Why the ducklings as soon as they hatched follow their mother naturally or the fake duck in an experiment.?

Question

This is the question related to animal behaviour.

Answer 1

It is called imprinting, which is phase-sensitive in the sense that this happens at a particular period of life when the young mimics and follows the mother or father, through some stimulus. It is better known as filial imprinting. For details see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imprinting_(psychology)#Filial_imprinting

Answer 2

Such behaviour has evolved over millions of years: those ducklings which followed the first thing they saw (usually their mother) had a higher survival rate(she led them to food and protected them) than those which didn't (predators or starvation weeded them out), so they managed to mature and reproduce, with their progeny inheriting that characteristic.

Answer 3

Its called fillial imprinting. You should read "King Solomon's Ring" by Konrad Lorenz he did extensive studies on this kind of imprinting.

Excerpt from Wikipedia... The best known form of imprinting is filial imprinting, in which a young animal learns the characteristics of its parent. It is most obvious in nidifugous birds, who imprint on their parents and then follow them around. It was first reported in domestic chickens, by the 19th century amateur biologist Douglas Spalding. It was rediscovered by the early ethologist Oskar Heinroth, and studied extensively and popularised by his disciple Konrad Lorenz working with greylag geese. Lorenz demonstrated how incubator-hatched geese would imprint on the first suitable moving stimulus they saw within what he called a "critical period" of about 36 hours shortly after hatching. Most famously, the goslings would imprint on Lorenz himself (more specifically, on his wading boots), and he is often depicted being followed by a gaggle of geese who had imprinted on him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imprinting_%28psychology%29

Konrad Lorenz book.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Solomon%27s_Ring_%28nonfiction%29

Answer 4

They have an instict to imprint on the first moving thing they see. Konrad (or Karl?) Lorenz did a lot of work in this area. Do a search on him.

Answer 5

They imprint with the first thing they see and will follow it until they can be on their own.

Answer 6

Because the fake duck's quack doesn't echo, LMAO.

Answer 7

They have an instinct.The first creature that they see is they're mother.(that's they're theory)

Answer 8

this is an instinct behavior. Bears instinctively know when it is winter, therefore they know when to hibernate.