a bird mourns for his mate

[namvet]

The pictures below are of a very determined bird trying to save his injured mate who has been mortally wounded.




He brings her food, attending her with love and compassion ...



Despite his care of her, her injuries prove fatal and she dies. Repeatedly, he pulles and shakes her trying to bring her back to him.




Finally ... realizing his mate is beyond any more help he tries giving her His help and concern turn to mournful and pained cries ...




Eventually he quiets and stand silently by his dead mate

I am curious to know what you think about this series of images. Certainly, it is heartbreaking to view them through the lense of human emotions, but I do wonder about the emotional lives of animals, especially highly social and intellectually complex animals, such as birds. It is doubtful that birds think about (or obsess about) death as humans do, but does that mean they are less affected by death when it happens to a close companion?

I guess this is one of the many great mysteries that we will never really know the answer to.

link

[Des]

Wow...that's pretty powerful and thought-provoking. I think animals feel and react to a lot of the same emotions people do. I think, because we are able to communicate, compare, and analyze our emotions...it makes things different for us. I can feel anger, and it might be the same exact feeling my dog has when I tell him he can't have a treat or whatever, but I know why I'm angry and I can choose to act on it, he doesn't know why and doesn't have anyone to "talk to" about it. A person losing a loved one is different from the bird because a person would have more thoughts about it, more complications, and support from other people. A bird would just have to continue living. If that makes sense.