Duck Family Stuck On Upper East Side Escorted To Central Park

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A mother duck and her dozen ducklings that were marooned on the Upper East Side were chaperoned back to Central Park on Sunday, a feat that coincided perfectly with Mother's Day.

The rescue was set in motion shortly before 11 a.m. when David Barrett, an Upper East Sider who runs the Manhattan Bird Alert Twitter account, received an alert from a follower about a "birding emergency" on East 69th Street just east of Lexington Avenue.

The mama mallard and her ducklings had been stuck on the street for at least a few days, Barrett learned — hardly a welcoming environment for the wetland birds. Barrett quickly dialed the New York Police Department's 19th Precinct, whose officers had already gotten to the scene once he arrived.

The officers herded the ducklings into a carrier but failed to persuade the mother to join them in a police cruiser.

"The mother was still flying around, moving around outside the police car," Barrett recalled. "They didn't want to separate the two."

Instead, the two cops pursued what Barrett called a "brilliant" alternative: walking the carrier to Central Park on foot, allowing the mother to follow behind, guided by her ducklings' peeps.

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The motley crew made their way across Lexington, Park, Madison and Fifth avenues as police stopped traffic and Barrett followed behind, filming. The mother Mallard mostly walked at a brisk pace, occasionally flapping her wings to fly a few feet.

After about 40 minutes, the group entered Central Park near 72nd Street and made a beeline for the Conservatory Water.

"There, on a quiet side of the pond — not in the pond but near the wooded edge — they released the ducklings, and the mother soon reunited with them," Barrett said. When Barrett returned later Sunday afternoon, the family was gliding peacefully along the water.

The successful rescue was made sweeter by the knowledge that the Conservatory Water is one of Central Park's safest spots for ducklings. All seven ducklings raised there last spring have survived and reached adulthood, Barrett said, free from predators such as snapping turtles that patrol other areas.

Their only task: Stay inside the park.

The rescued mother Mallard and her fluffy duckling flotilla are doing fine on Central Park's Conservatory Water now. pic.twitter.com/OfdxfS0pPO
— Manhattan Bird Alert (@BirdCentralPark) May 9, 2021