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About This Quiz
When it comes to monogamy, these animals might just have a leg up on humans! Could we learn a thing or two from them?
Well, that depends on our motivation. You see, animals that mate for life aren't exactly smitten with each other. They don't get butterflies when they see their mate. They don't bring home flowers or show lots of affection. Animals that mate for life really have one thing on their minds... species survival. You see, mating for life ensures that their species will carry on! They breed and breed as much as they can, and when one of the partners dies, the other goes out to find a new mate just time for the next breeding season!
So where is the love? It's found in the sky, in the ocean, and in the woods! Think about wolves for a minute. It's love that creates a wolf pack and the pack protects each other and marks their territory! They grow, reproduce and survive together. Another example is the relationship between black vultures. Did you know that they actually share food with their relatives? It's like a built-in survival mechanism knowing that if you can't find food, at least you have other options, or maybe they just like potluck dinners!
Although it's not 'love' like we know it as humans, there is a method to their mating! There is a natural reason they do it and one that is truly beautiful. Are you ready to check out these mates for life? Let's see if you can ace this quiz and remember... no "cheating!"
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Twente Geese
Trumpeter Swans
Golden Eagles
The golden eagle is one of the best-known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. They build large nests in cliffs and though they may travel up to 70 square miles, they always return in the springtime for breeding season.
Raccoon Dogs
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Raccoon Dogs
Macaws
Turtle Doves
The turtle dove is a migratory species that travels throughout Europe and the Middle East. During the cold winter months, they can be found in southern Africa.
Vulpinis
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Atlantic Puffins
Atlantic puffins breed in Iceland, Norway, Greenland, Newfoundland and many North Atlantic islands. They can be found as far south as Maine in the west and the west coast of Ireland and parts of the United Kingdom in the east. Because they are protective of their nesting sites, they end up living a monogamous lifestyle.
Barn Owls
Albatrosses
Prions
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Cockroaches
Shingleback Skinks
Sandhill Cranes
The sandhill name refers to the habitat where these cranes are found. The Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on the American Plains, is a prime example. Their monogamous lifestyle may be the reason their conservation status is of 'least concern.'
Sea Horses
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Sea Horses
Gibbons
Did you know that gibbons are the fastest and most agile of all tree-dwelling, nonflying mammals? They can make leaps of up to 26 feet, and quickly too - with speeds of up to 34 miles per hour.
Black Swans
Cockatoos
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Linda Schmidt
What are the mates for life shown here?
African Wild Dogs
Red Foxes
Quaker Parrots
Quaker parrots are also known as monk parakeets. These parrots are the only ones who build a stick nest in a tree or on a man-made structure. All other types of parrots us a hole in a tree instead.
Mute Swans
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Orcas
Jackals
Tula Fighting Geese
Coyotes
The coyote is a canine native to North America. The average male weighs between 18 - 44 pounds while the average female is slightly smaller from 15 - 40 pounds.
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Crows
There are many species of crows and they come from the genus Corvus. Also members of the Corvus genus are ravens, rooks and jackdaws. Did you know the main difference between a crow and a raven is simply that crows are smaller than ravens?
Tula Fighting Geese
Schistosoma Mansoni Worms
Gibbons
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LOVE TV
What are the mates for life shown here?
Titi Monkeys
French Angel Fish
Gibbons
Red Foxes
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes and can be found across the entire Northern Hemisphere, from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, North America and Eurasia. It mainly feeds on small rodents, but also target rabbits, game birds, and reptiles.
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MasterAquatics
What are the mates for life shown here?
French Angel Fish
French angelfish come from the Pomacanthidae family. They are found in the western Atlantic Ocean, from New York to Brazil, and also from the Gulf of Mexico to the Caribbean. They live at depths between two and 100 meters.
Titi Monkeys
Sandhill Cranes
Ospreys
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Ospreys
Love Birds
A lovebird gets its name from Agapornis which is Greek for agape, meaning 'love,' and ornis meaning 'bird'). It is a small genus of parrot and is native to Africa.
Sea Horses
Gray Wolves
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MR. Monk
What are the mates for life shown here?
