In a natural setting, all the eggs in a duck nest usually hatch within a few hours. Shortly after all the ducklings have hatched, and periodically thereafter, the mother duck will lead them all to a food source and then back to the nest to rest. Given this situation, which ducklings are most likely to imprint on their mother?(1 point)

Question

Responses

Only those that are over one day old
Only those that are over one day old

All ducklings will eventually imprint because of the repeated activity during the critical period
All ducklings will eventually imprint because of the repeated activity during the critical period

Only those that are less than 6 hrs old
Only those that are less than 6 hrs old

Only those that are 10-18 hrs will successfully imprint.

Answer 1

Imprinting in ducks typically occurs during a critical period shortly after hatching, often within the first few hours of life. Given the scenario where all the ducklings hatch within a few hours, the most likely response is:

Only those that are less than 6 hrs old.

Ducklings are most likely to imprint on their mother immediately after hatching, which usually happens within the first few hours. The other options do not align with the typical timing and nature of the imprinting process in ducks.