Duck-on-duck-on-duck action

I caught these domestic ducks illustrating a word that rhymes with duck.


Run! Run to jump on the pile!

They don't even seem to care who's on the bottom.

Too bad there isn't a bird that rhymes with "orgy."

Speaking of sex with ducks, Tom found an entertaining music video about that very topic. It rhymes "puddle" and "cuddle," and like ducks themselves, it's cool with gay marriage.

Hybrid Love!

Remember earlier when I wrote about the domestic-Canada goose hybrid pair? Well, it looks like they may have had some success in the baby department:

But wait! A THIRD goose is accompanying them as well! Which of these geese is genetically responsible for the babies? Until they make it onto an episode of Goose's Court, where Judge Goosy can require a paternity test, only they will know for sure!
Multiple adults caring for offspring is not uncommon in the bird world. (And in fact, not too long ago I posted about the group of 6-8 geese that seemed to be raising their goslings all together...) Sometimes one of the adults is a pair's child from a previous year. Other times, unrelated adults form cooperative groups. Recent studies that analyze the DNA of the young of supposedly monogamous pairs indicate that having a little something on the side is actually quite common in birds. More than half of a given clutch could be somebody else's! So, it's a strong possibility that this group of goslings are all candidates for My Two Dads. Either way, the young of such a group benefit from the extra Wii games and candy bars provided by a bonus relative.

Speaking of hybrids, I spotted this shocking scene taking place inside the Bird Dome:

Domestic-on-wild mallard action! But WAIT. That distinctive green head and yellow beak of the bottom duck signify a mallard--a MALE! Shouldn't he be on top? What's going on here exactly?

We can't know the sex of the white duck for sure, but cases of male-on-male duck action are documented in Blue Ducks and also, believe it or not, in alive-on-dead mallards, so this scenario is not that implausible. Some studies suggest that animals in captivity are more likely to engage in same sex coupling, perhaps as a stress release, possibly due to a shortage of the preferred sex, or because they're bored since they don't have cable in there. Or maybe they just like it that way.

Want more detail? Try this article from Scientific American:
Bisexual Species: Unorthodox Sex in the Animal Kingdom

As a side note, I installed Google analytics on my blog and found that I got the most hits on the day I posted the pigeon money shot. Wonder if this post will cause another spike? I might even reach a record *13* page views!

A rude cloacaning

For weeks now, there have been signs that the pigeons of the lake are Up to Something Suspicious. There's been Neck Puffing... Obnoxious Cooing...

...Tail dragging... Circle Spinning...

But I never could catch the rascals in the act... until yesterday! BAM. Money Shot:

I saw these two covertly "Billing" each other, and my Pidgey-Sense started tingling. I barely had time to turn on my camera before the pigeons leaped directly from First Base to a Home Run. This tender scene lasted all of two cloaca-grinding seconds before they were back to pecking innocently at invisible seeds, nary a blush to be seen on their feathery cheeks.

Since the dude pigeons seem to court any lady in the area, I'm not sure when exactly love leads to marriage/baby carriage, but at some point, Birder's Handbook indicates that they do become monogamous and both pigeons incubate and care for their young.

Pigeons often nest on ledges, especially under roofs or bridges. They don't seem to mind tight spaces, and can even pile sticks right on top of those spiny things put up to dissuade them.

I don't think the eggs in this nest have hatched yet, but I'm keeping an eye on it; my book says it will take 16-19 days. The pigeon family is one of the few that produces "crop milk" to provide protein to their hatchlings. That might be one reason why they develop so quickly and can breed a mere 6 months after hatching--they drink their Milk! It does a pigeon body good.

All the little beesies all the little bearsies never walk in threesies always walk in pairsies...

It's that time again:


Squirrel humping time! (Lydia took this picture--isn't it great?). I recently read in Hannah Holmes' book Suburban Safari that the reason you will often see stumpy tailed squirrels is that during the spring mating frenzy, several males will chase the same female and bite off each others' tails in their eagerness to get to the front of the line.

And squirrels aren't the only ones. Canada geese are getting mighty feisty as they defend potential nest sites (including one pair I saw on top of a chain link fence enclosing the water main. Pretty sure that's not gonna work, guys.) Last year, I saw a goose which was almost certainly a hybrid domestic goose/Canada goose. And this year I think I found its parents:


Other animals have made a bit more progress on the romance front, and are already building nests. Double crested cormorants are back at the lake with a vengeance, and some of them are sporting some very Doubleicious crests! They're shy though, so they only let me take pictures of them carrying their damp sticks when they're safe in their nest tree on Bird Island. Can you find Waldo--the cormorant with a stick?

And SOOOME birdies have already MADE their babies. Hummingbirds nest early, apparently so that their nestlings can fly long before hungry jays come looking for a snack for their own babies.
This isn't a great shot, but the baby is on the left looking straight up. Mom is on the right. And if these hummingbirds are going to continue being super fast while hiding in the dark canopy of a tree, that's probably the best I'm likely to get!


And of course there's mallards. They've been acting super crazy, with males chasing females through air and water while quacking up a storm. Mallards have some very disturbing reproductive biology which you can read about here. Once your jaw is back in place, enjoy these... DUCKLINGS!


(not pictured here are the FIVE drakes which were STILL chasing this lady about.)