Where is the love?

Couples are breaking up, unexpectedly, in the world of birds. Species known to pair for life — penguins, albatrosses, petrels, warblers, cranes — are falling out over flawed nesting plans, extended migration routes, a failure to raise offspring. The real culprits, lurking in the shadows: altered habitats, the climate crisis

- Anesha George

Divorce rates appear to be rising, in the wild. The factors may sound familiar: house-hunting disputes, long-distance-relationship hurdles, rising stress levels, and the good old "You're a bad parent" fight. Behind it all, the homewrecker really intensifying conflict is climate change.

Amid rising temperatures, degrading habitats and intensifying food scarcities, animals that typically mate for life are finding themselves compelled to leave their partner.

On Australia's Phillip Island, fertility rates are down, and separation rates between penguin couples are shooting up.

In the Falkland Islands, albatross pairs, once a symbol of lifelong commitment, are finding themselves torn apart by longer foraging trips.

Among India's sarus cranes, life has become so hard that the formerly monogamous birds have begun to form trios so they can more effectively raise their chicks.

"For all birds, breeding depends on the availability of nesting sites, nesting material and food. Rising temperatures have affected all three," says biodiversity researcher and bird conservationist Samad Kottur. "This makes monitoring crucial. We need more studies that focus on the conditions that influence breeding in birds."

Take a look at recent studies on how the stresses are tearing feathered couples apart.

Little Penguins The Bass Strait is typically where Little Penguins fatten up ahead of breeding season, and forage for small fish once they've had their chicks.

The waters here are warming fast, however, and food has become scarcer.

Desperate, the tiny penguins (they stand about 1 ft tall) are abandoning their nests on nearby Phillip Island (off the coast of Australia), as they travel further and further in search of food for themselves and the chicks.