Birdsaren’tfurryandcuddly,butinmanyrespects,they’remoresimilartousthanothermammalsare.Theybuildintricatehomesandraisefamiliesinthem.Sometakelongwintervacationsinwarmplaces.Manyhaveacomplexlanguagefor communicating.

Thereis,however,oneabilitythathumans havethatbirdsdonot.Birdscannotcontroltheirenvironment.Theycan’tprotectwetlands.Theycan’tmanageafishery.Theycan’tair-conditiontheirnests.Theyhaveonlyinstinctstohelpthemsolveanyproblemstheyencounter.

Theseinstinctshaveservedbirdswellforalongtime—150millionyearslongerthanhumanshavebeenaround.Butnowhumansarechangingtheplanet—itssurface,itsclimate,itsoceans.Thesechangesarecomingtooquicklyformanybirdstoadapt.Thefutureofmostbirdspeciesdependsonourcommitmenttopreservingthem.Aretheyvaluableenoughforustomaketheeffort?

Abird’svaluemightdependonhowwemeasurevalue.Sometimeswevaluesomethingbecauseitisuseful.Certainly,manytypesofbirdsarevaluabletousbecauseweeatthem.Somebirdsarevaluablebecausetheyeatinsectsandrodents.Manybirdsperformvitalroles—pollinatingplants,spreadingseeds,orservingasfoodforpredators.

Butonereasonthatwildbirdsmatter—oughttomatter—isthattheyareourlast,bestconnectiontothenaturalworld. 

Afewyearsago,IwasinaforestinnortheastIndia.Suddenly,Iheardandthenbegantofeelinmychest,adeeprhythmicwhooshing. Itwasthewingbeatsofapairofgreathornbills.

Thehornbillswereflyingtoatreewithfruit.Theyhadmassive,yellowbillsandhefty,whitelegs.Theylookedlikeacrossbetweenatoucanandagiantpanda.Astheyclimbedaroundinthetree,Icriedoutwithjoy.MyjoyhadnothingtodowithwhatIwantedorwhatIpossessed.Itwasthesheerpresenceofthegreathornbill,whichcouldn’thavecaredlessaboutme.

Birdsarealwaysamongus.Yet,theirindifferencetousoughttoserveasareminderthatwe’renotthemeasureofallthings.Birdslivesquarelyinthepresent.Andatpresent,theirworldisstillverymuchalive.Ineverycorneroftheglobe,innestsassmallaswalnutsoraslargeashaystacks,chicksarepeckingthroughtheirshellsandintothelight.