Why do birds appeal to us ? Most people
enjoy the sight of birds, even people who have never been active birdwatchers.
Although birds are less like us in appearance and habits than our fellow
mammals, birds undeniably hold a special place in our hearts.
One reason that birds capture our
imaginations is that they can fly, while we remain trapped here on earth. What
child hasn’t watched a bird fly overhead and dreamt of being up there in the
sky flying alongside ? What adults have not, at one time or another, wished
that they could take wing and fly away from all of their everyday troubles and
cares ? Birds are natural symbols of freedom and escape. After all, what could
better encapsulate our vision of pure freedom than the ability to fly off into
the sunset ?
Birds can soar overhead and they can also
cover great distances. They are privy to a “bird’s eye view” of a single
building or a park, or an entire city or landscape, making them a perfect
metaphor for obtaining a fresh perspective on a situation, or for taking a
larger view of an issue.
Birds often symbolize other things, as
well, such as human character traits and qualities. There’s the proud peacock,
the noble eagle, the thieving magpie, squabbling crows, and billing and cooing
love birds. Gliding swans are the perfect picture of grace and elegance in
motion. The hawk is a symbol of war, the dove a symbol of peace.
What else attracts us to birds? Birds have
feathers, soft to the touch and a joy to look at. Plumage seems to come in an
infinite variety of lovely colors and patterns, from the subtle, earthy tones
of the common house sparrow to the outrageous, iridescent regalia of the showy
peacock. Birds are beautiful works of art, signed by nature. Their plumage adds
color and spectacle to a humdrum world. Their colors may also suggest many
different locales and associations to us.
For example, those small, round, brown
sparrows are homey, comforting and familiar to those of us who live in
temperate climates. They are our backyard friends and neighbors. American
cardinals and blue jays are highly colored, cheerful sights to behold on gray
days, from the tips of their tail feathers to the fanciful crests on their
heads. They are a bit more exotic, yet they are still familiar backyard
friends. Then there are those birds who live in far off exotic places, such as
African pink flamingos and tropical parrots, who sport wonderful tropical
colors. We love them, not only for their magnificent colors, but also for their
association with far-flung lands and exotic adventures.
Birds also come in a great variety of
shapes and sizes, which further adds to their appeal. We can relate to them, in
so far as they, and we, have two eyes, one mouth and bilateral symmetry. Yet,
they are also very unlike us. They have protruding beaks, from the sparrow’s
tiny jabbing beak to the toucan’s enormous appendage. They have wings, more
unlike human arms than those of other mammals, or even of reptiles. In fact,
when their wings are folded against their sides, birds appear to have no arms
at all. They also have thin, bare legs and they have claws. Their heads and
necks flow smoothly into their bodies. Their forms create graceful outlines,
whether round like a chubby European robin, long like an African parrot, or
sleek like a regal swan.
Yes, birds are beautiful to look at, but
the beauty of birds is not confined to the visual aspects of shape and color
alone, because birds also fill the air with music. They seem to offer us their
song simply to entertain us, and they ask for nothing in return. Like a garden
bursting with colorful flowers, the fantastic colors and songs of birds seem
frivolous and out of place in a world full of harsh realities. It seems as
though they were put on earth expressly to make life more beautiful. They were
not, of course. Their color and song serve biological ends in the process of
natural selection, but that does not prevent us from enjoying such sights and
sounds. We can listen in on their free concerts and derive pleasure and serenity
from the experience. We can also be amused when a few species of birds even
mimic our own speech.
Another characteristic of birds that we
humans respond to is the fact that they build nests. They seem so industrious
and we watch with wonder as each type of bird builds its own species-specific
nest, ranging from a simple assemblage of twigs to an intricately woven
masterpiece of craftmanship. “Nest” is such a cozy word. Birds build their cozy
nests, care for their young, and raise their families, all in the course of a
single spring or summer. We admire their patience and devotion and attentive
care to their offspring. We observe and marvel at a parent bird’s countless
trips to and from the nest to diligently feed the helpless chicks. Birds
provide us with fine role models for parenting.
Yes, birds are homebodies during the
nesting season, but they also migrate. Birds are free to come and go and many
cover vast distances each year, as they travel between their summer and their
winter homes. They are social creatures, moving in flocks and creating great
spectacles as they fly. A glimpse of a V-shaped flock of geese passing overhead
thrills us and stirs something in us. We admire their strength and endurance in
carrying out such grueling journeys year after year. We envy them, too, for
they are free to go beyond mere political boundaries and to cross entire
continents. We up north are sorry to see them part each autumn and we are
heartened to see them return each spring. The return of such birds as the swallows
signals the return of spring, with its promise of birth and renewal.
Each spring we are able to welcome them
back into our midsts, for nearly everywhere that humans live, birds live also.
Birds cover the earth. There is such a diversity of bird species to fill each
ecological niche on earth and to contribute to its balance by doing such things
as eating insects and dispersing plant seeds. There are the ducks and moorhens
of rural ponds. There are birds who live in the forests. There are birds in the
mountains and birds in the deserts. The forbidding oceans have their hardy
puffins and pelicans. Even frozen, icy places have their own birds, the lovable
penguins.
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Birds adapt to so many different habitats
and situations, including human environments. The often ignored pigeon is a
beautiful bird. (I have cared for and been grateful to have known many
individual pigeons over the years.) As a species, they have managed to adapt to
modern cityscapes, substituting cliff-like building ledges and bridge girders for
their ancestral cliffs of rock. Other bird species may be less tolerant of such
disturbances and avoid the prying eyes of humans.
Wherever they choose to live, birds remain
symbols of untamed nature, surviving despite man’s interference with their
habitats. They remain proud and free to the present day. They are also a living
link to the mysterious and fascinating history of life on our planet, as birds
are the surviving heirs to the dinosaurs. One look at unfeathered baby birds,
with their oversized beaks and feet, and it is easy to see the dinosaur in
them.
Each of us may have our own reason, or
combination of reasons, for loving birds, but their appeal is indisputable and
universal. Birds represent the perfect blend of beauty, strength, grace and
endurance, from the cuteness of a tiny sparrow to the majesty of an imposing
raptor. Birds fill both the eye and the ear with beauty. We enjoy them. We
admire them. Sometimes we envy them. They add appreciably to the quality of our
lives and to the diversity of life on earth and the world would be a smaller,
sadder, emptier place without them.
