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Tiny Chick Jumps From 400-Foot Cliff To Be With Parents And Survives (Video)

by Gillian Fuller

Parents are supposed to be the Holy Grail of knowledge and wisdom. As children, we’re expected to do what our parents say and listen to their advice; as adults, we know that they’re pretty much always right, so we willingly follow their lead.

That said, some parents are f*cking whack.

Case in point: barnacle gosling parents, which encourage their newborn chicks to leap off a 400-foot cliff to escape predators and to find food.

Mind you, the gosling chicks can’t fly, so when they’re jumping, they’re really jumping -- free falling, even.

Usually on their descent down the rocky cliffside, the baby birds end up slamming into the rock, which is horribly painful to watch but a part of nature (and they often do survive).

If you’re interested in seeing this weird phenomenon, check out the video up top, captured by David Attenborough in Greenland.

Next time you’re mad at Mom and Dad, just be grateful they didn’t push you off a cliff when you were a baby. Because they could have. And your fate wouldn’t have been as lucky as these birds’.

H/T: Sploid