Bald Eagles
Titi Monkeys
Titis live in South America, from Colombia to Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and northern Paraguay. As mates for life, they are territorial and live in family groups that consist of parents and their offspring.
Mute Swans
Gray Wolves
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Bald Eagles
Crows
Mute Swans
The name 'mute' derives from these swans being less vocal than other swan species.The mute swan was first described by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789.
Pigeons
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Macaws
Pigeons
Bald Eagles
Bald eagles are sea eagles. They are found near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply and old trees for nesting. They swoop down and snatch fish straight from the water with their talons.
Raccoon Dogs
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Gray Wolves
Did you know that a pack of these wolves is capable of bringing down an 1,100 pound moose? And what's more is that digestion only takes a few hours, so the wolves tend to feed several times in one day.
Raccoon Dogs
Twente Geese
Schistosoma Mansoni Worms
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Schistosoma Mansoni Worms
Twente Geese
Titi Monkeys
Beavers
Beavers are the second-largest rodent in the world. They are known for building dams, canals, and lodges or homes. These colonies help protect them from predators.
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Love Birds
Albatrosses
Octopus
The octopus is a soft-bodied, eight-armed mollusc of the order Octopoda. Most of them live in solitude when they are not mating. They are also not known to travel far
Titi Monkeys
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Love Birds
African Wild Dogs
African wild dogs have a vast carnivorous diet. They hunt everything from wildebeests to warthogs, gazelles, ostriches, and buffalo, as well as hares, cane rats and foxes. They are hunted however by...lions! ROAR!!!
Crows
Red-Tailed Hawks
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Condors
Condors are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. Two specific kinds of condors are the Andean condor and the California condor. As noted by their names, they inhabit certain areas of Spain and the United States.
Barn Owls
Prions
Red-Tailed Hawks
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Seahorse Conservancy
What are the mates for life shown here?
Barn Owls
Red Foxes
Sea Horses
Sea horses pair up and form bonds during breeding season. Though not all return to the same mate the following breeding season, there are many that show a high level of fidelity.
Emperor Penguins
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Black Vultures
Black vultures can be found from the United States to South America. Vultures receive legal protection in the United States under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.
Emperor Penguins
Gibbons
Brolga Cranes
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Prairie Voles
Quaker Parrots
Albatrosses
Albatrosses nest on remote oceanic islands. Breeding season can take more than a year from laying to fledging, with a single egg laid in each breeding attempt.
Brolga Cranes
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Ospreys
Ospreys are also known as sea hawks, river hawks and fish hawks. They are large raptors and have a wingspan of 71 inches. They nest close to bodies of water to ensure they have an adequate food supply.
Coyotes
Prairie Voles
Golden Eagles
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Anglerfish
Black Vultures
Golden Eagles
Pigeons
Pigeons, who feed mainly on seeds, fruits and plants, are arguably the most common bird in the world. Did you know that pigeon is a French word that derives from the Latin pipio, for a "peeping" chick?
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Coyotes
Bald Eagles
Red-Tailed Hawks
The red-tailed hawk is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America. It is known in the U.S. as the 'chickenhawk,' despite the fact that it rarely preys on chickens.
Black Vultures
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Coyotes
Brolga Cranes
Orcas
Also known as the killer whale, orcas are a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Wild killer whales are not considered a threat to humans, but there have been cases of captive orcas killing or injuring their handlers at marine theme parks.
Sea Horses
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Paddy Jackson
What are the mates for life shown here?
Gibbons
Ospreys
Sea Horses
Barn Owls
Barn owls are considered monogamous, but you could say it's all in the name of breeding. During non-breeding seasons they roost separately. As the breeding season approaches, though, they return to their established nesting site and meet back up with their 'partner.'
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Whooping Cranes
The whooping crane is the tallest bird in North American. Its lifespan is estimated to be 22 - 24 years in the wild.
French Angel Fish
Emperor Penguins
Turtle Doves
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What are the mates for life shown here?
King Penquins
Macaws
Macaws eat a variety of foods, including seeds, nuts, fruits, palm fruits, leaves, flowers, and stems. They even eat wild foods that may be toxic to humans, but they are able to digest - must be all the clay they eat to neutralize these toxins!
