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# Adorable Duck Family Steals Hearts at Frick Museum
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/adorable-duck-family-steals-hearts-at-frick-museum/
- Published: 2026-06-17T19:13:03.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-17T19:14:38.000Z
- Description: What the Frick? More like what the duck!
- Author: Rhea Nayyar
- Tags: News, New York, Frick Collection

Knicks in 5? The Frick Collection raises you “Ducklings in 11.” A darling mother duck and her 11 precious ducklings stole hearts at the Upper East Side museum after they were spotted paddling around in the reflective pool at the institution's 70th Street garden last weekend. 

The Frick Collection debuted the family of mallards in an [Instagram post](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZqDeXVmihP/?img%5Findex=2&ref=hyperallergic.com) yesterday, June 17, showing off their swimming skills and silly antics in a carousel of images and videos. The museum's engineering team even fashioned a little poolside ramp for the ducklings to use to get back to land. A spokesperson for the museum mentioned to *Hyperallergic* that mama duck had been spotted around the pond over the last six weeks. 

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An art handler's dream

With mama leading the way, the family traversed 5th Avenue and made it safely to a nearby pond in Central Park. Apparently, it's a storied [tradition of over 20 years](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/04/nyregion/urban-studies-waddling-make-way-for-frick-lings.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) for a pair of mallards to temporarily leave the park and start a family at the Frick's 70th Street garden. 

The museum said on Instagram that the ducks have returned at last since the building [reopened](https://hyperallergic.com/what-the-frick-changed/) last spring after a five-year renovation. 

Considering that a nesting seagull became an [overnight celebrity](https://hyperallergic.com/a-nesting-seagull-becomes-an-unexpected-star-at-the-venice-biennale/) at this year's Venice Biennale, where the bird laid eggs outside Poland’s pavilion in the Giardini, it's safe to say that the art world has some fly competition. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/TFC_Ducklings_2026_2.jpeg)

No words, only !!!!!!!!!!!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/TFC_Ducklings_2026_3--1-.jpeg)

Doctors say that blood pressure goes down when you look at this photo for five minutes or more. Make of that what you will.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/TFC_Ducklings_2026_4.jpeg)

Keeping calm and paddling on in Central Park