Birds and Emotions

There are lots of arguments about whether animals other than humans can feel emotions. Science tries to differentiate instincts and feelings, which most animals act due to instincts. However, one special species that I would compare to us would be far down in Antarctica, Emperor penguins.

If I had to pick out animals I would be sorry for, it would be emperor penguins because of the grueling tasks parents go through during breeding season. Breeding season starts around April, as that is a warm period in Antarctica. The whole process of raising a chick for emperor penguins typically lasts around 9 months, depending on how the parents see their child.

It is up to the parents to decide whether their child can survive on its own based on how they see its growth. After raising their chick, they leave their child and molt, replacing old feathers with new. This process is important is it enables them to hunt for food and prepare for the next breeding season.

In science, a mother who is pregnant would develop care for her child. This is known as a maternal bond. Would this be considered instinct because of hormones developing at their will?

Of course, humans are self-aware of their actions, which is what makes us unique compared to other species. However, we aren’t able to communicate with other animals or can we enter their minds.

Many people may not know, but emperor penguins walk around 31-75 miles to get to breeding grounds. Traveling with such stubby feet in the barren cold wasteland is something that not anyone would do.

I mentioned about maternal bond, however, emperor penguins prepare for breeding season before they even mate, so what causes them to love their child before even the mother is pregnant? There is no scientific answer to solve this at the moment, but what is the purpose of emperor penguins, are they just designed to breed? What do they do for fun?

Luckily, another reason why emperor penguins are so identical to humans is their way of socialization.

Emperor penguins are highly social animals, especially the young chicks. As they develop their soft grey fur, they tend to meet other chicks and create a gang, which sounds relatable to kids nowadays. They venture off and become curious about the world as they were kept under their parent’s fur. Emperor penguins start to breed around the age of 3, so these kids can do whatever they want. Almost like adults having to work and kids enjoying life.

This isn’t even the best of it, as I arrive at the most popular debated scene of emperor penguins mourning for their lost one.

A popular scene from BBC documentary Penguins: Spy in the Huddle, managed to bring debates between many scientists battling out if it was the case.

According to John Marzluff, a professor of avian social ecology and wildlife science at the University of Washington. “I see a response to a chick that is not responding, so the mother keeps trying the typical things” (Cudmore).

The mother being unaware of the chick’s death is unlikely, as emperor penguins have great vision, being able to see underwater and catch fish at insane speeds. I would rather say that the mother cannot accept the loss of her child.

For Marzluff’s opposer, Barbara J. King, an anthropologist at the College of William and Mary and author of the 2013 book How Animals Grieve, sees things differently to her, the mother’s nudging of the tiny body with her bill, the vocalizing, and the camaraderie of her female companion all hint at something akin to grief. But to be scientifically sure, she argues, it would need to last longer. In clear cases of grief, she says, “we should observe prolonged signs of altered behavior in the survivor” (Cudmore).

One reason why I like her statement is that she believes that the emperor penguin that is possibly mourning is going through grief that a human would. Griefs would have stages, one video isn’t enough to prove whether it is actual mourning, but maybe at least a month of observation, or until the next breeding season.

But according to Marzluff, proving grief would need to be measured through the vista of a brain scan for hard evidence (Cudmore).

Ultimately, King points to Kohl and Harper, two domestic mulard ducks that were brought to a New York-based rescue sanctuary in 2006. Both suffered an awful liver disease that resulted from their rougher days of force-feedings at a foie gras farm. Over the following four years, the ailing duo cultivated a very close relationship. “Ducks are social birds, but even so, the intensity of their bond was unusual,” Eventually, Kohl’s injuries got the best of him and he was euthanized. Harper was by his side. After Kohl passed, King notes, “Harper kept pressing up against Kohl’s still body. Eventually he lay down and placed his own head and neck upon Kohl’s, resting in this somber position for some hours. Two months later, Harper passed away as well” (Cudmore).

Even without a machine, can we not believe based on empirical data? Penguins may not have the ability to shed tears, however, imagine them as humans with missing features. They are like us but in tuxedos and lacking in our physical appearance. Yet the parenting displayed is what humans can learn from.

Bibliography

Cudmore, Becca. “Do Birds Grieve?” Audubon, 14 July 2016, https://www.audubon.org/news/do-birds-grieve