Hello, I'm hoping someone will be able to help me as I have Googled and Googled to no avail! Once a mallard's eggs have hatched and the ducklings are ready to leave the nest, how does she sense where a good water source is if she's had to nest further from one than she would have liked? Obviously she needs to walk with her ducklings rather than fly so how does she find a river/pond/lake if she's a couple of miles from one and can't rely on spotting landmarks etc?
I can't answer that myself but found this useful article 'How does wildlife find garden ponds' which might be relevant. Apparently 'many flying animals look for the light or sound reflected by bodies of water' while other use their sense of smell
Thanks so much for your reply. I've found info on duck navigation in the air but nothing on how they navigate to water when on the ground.