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Researchers are University of Oxford in the UK found have just recently revealed that the word "lovebirds" may not actually be metaphorical but literal. Scientists found that the wild birds behave in a certain way when in love. While studying the mating pairs of Parus major or the great tits, the researchers found out that these small birds did not really care about food when they wanted to stay close to their beloved partners. In the recent paper published in the journal, current biology, the researchers from the department of Zoology at Oxford say that their study is conclusive proof that shows how the great tit's foraging behavior is influenced by love, reports The Christian Monitor.

According to the Telegraph, birds believe in exclusive mating partners for many seasons, just like humans. The great tits are willing to forsake food to stay close to their partners so that they can reproduce and raise the chicks in a safe environment. Lead author of the study, Josh Firth, Zoologist at Oxford said, "The choice to stay close to their partner over accessing food demonstrates how an individual bird's decisions in the short term, which might appear sub-optimal, can actually be shaped around gaining the long-term benefits of maintaining their key relationships".

Dr. Firth also added, "Some birds would get away with mainly going to their preferred feeder, and having its partner following it there. The flipside of this, of course, is that it means some birds pretty much spent all of their time at a feeder they were not allowed access to, just because its partner was going there. This was regardless of gender", he said.

However, the birds that were committed didn't mean that they would go hungry. Instead, their partners helped each other to stay well fed, reported the Discover magazine.