If you think that monogamous relationships have gone to the birds, you may be right. The World Wildlife Foundation, estimates that five percent of all mammal species and 90 percent of bird species choose a partner and stick with them for life. Among the loyal and romantic creatures are…
Lovebirds are extremely loving creatures. They don’t like to spread the love around though, instead, according to Smithsonian, these colorful birds mate for life after reaching sexual maturity at around 10 months old.
Coyotes are fiercely loyal to their partners. When researchers from Ohio State University followed 236 coyotes in the Chicago area over a six-year period, they found no evidence of polygamy or of a mate ever leaving its partner while they were still alive. The results of the study, published in a 2012 issue of the Journal of Mammalogy, concluded that “urban coyotes display no variability in their monogamous mating system.”
Oldfield Mice are one of the few rodents known to mate for life, as a paper written by Auburn University zoology professor Michael C. Wooten notes. Though they don’t live long—the average life expectancy of an Oldfield mouse in the wild is less than nine months—bonded pairs will spend their short lives breeding and taking care of offspring.
Beavers give a damn about their partners. According to PBS’s NatureWorks, they mate for life, only seeking out new partners after the death of a mate.
The Bald Eagle seeks out both a mate and a construction buddy. According to the National Audubon Society, bald eagle mates use nest-building to solidify their bond. “The pair continuously add to the structure, so that after many seasons it assumes gargantuan proportions and stands as a symbol of their fidelity.” So much for Benjamin Franklin throwing shade about the bald eagle’s “bad moral character.”
Other creatures committed for the long haul include
Atlantic Puffins
Albatrosses
Barn Owls
Black Vultures
California Condors
Dik-diks
Geese
Gibbons
Gray Wolves
Sandhill Cranes
Seahorses
Shingleback Lizards
Swans
Pigeons
Titi Monkeys