Backyard and Beyond

Bird sex is usually a very brief affair, a quick connection between cloaca. They may make this contact many times over the course of a day, or three, but the actual hookup itself is a matter of seconds. Sperm is transferred without benefit of a penis (except in the case of ducks and a few other species). Someone somewhere has called this the “cloacal kiss,” which is less than poetic if you know your Latin (a cloaca is a sewer). But these Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus smithsonianus) on White Head on Monehegan went at it for a good long while, as bird sex goes, a minute or two. And afterwards, there was some post-cloacal bonding. Meanwhile, this was another situation nearby. The Double-Crested Cormorant flew in to see if, maybe, there were any, you know, eggs! lying around to snack on? The gull made a lot of noise, the Cormorant did a little bobbing and weaving; when the gull refused to budge, the Cormorant flew off.