Plus, they make really great stories and examples of aspiration and heroism for the rest of us. Though heroes most often work alone, they serve the Group whether that Group is a family, tribe, city-state, nation, religion, planet and perhaps some day the solar system, dimension, galaxy, etc. if current science fiction proves as prophetic as some mythologies have done. These heroes are not part of the Group in the ordinary sense. Most then take on the mantle of duty and honour and save the day. The unique parentage often includes gods, angels, dead heroes, animals, acts of magic, acts of weather, or otherwise seemingly simple acts like stepping over a stream or a fire.
Birds are a favourite disguise of gods when they come to visit mortal women.
In a lot of the art depicting the Christian version of Jesus' conception the Virgin Mary was visited by the Holy Ghost as a white dove which impregnated her. Bulls are often parenting children, as in the case of Cretan Queen Pasiphae mating with a white bull to produce the Minotaur, a miserable half-breed who ended up causing no end of grief. Legend has it a Mongolian princess also mated with a bull. The resulting baby was locked in an iron cradle and cast into Lake Baikal, then luckily was found by a shaman who raised the child to become founder of the Bulagat clan. Sometimes this child is said to be Genghis Khan.