The world is filled with incredible birds that inspire people to create art, make music, and travel countless miles to see them. Then, there are others that make people feel completely the opposite about. What they feel is pure, unbridled hatred. You may think i’m exaggerating, but trust, me, the proof is in the comment section. People hate these species for a variety of reasons, with some of them being a perception that the bird is a bully, the fact that the bird is nonnative to a region they inhabit, or even for some other more personal reason. Before getting into it, remember that everyone has a different opinion and some people may love these birds, it’s just a generalization about some species that many people strongly dislike or maybe that just need a better PR team. With that in mind, let’s get started talking about five birds that everyone hates.
Feral Pigeon
Just about everyone is familiar with the plump and gregarious Pigeon. Originating from the Rock Dove, a species native to parts of Asia, Europe, and Africa, pigeons were brought to the United States and were actually extremely important to the progression of civilization as they were used both as a source of food and even as message carriers during wars. Over time, these once valuable birds escaped or were released and set up shop in cities all over the world and in particular in the United States. As the new range of the pigeon expanded their favorability among humans declined. Over time, populations of pigeons absolutely exploded in cities where food was plentiful and high rise buildings were more than suitable replacements for the cliffs that their ancestors nested in.
As pigeons became more and more of a fixture in places that humans live, people became more and more annoyed by them. One of the reasons has to do with the large amounts of pigeon excrement on statues, sidewalks, and even hitting people passing below. Another has to do with the perception that pigeons carry diseases and are overall dirty animals. Some people have even expressed unhappiness with pigeons visiting their bird feeders, stating that their ability to eat large amounts of seeds quickly along with their large size for backyard birds makes them appear as greedy or bullies. This is all of course actually mostly perception, and in reality, pigeons aren’t any dirtier than any other bird species. The biggest difference is that pigeons live in places that we don’t think nature should be in and instead of being impressed with their resilience, we as humans deem them to be separate from nature and therefore, vermin to be dealt with rather than a beautiful natural animal.
European Starling
The next bird on the list is another species that originally didn’t live in the United States. European Starlings were brought to the United States in the acclimatization era in which people thought it was a good idea to introduce european birds into North America. The Starling was a species that did extremely well in its new environment and quickly spread across the continent. As Starlings expanded their range, disdain for them increased as large flocks of them gathered to feed on lawns, swarmed bird feeders, and pushed out native cavity nesting birds. Over time, starlings became firmly entrenched as a North American species and now exists in such high numbers that getting rid of them would be a nearly impossible task that would involve collateral damage for other species and the environment as a whole.
In present times, opinions on European Starlings are mixed. In their original range, they are a beloved species known for their intelligence and beauty. In their expanded nonnative range, some people feel that way, but many others see them as a nuisance and a species certainly warranting hatred.
Canada Goose
The Canada Goose is perhaps one of the most interesting cases of a hated bird species. Unlike most others on this list, Canada Geese are native to North America. Not only that though, but they are actually a bird that is linked with the changes of the seasons in many people’s minds, since their V-shaped flocks move north and south each year during peak times for waterfowl to migrate. That is however, not the case. People seem to generally have a very negative view of these large brown bodied birds because of how unpleasant interactions with them can be. There are many species of geese and ducks that are skittish and spend their time in secluded marshes and wetlands; this is not the case for the Canada Goose that chooses instead to oftentimes live in places frequented by humans such as public parks, athletic fields, school campus, and random sidewalks. When these interactions happen, Canada Geese can be bold and opt for confrontation rather than flying away. They’ve been known to hiss at people passing by, and sometimes even get a little more aggressive than that. Additionally, they leave large droppings all over the place which people looking to use parks and greenspaces find gross. So how bad is the Canada Goose hate? Bad enough that some places actually deem them to be public nuisances and kill them.
While they can certainly be majestic and wild, their pension for living in public spaces makes them an enemy for many people.
Brown-headed Cowbird
The second native North American bird on the list, the Brown-headed Cowbird is despised more for its biological adaptations than anything else. These birds are brood parasites, meaning they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. Brood parasitism is actually a great strategy for cowbirds since it puts the cost of defending a nest, and feeding young on an entirely different species, freeing up the cowbird to focus on producing more eggs and thus growing the population even more. It’s thought that this strategy made sense for the species since they are known for following herds of Buffalo moving across the plains and picking off insects kicked up by the large animals. Not having to be tied down to a specific location or using energy feeding young worked well for their somewhat nomadic lifestyle.
This was all well and good as the Brown-headed Cowbirds stuck to a pretty specific region and habitat; but that changed when humans arrived on the scene and started altering the landscape. Cutting down trees and fragmenting forest created more habitat for the Brown-headed Cowbird, and bird feeders provided a consistent food source, meaning they didn’t even have to move locations, they could just stay in the same area for the entirety of a breeding season. The fact that humans happened to create the perfect habitat for cowbirds helped them spread all across the country and unleashed them on new bird species that had never had to fight against brood parasitism before. Some at risk species have been pushed closer to the edge due to Cowbirds such the Kirtlands Warbler. It makes sense why people would dislike the cowbird especially because of the damage that they can do to other bird species, but it’s important to remember that humans played a massive role in creating the problem.
House Sparrow
It’s quite possible that out of all North American bird species, there is none more polarizing than the House Sparrow. Originally native to Eurasia and Northern Africa, these small but hardy birds were brought to the United States in an attempt to make the new world feel more like home to European settlers along with the hope that they would eat insect pests that were damaging crops. Of course, the House Sparrows found their new home more than suitable and quickly spread across the continent. There are plenty of nonnative species that have taken up residence in North America such as the Eurasian Collared Dove, the Western Cattle Egret, and even many different parrot species, so why does the House Sparrow get so much more hate? Part of it is simply just how successful they have been. House Sparrows now occupy every continent with the exception of Antarctica and are a common site in cities and at backyard bird feeders where they can come in droves and push out other more timid species. The other massive reason House Sparrows are so hated has to do with their darker side. These seemingly harmless birds are fierce and aggressive when it comes to vying for nesting sites. It’s well-known that House Sparrows attack and kill other cavity nesting birds including Tree Swallows and Bluebirds. While this fact is tough for people that like House Sparrows to believe, it is certainly one of the reasons people have such a disdain for them. All that being said, the House Sparrow is a complicated bird species. They are hardy survivalists that can’t necessarily be blamed for their ways, especially since it was humans who brought them to the new world. Additionally, they have actually seen declines in their native range where they are very much still loved.
Overall, each of these birds has a different reason as to why so many people dislike them. On the other hand, each has a lot of people out in the world that don’t hate them and even have an affinity for them. The truth about animals and how humans relate to them and feel about them is always somewhere in the middle of the extreme opinions. After all, they are just animals trying to survive in a world that every day continues in the direction of human progress and these birds are just doing their best to adapt. What do you think of these birds on our list? Are their others that you would add? Let us know in the comments below, and if you liked this video take a look at one of these. As always, we’ll see you next time, on Badgerland Birding.