hello tweetsters.

the other day, i was watching some red-breasted mergansers and i
noticed that the females were doing something weird. many of the
females were asleep with their heads curled over their backs and
buried in their feathers, yet they were paddling along at a moderate
rate of speed. despite this, they were able to stick together in
a loose group without crashing into each other and without crashing
into the dock (for example). how do they do that? were these birds
asleep or were they "cat-napping"?

jus' wunderin'

Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://weber.u.washington.edu/~nyneve/
^~^~^~Graduate School: it's not just a job, it's an indenture!~^~^~