Schistosoma Mansoni Worms
King Penquins
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What are the mates for life shown here?
King Penquins
Jackals
The Jackals' most common social unit is a monogamous pair. They defend their territory from other pairs by vigorously chasing intruding rivals and marking landmarks around the territory with their urine and feces. Be careful where you step!
Termites
Tula Fighting Geese
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Shingleback Skinks
Shingleback skinks are known scientifically as tiliqua rugosa. They are short-tailed, slow moving and blue-tongued. They are native to eastern Australia where some people call them 'sleepy lizards.'
Jackals
Bald Eagles
Gray Wolves
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Schistosoma Mansoni Worms
Termites
Termites are among the most successful groups of insects on Earth, colonizing everywhere around the world, except Antarctica. Their colonies range in size from a few hundred individuals to enormous societies with several million. Eew!!
Gray Wolves
Whooping Cranes
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Schistosoma Mansoni Worms
Beavers
Cockroaches
Several Australian species of cockroaches practice acoustic and vibration behavior as an aspect of courtship. They have been observed producing hisses and whistles, and tap the substrate in a rhythmic, repetitive manner when in the presence of a potential mate.
Black Vultures
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Black Vultures
Orcas
King Penquins
King penguins eat small fish, mainly lantern fish, and squid. They are less reliant on krill and other crustaceans than most other Southern Ocean predators. On foraging trips, they repeatedly dive as deep as 300 feet.
Raccoon Dogs
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Trumpeter Swans
Arctic Foxes
Whooping Cranes
Humboldt Penguins
The Humboldt penguin is also referred to as the Chilean penguin or Peruvian penguin. It is native to South America and typically breeds in the coastal regions of Chile and Peru. They are named after the Alexander von Humboldt cold water current in which they swim.
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Black Swans
Black swans are large birds with mostly black plumage and red bills. As monogamous breeders, the male and female birds share incubation and cygnet rearing duties.
Prions
Arctic Foxes
Bald Eagles
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Bald Eagles
Arctic Foxes
The Arctic fox is also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox. Native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, they are well adapted to living in cold environments and have thick, warm fur that is also used for camouflage.
French Angel Fish
Turtle Doves
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Turtle Doves
French Angel Fish
Cockatoos
Cockatoos are parrots of the 21 species belonging to the Cacatuidae bird family, the only family in the superfamily Cacatuoidea. These monogamous birds prefer to eat seeds, fruit, flowers and insects and often feed in large flocks.
Atlantic Puffins
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Crested Penguins
Crested penguins lay two eggs during breeding season, but tend to only raise one young successfully. These penguins have exhibited an odd phenomenon where their first laid egg is significantly smaller than the second. This is the reason why only one tends to survive.
Atlantic Puffins
Love Birds
Gray Wolves
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Trumpeter Swans
The trumpeter swan is the heaviest living bird native to North America, weighing in at 15 - 30 pounds. They also have an impressive wingspan, which sometimes reaches more than 10 feet!
Gray Wolves
Sea Horses
Albatrosses
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What are the mates for life shown here?
Anglerfish
Gibbons
Raccoon Dogs
Raccoon dogs are a group of canids indigenous to East Asia. As monogamous animals, they form pairs in autumn, ahead of their mating season which lasts from February to April.
Condors
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New Scientist
What are the mates for life shown here?
Octopus
Condors
Prairie Voles
Prairie voles live in dry fields that contain a cover of grasses and weeds. They make shallow underground burrows and runways through surface vegetation, and in the winter, they tunnel underneath the snow.
African Wild Dogs
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Animal Planet
What are the mates for life shown here?
Mute Swans
Emperor Penguins
Emperor penguins are the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and are endemic to Antarctica. Their diet consists primarily of fish, but can also include crustaceans, such as krill, and cephalopods, such as squid.
Beavers
Orcas
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Auckland Zoo
What are the mates for life shown here?
Cockatoos
Red-Tailed Hawks
Octopus
Brolga Cranes
Brolga cranes are not considered endangered, however populations are showing some decline, especially in southern Australia. It is the official bird emblem of the Australian state of Queensland.
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