Why Do Birds Fall in Love?
Bickering Hummingbirds and Devoted Albatrosses Can Teach Us a Thing or Two About Courtship and Commitment
On Valentine’s Day, our thoughts inevitably turn to the birds and the bees. And as someone who studies birds, I can tell you our feathered friends have much to teach us about courtship and sanity.
Take hummingbirds, for example: If you know anything about them, you might think it would be a pretty cool existence.
Hummingbirds are the only birds in the world that can fly backward. They’re the fighter jets of the bird world. But have you ever watched hummingbirds fight with each other? They’re vicious.
At my home in Oregon, my …