Brood of ducklings plummet from tree in Manitoba

It was a short first flight for a brood of ducklings that plummeted from a tree, hitting the pavement with a resounding smack – but one wildlife expert says there was nothing 'fowl' about what happened.

Della Popko caught the strange phenomenon on video outside of her apartment in Portage la Prairie on Thursday.

She said she heard a mother duck quacking, and then all of a sudden ducklings started falling from the tree.

Though the audible thud of each duckling hitting the pavement is a bit shocking, each little feathered fowl is seen getting back up and waddling across the street.

One wildlife expert said this is actually quite common behaviour for wood ducks.

Barret Miller, naturalist and manager of group programs at FortWhyte Alive, said wood ducks do nest in hollow trees or box houses that people put outside.

“It looks like those little guys might be taking quite a beating, but you know what? They can actually fall 80 metres – not feet – metres, down to the ground,” he said. “They are very fluffy. They are very light, so they don’t actually really have a very fast or hard fall.

“A little bit of a bump when they land, they shake it off and they start following mom to the water.”

Watch the full video above.