While staying in Sydney last month, I spent a lot of time at the botanical gardens, and, since it was spring, there were ducklings. I watched one family go from sleeping under the tree to swimming in the pond one morning, and I took a lot of pictures.
What follows after the jump is an annotated photo essay in which one duckling is forced to answer the question, “If your siblings all jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too?”
Mama duck wakes up her ducklings to go to the pond. Some are more eager than others.
She leads them right up to the edge.
She demonstrates proper leaning technique just prior to the leap. They stay well back from the edge.
He landed safely, but the remaining two are not convinced.
Mom swims closer for encouragement, while they look for a better jumping off point.
Mom decides they need another demonstration, so flies up again. Meanwhile, the braver of the two makes the jump.
You know you need a close-up of that.
Mom lands by the reluctant one for one last demonstration.
“Do I have to?”
He approaches the edge.
He leans in just like he was shown.
And he’s off!
In case you didn’t catch that, he’s the cute duckling shaped blur.
And he’s off to join the family.
If you need bigger pictures to satisfy your cute cravings, check out the set or revel in the slideshow. Or just browse all the ducklings in flickr.
And that’s what you call the Coalition of the Willing.
i, for one, welcome duckling pictures — this is a well-documented example of how cute, fuzzy young animals learn :)