RIP Nigel, the saddest bird in the world

Move aside Romeo and Juliet. The award for most tragic love story now belongs to Nigel the bird and his concrete beloved.

Per The Guardian, the story begins in 2013 when Nigel, a gannet, showed up on Mana Island, an uninhabited piece of land off the coast of New Zealand. Initially, conservationists had placed fake concrete gannets on the island in order to attract some real birds.

Soon after he moved to the island, conservationists realized that Nigel was alone—and that he was insistent on romancing one of the concrete birds.

Nigel built the stone bird a nest and stayed by her side for years, a loyal and dedicated companion to a lifeless piece of concrete. It was next to this stone bird that New Zealand Department of Conservation Ranger Chris Bell discovered Nigel's lifeless body recently.

In honor of Nigel's death, the Friends of Mana Island conservation group's official Facebook page posted a poem in his honor:

The biggest bummer of Nigel's depressing story: though three other birds had recently arrived on the island, they stayed clear of the bird and his stone friends. His lonely life, however, wasn't all for naught.

As Bell told The Guardian: "He was an attraction that helped bring in other birds – gannets like to nest where a gannet has nested before. It’s really sad he died, but it wasn’t for nothing."

As sad as Nigel's life was, at least his existence brought some positive change to the world.

[H/T: The Guardian via Gizmodo]