Common Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye aka. "Whistler"
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, USA
December 2015
Member of the Ducks, Geese, and Swans Family
§A Flush of Ducks§

~true bird fact~ Usually when you see a duck with a whole bunch of babies you assume its a family unit, but this isn't always the case. In Common Goldeneyes, it's not unusual for one mother duck to abandon her brood after a few weeks, and for them to join up with the chicks of another. Furthermore, if mother ducks have a territorial fight, the babies will often scatter, and when they return to their parents, sometimes the children have gotten all mixed up. Don't worry though, these ducks end up ok! Or maybe they have some emotional issues to work through, but they can survive is what I mean.

~general bird fact~ How do ducks and other diving birds see underwater anyway? Well, your amateurnithologist just found this out while looking on wikipedia. It's called a Nictating Membrane, and it's basically a translucent third eyelid that can draw over the eye from the side. It turns out tons of animals who have a need to protect their eye, but still see out of it, share this evolutionary feature. It's most common among things that have to go underwater, but lots of stuff has it- birds, sharks, dogs, polar bears. As someone who finds goggles kind of cumbersome, I kinda wish I had a nictating membrane.

Female

Exasperated often
Good at finding bargains, "sale hunting"
Quick to shut down any disagreement or debate

male

Very embarrassing, just look at this dumb thing he's doing right now
Perpetually put upon and beset by misfotune
Doesn't really get it, but tries