Exploring Nature: Love is in the
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Birds do get lovey-dovey and have many ways to show how much they care for one another.
Atlantic puffins rub bills to demonstrate their affection. By the way, these little birds flap their wings up to 400 times a minute in flight — that’s impressive. Of course, it pales in comparison with a hummingbird, which can beat its wings at 50 times a second.
Sandhill cranes have active courting rituals; they whoop, dance, jump and extend their wings, which can stretch to seven feet wide.
California condors are not prolific egg layers — a couple will produce only one egg every one or two years. They also wait until they are six to eight years old before they find a mate.
Male barn owls are very considerate and will pamper their mates by delivering food to them.
Bald eagles work together to create big nests. In 1963, a pair of eagles built a nest near St. Petersburg, Fla., that was nine feet, six inches wide and weighed an estimated 4,400 pounds. That was a Guinness World Record.
Some old birds still produce young chicks. Wisdom, a 74-year-old Laysan albatross, is the oldest banded wild bird in the world. She hatched an egg recently with the help of her mate, Akeakamai.
Crows are very socially oriented, and during breeding season, the young from a previous year’s brood will help raise the next batch of fledglings. Crows also gather in winter flocks that number in the hundreds of thousands — they are obviously very gregarious birds.
Here’s hoping you find an affectionate mate who will stick by you in old age. Everyone can use a little affection now and then.
