DSC_3218-2These gregarious guys are Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, Dendrocygna autumnalis.  I’ve seen them a few times, and on each occasion, I had to check to see that I wasn’t going nuts.  After my internal double takes finished, I came to the conclusion that I was indeed seeing what I thought it was that I was seeing.

Ducks.  In trees.

This doesn’t seem like a particularly odd sight until you think about it for a second.  So do that.  Think of a duck.  Now, what did you just think of?  Maybe you thought of a flock of floating things swimming all in a row, maybe dipping their heads under the water to get a nibble to eat, maybe you thought of a squat little things huddling on shore, or if you’re a hunter, maybe you thought of a pair of flapping wings hauling tail from lower left to upper right.  But did any of you think of a duck, in a tree?

Well, maybe you did.  Wood ducks, which are pretty common in North America, also hop around wooded areas, and for a good reason.  Would you rather have your babies all exposed on the ground where the nice predators could come eat them the moment you waddle away to go pay a phone bill, or would you rather squirrel them away in a cavity nice and high up in a tree trunk so the salivating mean carnivores would let you run your errands in peace?

If it was me, I’d be up a tree.

I still think it looks weird.