These Ducks Return to the Same Hospital Every Year and Parade Down the Halls

Make way for ducklings!

Every single year for at least a decade, a mother duck and her children have been visiting an upstate New York hospital for an annual parade.

The mother uses her beak to tap on a glass door at The University of Rochester Medicine's Thompson Health. Employees let her in, and that begins her march through the facility with her 13 ducklings.

Thompson Health wrote about it on Facebook: “A mama duck chooses one of the enclosed courtyards at our M.M. Ewing Continuing Care Center to lay her eggs and take care of her babies...and this morning, it was time for this annual rite of spring."

In one picture, hospital staff can be seen guarding the ducks down the hall with large poster boards.

The parade seemed to delight those on social media, as well as those at the facility.

“Thumbs up for caring so much!!!! LOVE stories like this!!! Hope it never changes!!!....” one man wrote.

“Tough job, but hey someone has to do it,” said another.

When the ducks are done trotting around the hospital, the family heads out to a park near the facility, which is located near a lake.

According to Ducks.org, migrating birds use visual and non-visual signals to find their way, including the sun, polarized light, the stars and landmarks. Some birds like to return to the same place every spring, where food is available in a quiet, peaceful setting.

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