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We're all grown ups (or, "grups," as it were) so we can dispense with the "birds and bees" nonsense. Like any organism that reproduces sexually, birds need to find a mate with whom to fuse their reproductive cells. I photographed this lovestruck pair of Tree Swallows providing a perfect illustration of avian intimacy.
The female is positioned receptively, and the male approaches.
Most birds do not have the distinct external reproductive organs that mammals have. Instead, birds have a single posterior orifice known as a "cloaca." In males, this cloaca becomes engorged during mating season. The two individuals touch their cloaca briefly in a "cloacal kiss," like so:
The whole process only lasts a few seconds. But there's still some time for pillow-talk, apparently.
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