Calmly and patient I have approached these dormant ducklings and even though the mother had an eye on me, they have slept on. But when in the distance a dog came into view, the mother gave one tone, and this was enough that the chicks were on alert.
These ducks are precocial, meaning they are already highly developed at hatching, leaving the nest after six to twelve hours and they can swim from the beginning. In the first hours of their lives they follow that individual that they see first. In most cases, that's the mother.
