Valentine’s Day Special – Purity of love takes wings with feathered friends

But humankind yet to learn the value of flocking

Ratna Venkat

This year’s Valentine’s Day focuses on love in the air, literally!

Love, as per human understanding, has always been a fascinating subject; simple, yet complicated, emotional, yet dramatic.

However, love in the world of birds is simple and unadulterated, which is why writers and thinkers have since long looked up to them as sources of inspiration when penning their poems, stories and songs – evidence of the fact that birds have been, and will always be, the chosen representatives of Love.

The Three ‘C’s

In describing the essence of love, the inclusion of birds in literary and visual works makes perfect sense, as there are few creatures of such beauty that exemplify courtship, companionship and commitment.

Birds have the freedom to fly wherever they wish and yet continuously return to their sole beloved with whom they have built a partnership, a home and a family.

Seagulls, ducks and geese are examples of ‘traditional birds of love’ as noted by poets that are known to remain faithful to their partners for life, even if death does them part. This is perhaps something that hunters should consider before shooting ducks and geese?

Love has no language

Our use of language today indicates how birds have inevitably crept into our conversations on love, with certain phrases potentially bridging the gap between the avian and human species.

Sometimes, a lover may affectionately giggle at the other’s “duck lips,” which could be followed by a “peck” on the cheek or mouth.

At other times, a couple of friends may be jokingly called “lovebirds” or that they may seem “lovey-dovey.” Such ‘bird-like’ expressions on the concept of love have been culturally embedded into the human psyche over thousands of years, due to the influence of art, literature and even science.

Another example is the ‘Birds and the Bees’ euphemism that is still used as a common phrase to explain the biological principle of love.

Virtuous monogamy

In my eyes, lessons on pure and everlasting love can only be learnt in the bird world where monogamy is treated as a virtue.

If one abides by the theory of evolution and mate selection, polygamous relationships and having an ‘Alpha Male’ is the norm for our close primate cousins consisting of apes and monkeys, which makes sense as early humans are believed to have practiced polygamy as well.

Hence, I believe that our feathered friends are true patrons of Valentine’s Day as concepts such as being in love, whole-hearted devotion to one mate, shared responsibilities and even gender equality have all been perfected by them long before the advent of human civilisation and societal insistence on monogamy took place.