I know the difference between an oak tree and a fir, and I can tell a squirrel from a polar bear, but I'm not that much of a naturalist. Friday, I saw something about which I had read, but never seen.
Spring is here and the waterfowl are mostly paired. Down at the creek where the ducks and sometimes a few Canada Geese hang out, you see the males and the females sticking close together, two-by-two. In a few weeks, there will be ducklings and goslings following mama into the water, another turn on the Great Wheel of Birth.
This morning, a pair of male ducks. They were behaving just as the male/female couples, off looking for a nesting site. This is the third time I've seen them, and I'm inclined to believe that they aren't fishing buddies ...
Seems like pretty good evidence of biology over sociology vis a vis sexual orientation -- nature and not nurture ...
Steve Perry said:
ReplyDelete> Seems like pretty good evidence of biology over sociology vis a vis sexual orientation -- nature and not nurture ...
Umm, how do you know that that pair of male ducks was not raised by a pair of male ducks?
Well, there's that. Although laying and then hatching the eggs might be tricky ...
ReplyDeleteAt the Newport Aquarium they had a pair of male oystercatchers who weren't interested in the lady oystercatchers. The keepers fostered them some eggs, which the guys hatched and raised to maturity. It seemed to work out fine.
ReplyDeleteTo follow up on what Tiel just said...
ReplyDeleteThere's been a fair amount of work done on such things in birds. It's commoner than you would think. In seagulls it's very common for females to build nests and raise chicks together. They go off and acquire birdy yo-ho-ho from males that they otherwise have nothing to do with.
Yeah, I have read about it, seen the specials on Discovery Channel and all, just never seen it myself until this week.
ReplyDeleteAnd not to mention they taste damn good when properly prepared!
ReplyDelete