A Calgary cab driver rescued a duck and her ducklings from traffic and drove them to the river.

Checker Yellow Cabs driver Urga Adunga found a duck and nine ducklings stranded in traffic at 16th Avenue and Shaganappi Trail on Thursday.

Cab driver Urga Adunga took this photo of the ducks in his cab. (Checker Yellow Cabs)

"I didn't want to pass them because there is no way for them to escape from the road, it's blocked all the way," he said.

So Adunga put on his warning lights and pulled over, then stopped other cars before helping the mother duck.

"The other people, they are very nice people, and they stopped and they helped me get the nine ducklings," he said. "One of the people who helped me was a mother, and she had a backpack for the baby and she tried to put them in there, but we couldn't do it. So I told them to put them for me in the car."

With a cab full of feathered passengers, he drove the ducks to the Bow River. It's a cab ride he estimates to be worth about $21, but of course, it was a free ride.

"It was amazing and I was happy to serve them."

The mother duck was calm during the ride and needed to be shooed out of the cab, while Adunga had to carry the babies out.

Taxi driver Urga Adunga says the cab fare was worth $21, but he was happy to give the ducks a free ride. (CBC)

The ducks all waddled down to the river and Adunga cleaned the seat and continued on with his work, the cab company said in a press release.

"As a human it is our responsibility to protect those animals, and nature and the environment," he said. "I could do it again too. Not only the animals, humans too. We have to rescue each other, we have to help each other."