Owl mistakes duck egg for its own, ends up raising a duckling
Laurie Wolf, from Florida, is engaged in beginner photography, and recently saw something quite unusual. At first it looked like an owl chick, but it was still a duckling.
Shortly before that, the Wolf couple set up houses around their house in Jupiter, Florida, where birds can be housed. While carrying the eggs, she noticed a duck. She was very interested in why this unusual duo hangs out in the same place.
Laurie Wolf
As Wolf told The Dodo, it was not entirely clear to her what it was about, she thought it was an owl baby. She watched the place for a while, and then this amazing duo appeared. It was hard to believe that this was true.
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Laurie wasnβt sure what would happen to the ducks, so she decided for her safety to move her. But that was clearly not necessary because the owl considered her her own. It was then clear that the duo actually had a very close relationship.
Laurie Wolf
Soon the duck jumped out of that place, but thatβs a perfectly normal thing with them. Ducks normally leave the nest after less than a day after hatching.
Laurie Wolf
Christian Artuso, the Manitoba director of Bird Studies Canada, said this does not usually happen. What is most surprising is that the owl treated the duck egg as if it were hers. However, it often happens that a wood duck leaves its eggs in another nest.
This is mainly to increase their chances of passing on genes, as there is a chance that they will lose some of their eggs due to predators.
