Photo: Brent Cizek / Audubon
Female Common Merganser and her mob
This female Common Merganser has over 50 ducklings trailing along behind her. The first 10 or 12 behind her are likely her own but the next 40 or so are pick-ups or hitchhikers who have lost their mothers. The photographer of this picture returned a week a later and discovered the string had grown to over 70. The missing mothers may have been preyed upon by raptors or snapping turtles, or become accidentally separated, or shot. It is a surprisingly common occurrence.
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BarrytheBirder
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