Really wild bird feeders

Across the UK we use bird feeders to attract our wild birds and help them survive tough times.

However throughout history and in some parts of the world today, humans prefer to eat wild birds rather than feed them.

To highlight the wild birds plight, here’s a collection of avian atrocities past and present:

Blackbirds

Four and twenty black birds baked in a pie – in medieval times it was common for all manner of fowl to end up being served up for dinner. As the nursery rhyme says songbirds were considered a delicacy. Sometimes, the cook would bake an empty pie crust that he would later fill with live birds, usually pigeons but possibly blackbirds too. When the pie was cut open, the birds would fly out to the merriment of all assembled. The cook quite sensibly would have had a real pie waiting in the ‘wings’ – not wanting to end up being decapitated by an irritable nobleman.

Mute swan

In England, nobody can eat a mute swan without the Queen’s say so, but the nobility were partial to this most elegant of birds. It was seen as a great status symbol to be able to serve up swan. The meat would be roasted and re-covered in its original skin arranged in a dramatic pose. The same fate awaited the incautious Peacock, which looked flashy but actually tasted rather tough.

Wild turkey

It’s no swan but the Turkey was originally a beautiful wild bird with brightly coloured plumage. And it was no bird brain either, often being being described as a shrewd and wily prey. Today the turkey is bred for the pot and has sadly become an overweight shadow of its former self. In a grotesque parody of the real thing, Sesame Street’s ‘Big Bird’, wears a costume purported to be made from over 4000 white turkey feathers dyed bright yellow.

Ortolan

Now to the French: eaters of the poor little ortolan. Caught in nets, fattened up on millet and then drowned in Armagnac. The traditional way to eat one of these song birds from the South West of the country is whole, while wearing a serviette over your head. Some say this is purely because eating an ortolan is a messy business, others insist it is to hide the eater’s greed from God. Whatever the reason, owing to the outrage of campaigners and dwindling numbers of wild ortolan, the practice has now been banned.

Ambelopoulia

Ambelopoulia is a delicacy prized by Cypriots. In a survey, 14% of the population of the Mediterranean island said that it was their favourite poultry dish. What is it? Roasted and grilled songbirds. During September and October, trappers set up ‘mist’ nets and then using recordings of bird calls, lure migratory birds into the trap. Millions of birds are caught this way, including several endangered species. Officially banned over thirty years ago, the practise is claimed by residents as a traditional right. Unfortunately, what was once a small scale industry has become a real money spinner with a plate of four birds costing upwards of 50 Euros.

Moa

Many creatures have been eaten to extinction, but the most impressive of these must surely be the New Zealand Moa. When the Maori arrived in these pristine Pacific Islands 1000 years ago, they must have thought they had arrived in heaven. Flightless birds up to 12 feet tall and weighing in at 230 kilos were good eating and easy prey. Too easy as it turned out; they were all but wiped out within a mere hundred years.

Haast Eagle

If this all seems rather depressing here’s something to cheer you up – the man eating Haast Eagle! With a three metre wingspan and weighing up to 18 kilos this bird of prey, another native of New Zealand, was originally thought to be a type of vulture. Recent study of the pelvic bones however, revealed that this was in fact a raptor. With claws the size of a tiger’s the ‘super eagle’ had the capability of hitting its prey at up to 80 km/hr. Known to the Maori as Te Hokioi it was black-and-white with a red crest and yellow-green tinged wingtips. Unfortunately, the Haast Eagle is now extinct. To it’s detriment it ate Moa and not Maoris, and because the Maori ate the Moa, Te Hokioi is no more.

If you know of any wild bird feeders that we haven’t mentioned please leave a comment.