Birdbrained Science: Inhuman ways to love

Happy (early) Valentine’s Day! Are you tired of seeing chocolate-covered strawberries, bouquets of roses and watching everyone post their partners? Me too, so in this special edition of Birdbrained Science, we’re going to look at a few displays of love in non-human species. 

Putting the ‘wing’ in wingman 

If I were to talk about every avian courtship ritual that involves dancing, we’d probably be here until next year’s Valentine’s Day (sidebar: did you know dinosaurs probably had dancing courtship rituals similar to birds?). So, I will only focus on a particular kind of dancing, and that is group dancing. 

Certain manakin species will perform synchronized courtship displays in groups to attract females. These groups typically consist of a dominant, or alpha male and at least one beta male (yes, that is actually what they’re called). Although all the males are involved in the dance routine, usually the alpha is the one who gets the girl (betas later have a higher chance of becoming an alpha — maybe partly due to all that dance practice — so “beta-’ing” for alphas could be an effective long-term strategy for some males).  

My takeaway from this? Get your friends involved in your shenanigans and do a jester dance together. Also, teamwork makes the dream work — but mostly if you’re an alpha male. 

I got (you) a rock 

If you’re on the same side of Instagram as I am, you might have seen something on social media about this already. But if you haven’t, allow me to enlighten you: In some species, male penguins present single females with rocks in hopes of forming a potentially lifelong bond. If the female deems the rock good enough, she will also find a rock, and the two will go back-and-forth finding rocks, which they will eventually use to build an impressive nest. From there, they’ll start a family together.  

Of course, there’s practical, scientific reasoning to all of this. A male penguin who selects a good nest-building rock signals to a female that he will probably be able to find other good nest-building rocks, meaning he can help build a good nest that will protect their offspring. This, in turn, will maximize the chances of the offspring’s survival, thus maximizing the chances that the parents’ genes will get passeddown.   

But even so, I think there’s still something cute and poetic about it. Male penguins offering rocks to prospective partners aren’t just offering rocks; they’re showing the cornerstone of the foundation of their future together.  

And honestly, I can get behind that. If someone got me a really cool rock, I would probably also start a family with them. That’s why we have engagement rings, right?

BFFs: The ‘B’ stands for ‘bottlenose’ 

Shifting away from romantic examples of love, let’s look at dolphins. Some of you might know about my hatred for dolphins and be confused by my decision to include them, but I do have to grudgingly admire them every once in a while. This is one of those cases. 

Male bottlenose dolphins will form pair bonds, where they pretty much just constantly hang out with each other for a long time, sometimes even for life. Males in these pair bonds have an easier go at most things in life than unpaired males, like hunting and reproduction. I think that’s pretty neat. After all, everyone wants to find someone who will do things with you and make life a little bit easier. And isn’t that what friendship is all about? 

I’d give you the skin off my back 

Some of my friends have probably heard me talk about caecilian (pronounced the same as “Sicilian”) mothers before. For those of you unaware, caecilians are a kind of amphibian. They sort of resemble big worms, only they have spines and sometimes (depending on the species) also eyes.  

This specific display of love is considerably less wholesome than the other examples I’ve discussed so far. Maternal dermatophagy, also known as skin-feeding, is found in some caecilian species. If the name didn’t give it away, it’s when offspring peel off their mother’s skin and eat it. During this period, mothers will grow skin rich in lipids, microbes and other good stuff. By eating the skin, caecilian offspring will obtain all these benefits.  

In other words, mothers literally give the skin off their bodies to feed their children. And aside from the simultaneous repulsion and fascination this incites in me, I’ve never quite been able to put into words why that’s always stuck with me. To me, the whole thing feels representative of parental love in general, no matter the species. I’ve always thought of love as involving some sacrifice, but I guess the extent of that sacrifice will always get to me.   

Some people might say I humanized animals way too much in this article. Maybe I shouldn’t be looking to animals to figure out more about love and human relationships. I should respect that there is evolutionary, “survival-maxxing” logic behind every example I discussed here. But I don’t really see why I can’t do both. I can acknowledge that there are scientific reasons behind every one of these cases, and that animals aren’t the same as humans. And I can also look at animal relations and use what I’ve learned from them to reflect on my own relationships and what they mean to me. I hope this article made you do the same.   

So if you’re single and spending this Valentine’s Day alone, just remember there are all kinds of love out there. And so by extension, there is some kind of love out there for you. It might not be traditional, or in any form you’re expecting, but it’s there. Even if it’s not romantic, I hope you have people in your life who you love and who love you. And I hope you celebrate that with them.