Within a day of hatching, the mother leads the chicks to water for their first swim. This might seem like quite a daunting task for a new-born, but the ducklings have an advantage – their fluffy feathers are so full of air that they just float and drift (see picture below)! Soon they get the hang of swimming, but are still entirely reliant upon their mother for food. When their ‘fluff’ begins to moult for real feathers (see below) at about a month, the mallard chicks will begin to venture deeper in the pond, following their mother’s example. There they will find tasty things to eat, and begin to fish for themselves, but are still attached to and live with their mother. At this time they can officially be classed as ‘adolescents’ – not fully reliant on their parent for everything. The chicks fledge when they are about eight weeks old.
DUCKLINGS AND ADOLESCENCE
A FEMALE TEENAGE MALLARD FLEDGES THE NEST