Mama Duck Desperately Searching for Lost Ducklings on Street Melts Hearts

A video capturing the adorable moment that a mama duck went searching for her “babies” has gone viral on TikTok.
The clip was posted by @recommended_by_becky and has amassed views since it was shared on June 21.
A note overlaid on the clip says “Just a mom trying to find her babies.”
The footage shows a duck waddling around on a pavement, with two little ducklings closely following her every step. The mama duck can be heard quacking away while walking around, appearing to search for her other little ones.
A caption shared with the post reads: “I feel like this is how my mom felt that time when she lost me in the supermarket.”
The bird continues to quack as the search continues before the camera later pans to three tiny ducklings in the distance, scurrying toward their mama.
Reunited with her ducklings, the mama duck stops quacking and is shown marching ahead, leading the pack of ducklings.
A voice in the clip says “She’s happy now…she got all her babies.”
As helpless as the ducklings in the viral clip may have seemed, the baby birds are smarter than you think. According to a July 2016 study published in Science, they were found to be capable of understanding abstract concepts such as “same” and “different,” applying it to objects they’re seeing for the first time without any training or cues.
“Newly hatched domesticated mallards [a species of duck] that were briefly exposed to a pair of objects that were either the same or different in shape or color later preferred to follow pairs of new objects exhibiting the imprinted relation,” explained Antone Martinho, a co-author of the study, running after them in a similar manner to how they’d line up to follow a mother duck.
Ducklings appearing separated from their mother on the ground are best left alone, says the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) of the United Kingdom.
“The mother will know what she’s doing and is best placed to care for her young. Interfering carries the risk of the mother flying away and abandoning the babies,” the animal charity warns.
Baby ducks typically don’t stray very far from their parents, “so the mother will usually be close to them,” notes the RSPCA.
“If the parents don’t return within two hours or are found dead, contact your local wildlife rehabilitation center for advice,” the RSPCA advises.
The scene in the viral clip has delighted TikTok users, who swooned over the tiny ducklings.
Chiksancraft said “My heart is melted” and mcguirekate26 wrote “that’s so adorable.”
Petter Jakob noted “their little pitter patters” and @shesontheluce noted “their little tippy tappy legs.”
Annie O’Brien wrote “She got all her ducks in a row.”
Vernon Dunlea said “ah mummy duck is happy all of her babies are with her now she’s walking so very proud with them bless them all.”
Emma&Thor said “Mamma duck went quack quack quack and all 5 little ducks came back.”
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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