If I had wings, I would fly away from here. I would soar above the rest of the world and seek shelter in the trees. If I had wings, this world could not hold me down and I would know freedom that cannot be imagined by my fellow man. Human beings feel masterful with their huge, cumbersome flying machines. They can fly, but they are not free. I have often thought that birds were perhaps of higher intelligence than us mammals, who are tethered to a terrestrial existence. I believed that since they had evolved sufficiently in consciousness, they had earned the privilege to fly. They have no need for cars or buses, or even bicycles. They do not pollute the air, nor do they require maintenance, or fossil fuels. Like us, they require food and water and shelter, but they can scout it out from the air. It seems that they live a life that I can only dream of – a life of true freedom. Of course, as the saying goes, “Until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes…(or flown about in my wings) you cannot know the many perils I face.
Life used to be easier for birds. Before human beings encroached on their habitats, food was plentiful. They lived in areas where they were part of a perfectly balanced food web. Today; however, with the introduction of alien plant species, their natural food sources are not always available. There is the added poisoning from herbicides and pesticides that are consumed unwittingly by them. The water that they find to drink is often contaminated. In the case of waterfowl and shorebirds, oil spills caused by humans, covers their plumage, rendering them unable to fly. Other waterfowl may meet with a prolonged and excruciating death, after ingesting lead from the bottom of lakes and ponds, that has been left lying from gunshot and fishing lures. Birds can become entangled in fishing lines left by an irresponsible fisherman, causing them to starve to death, or they may sustain fatal injuries from the numerous plastic, glass, and metal objects left lying about by humans. Larger birds, like swans, often die from electrocution when they cannot see the power lines in the center of their flight path. When adult birds die, their offspring are often left to fend for themselves. Up until the emergence of guns, birds led a relatively safe existence; but when humans began to shoot birds and ducks right out of the sky, many species were subsequently hunted to extinction. Prior to that, birds were trapped and imprisoned in cages, their freedom forever taken from them.
I watch the birds outside my window and I often wish I could share in their freedom; but I know that freedom is a double edged sword. Their freedom is no more guaranteed than is my own. Freedom is a God-given right; but human beings have made prisoners of us all.
