"Father's love is like a mountain" in the bird world

After the emu mother lays eggs, she leaves the rest of the task to her father. Photo by Yong Jun

The black swan couple accompanies their children to grow up together, photo by Tan Ge

The water pheasant father brought the baby alone, Wang Suying photo

Our reporter Wu Yun

When I was a child, my father's shoulder was the watchtower for us to see the world; when I grew up, I realized that it is not only the house, but also my father, that can keep out the wind and rain. In fact, in the animal kingdom, there are also some great fathers who take good care of the growth of their children, such as building nests, hatching eggs, and raising babies. The reporter collected some images of "good fathers" in the animal world from Xuzhou Zoo and some bird watchers and bird photographers, paying tribute to all fathers in the world.

"Father's Love is Like a Mountain" Emu

In Xuzhou Zoo, a group of tall emus have unruly "hairstyles" and walk freely and freely. It's hard to imagine that male emus are very conscientious "stay-at-home dads".

Male emus do their best to take care of their children. Generally, after the mother emu lays the dark green eggs, she will act as a "hands-off shopkeeper", and the heavy responsibility of hatching the eggs is completely handed over to the father emu.

During the two-month incubation process, in addition to turning the eggs over to heat the eggs evenly, the father emu almost always sits on the eggs, eats very little, and uses up the nutrients stored in his body to maintain his life. By the time the baby emu hatched, the emu father had already lost a third of his body weight. However, its hardships have only just begun.

After a few days of hatching, the baby emu can walk around with the emu father, and move around for food. For the next year or two, the father emu has been caring for and protecting the chicks and teaching them how to survive. Therefore, the male emu is recognized as a model father, and his father's love is like a mountain.

"Dutiful Dad" Swan

Swans are monogamous, especially loyal, and especially responsible for their children. The first thing they do after finding a partner is to "build a house" to create a warm home for their children.

Unlike the emu father who takes care of the baby alone, the swan couple raises the parent birds together, and the division of labor is very clear and extremely responsible. When the mother swan is incubating the eggs, the father swan will be watching.

In March 2017, Xuzhou Zoo welcomed the first batch of naturally hatched black swan babies. After the couple lays 5 eggs, the male and female swans take turns to incubate the eggs. Of course, most of the time, the mother goose incubates the eggs, and the father goose is responsible for guarding and standing guard. After 38 days of hard incubation, the little swan emerged from its shell.

The swan father followed the mother, guarding the babies, and began to take them into the water the next day to teach them to forage. Their favorite food is the plants in the water and the algae on the shore.

"The little swans that hatch naturally are obviously stronger and smarter, and soon learn the skills of survival." The staff of Xuzhou Zoo introduced.

"Super Daddy" Water Pheasant

Known as the "Lingbo Fairy", the water pheasant not only has amazing beauty, but also the water pheasant's father is a "baby madman". Xuzhou photographer Wang Suying once took a picture of a large water pheasant leading a few small water pheasants to play in the water. When he learned that the big water pheasants were "fathers", everyone was amazed at this fatherly love.

After the water pheasant couple forms a small family, the female bird will "see the difference" soon after laying eggs, accept the courtship of other male birds, and leave the task of hatching eggs and coaxing the baby to "Dad". In summer, the sun is fierce and vicious, and violent storms are often imminent. The male bird must always guard around the egg to shield it from the sun and heavy rain. In addition to severe weather, natural enemies such as snakes, rodents and aerial raptors are also important threats. Whenever there is a change in the surroundings, the hatching male bird will slowly get up from the nest, and the cat will walk to a place far away from the nest, using its body as bait to prevent the eggs from being attacked.

The male water pheasant is definitely a very competent super dad. When there is no danger, it will take its children to forage and play, and live freely in the territory. Once the cub is in danger, the father will immediately open his big wings and let the little water pheasants enter the wings to avoid danger. If the animal that threatens the little water pheasant approaches, the heroic father of the water pheasant will wrap the little water pheasant with its wings and take refuge together, showing a strong fatherly love.

The reporter learned in the interview that among the birds we are familiar with, there are also hoopoe, oriole, magpie, sparrow and other birds. The male birds are all competent fathers, and they nurture their offspring together with the female birds. The researchers found that, unlike mammals that rely primarily on maternal behaviors, male birds exhibit a wide range of paternal behaviors, such as nest building, egg brooding, and brooding, and often even "greatest" parenting of non-blood offspring.

 As the ecological environment of Xuzhou gets better and better, we will see more pictures of warm family affection between animals. Animals are like people. Although many fathers are not good at words, they hold their children as treasures in the palm of their hands and guard them silently. May all the father's love in the world not be absent!