Oil on Panel - 4 x 4 inches
This is my oil painting of a female Common Goldeneye, a diving duck.
An interesting fact about this bird is that it sometimes lays its eggs in other goldeneyes' nests. In other words, this duck exhibits conspecific (same species) brood parasitism, an alternate form of breeding.
Just how these birds pick which nests to parasitize has been studied, and it turns out these birds care more about the characteristics of the nests than who they belong to – just as long as they are another Common Goldeneye's.
Successful nests that are used year after year are recognized by female goldeneyes and given priority in June and early July, after the broods have left for the season. The following year, the earlier these nests can be parasitized, the higher the probability of chick survival rates.
Stay wild, my friends.
References
Paasivaara, A., Rutila, J., Poysa, H., & Runko, P. (2010). Do parasitic common goldeneye Bucephala clangula females choose nests on the basis of host traits or nest site traits? Journal of Avian Biology, 41(6), 662-671. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40958912
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