BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 16, 2022
Father’s Day is complicated in the bird world. While most species rely on two-parent care, actual parentage can be questionable. Many birds fool around. Fathers end up raising another male’s offspring. Sometimes it’s because the female snuck off for a quickie. At other times, especially in nesting colonies, the expectation of monogamy is loose. In about 1 percent of the world’s species, the male has sole responsibility for tending the kids. That duty falls on the female about 8 percent of the time. Roughly 9 percent of species shift roles completely. ~ Bob Duchesne