressive brood.

“Everybody keeps saying, ‘Mom of the Year,’” Cizek told the newspaper.

A typical common merganser usually has a small flock of about 10 ducklings. The species is found in all season near lakes in parts of northern Minnesota.

[EdnaMode]

[RightGeek]

Whoa!

[Jamestown1630]

I wonder if she took on another brood when something happened to their mother.

[Red Badger]

She must be exhausted.....................

[left that other site]

The baby-daddy is nowhere to be found,and must have ducked social services. He is eider in hiding, or on the low down.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

A slightly different perspective on the story.

https://www.wpxi.com/news/national-news/an-incredible-photo-of-a-hen-followed-by-dozens-of-ducklings-isn-t-quite-what-it-seems/798871825

[EdnaMode]

Thanks. :D

[left that other site]

If he left her, it was a pretty fowl thing to do.

[Rurudyne]

You quack me up.

[EdnaMode]

LOL

[GnuThere]

You mean plural, haha.
I have never seen anything like this, but the other article explaining it was interested.
Great photo.

[kingu]

I keep trying to explain this to my wife, thanks for posting a resource.. Duck daycare for the win.

[Agatsu77]

Awesome picture. Tired mama

[Vaquero]

He is eider in hiding, or on the low down.

[P.O.E.]

Cue the "Tales from the Vienna Woods" music:

[Rebelbase]

Snapping turtle buffet line.

[nickedknack]

Clarity, thanks. It’s communal duckling daycare, called a crèche — the oldest/near oldest hen (great grandma?) cares for the crèche while the other mommas are off doing their thing....finding food, going to the featherdresser, cleaning the nest, having some afternoon delight with the neighbor’s drake.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

There's no way that female could protect all those ducklings from a motivated predator...coming from above, or below.

[Georgia Girl 2]

I'm thinking a few are adopted. Foster care paycheck coming in. 😀

[skr]

It’s more likely that the ducklings adopted her. She doesn’t have to feed them, so there’s no great urgency to chase the extras off.