Today Eagle Eyes and I dissected a dead male robin. While looking for the kidneys we stumbled across these gigantic white organs. Befuddled, we initially mistook these for kidneys, but upon cutting them open realized they were in fact testes! (FYI the kidneys were more dorsally located and much, much smaller than the testes.) During the breeding season, the male's testes apparently enlarge to the size of his heart (see above). I knew from Lisa Myer's evening Audubon class on bird sex that a bird's gonads enlarge enormously during the breeding season and atrophy the rest of the year to make flight easier. But seeing this really brought it home for me. (As an aside, how many people do you know who have taken a class on bird sex-- "Everything you ever wanted to know about bird sex but were afraid to ask"? Yes, I can hold my own at cocktail parties. For example, did you know that when birds copulate it is called a cloacal kiss because there are no external male parts?)
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