‘BLIND SPOT’: Why do we ignore the lives of the birds destined for our plates?
The birders’ ‘blind spot’ is a side effect of looking at the world through binoculars. We spend so much time focused on distant birds that we don’t always see the birds closest to us. Like the birds on our plates. For instance, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has never officially opposed the eating of chicken, turkeys, or duck, nor has The Audubon Society. A chicken, a duck, a turkey: Each is as much a bird as Flaco the owl. And no less deserving of protection. Birders are precisely the humans birds need as advocates: those who care about them and care about this planet. If every birder in the United States gave up eating chicken, more than 2 billion chickens would be spared this year alone.
THE REVELATOR: Birding is having a moment. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there are more than 90 million birders in this country, making birding one of the most popular recreational activities, second only to walking. Bookstores have embraced this, with recently bestselling bird memoirs by authors Amy Tan and Margaret Renkl, as well as actor Lili Taylor.
I too am a birder, though one troubled by a blind spot I see in too many of my fellow enthusiasts. Perhaps this blind spot is a side effect of looking at the world through binoculars. We spend so much time focused on distant birds that we don’t always see the birds closest to us. Like the birds on our plates.
Consider the chicken. Globally, more than 80 billion chickens are killed each year, a number so big it borders on the unimaginable… Most chickens never see the sky, never set foot on planet Earth. They are born under artificial lights and die under artificial lights six horrific weeks later.
Cage-free chickens may experience a bit more room and possibly a bit of sunshine, but the end result is equally dismal… A few chickens survive. Some are rescued (or stolen, depending on your perspective) from animal warehouses. (And yes, warehouse is a more appropriate term than farm)…
As for turkeys, the United States has a national holiday to blame for the more than 200 million turkey deaths each year. And even ducks, for whom we happily make way in Boston, died to the tune of 28 million in 2024.
In case you’re doubting how these birds differ from the ones we seek and celebrate, you might want to meet a few of them. Odds are, you’ll find an animal sanctuary near you — check the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries website for a list… at Tikkun Olam Sanctuary in Southern Oregon, you can meet Scissors, a bird born with a crossed beak, a genetic condition that makes it nearly impossible for her to eat like the other birds — a death sentence nearly anywhere but at a sanctuary.
And if you hold Scissors in your arms as I have (she loves to be held), you might wonder how such a beautiful bird can be viewed by so many as disposable. If she hadn’t found her home at the sanctuary, she wouldn’t be alive today, deemed too much trouble to feed in reward for her eggs…
How do we remove these birding blind spots? The first step is to acknowledge that all birds have equal value… just because a bird species is in no danger of extinction does not make it any less valuable. Second, I encourage birders to reconsider the food on their plates,… the plant-based alternatives are just as good and carry none of that guilty aftertaste… Third, I urge birding, bird conservation, and bird-science organizations to explicitly support the protection of all birds… For instance, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has never officially opposed the eating of chicken, turkeys, or duck, nor has The Audubon Society…
Birders are precisely the humans birds need as advocates: those who care about them and care about this planet… If every birder in the United States gave up eating chicken, more than 2 billion chickens would be spared this year alone… A chicken, a duck, a turkey: Each is as much a bird as Flaco the owl. And no less deserving of protection. JOHN YUNKER
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