We’ll finish up our avian-themed day with this photo of a calico duck in St. James’s Park. I’ve always wanted a calico cat, but maybe a duck would be a good replacement?

So what kind of duck is this, anyway? To help you, I’ve posted a picture of a sign that allegedly identifies all the waterfowl in the park. I don’t see anything that really matches this duck’s coloring. In fact, I don’t see anything that even has a black head and an orange beak. But I’m not much of a bird person. Feel free to leave your educated guesses in comments.

UPDATE: Consensus is that it’s a common shelduck. But common or not, it’s still very pretty. I think a perfect household would have a pair of calico cats and a pair of common shelducks.

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We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

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