Barnacle geese jump off cliffs when they're just a day old.

Barnacle geese jump off cliffs when they're just a day old. Amazing WTF Facts.

INTERESTING FACT


Barnacle geese jump off cliffs when they're just a day old.

In order to keep their babies safe from predators, barnacle geese make their nests on hard-to-reach cliffs that are hundreds of feet high. However, the mother geese can't provide their babies with food in the nest and the newborn birds need to eat within 36 hours of hatching. Therefore, the goslings, who still cannot fly, have to leave their perch, which means jumping from staggering heights when they're just a day old.

While some of the little geese don't survive the ordeal, David Cabot, an adjunct professor at Ireland's University of Cork, told National Geographic that the chicks are usually able to make the jump due to the fact that "they are light and fluffy, often appearing to bounce off rocks as they fall."

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