A few posts ago (6/13/26), I looked at how God preserves the birds, as well as briefly exploring man’s attempts to do the same. Certainly, there are areas where man has had a positive impact. On the other side of the issue, there are also ways in which man has had a negative impact on birds.
One of the best-known instances in the USA has involved our national symbol, the bald eagle. In the early years of our country, bald eagles were plentiful. During the expansion and development of our country in the late 1800s to early 1900s, the eagle population declined significantly. A lot of their habitat was destroyed, and eagles were also killed due to predation concerns or for sport.
The BIG issue, though, was DDT, a common insecticide from the 1940s-1970s. The chemical persisted through the food chain, and the impact on eagles was to make their eggs so brittle that successful births declined rapidly. Eagles became endangered, with only 400-500 nesting pairs remaining. We came close to losing this bird. Protective measures were initiated in 1972 to ban DDT and the hunting of eagles, and the species has recovered nicely.
This has not been man’s only threat to birds. DDT impacted all raptors, not just eagles. We have probably all seen stories about trash that has entangled or strangled birds. Every year people are warned to turn off lights at night during migration season to minimize deaths from birds crashing into buildings. Through my limited research, it would seem that two man-influenced factors are most detrimental. One is loss of habitat. This is a sad but inevitable impact of human expansion. To create room for people, forests are cut down; natural habitats of all types shrink as civilization expands. The other major issue is cats. Whether domestic cats that are allowed to roam or feral cats that have been abandoned by their owners, this factor FAR outweighs things like building strikes, windmills, and powerlines - combined.
Man’s negative impact is certainly not always malicious or even deliberate. The brown tree snake was accidentally introduced onto the island of Guam around the end of World War II, most likely riding in on a cargo ship. Without natural predators, this snake population exploded to tens of thousands per square mile in some parts of the island. (Ewww!!!) Quite predictably, the bird population plummeted. Birds were driven to extinction, and the forests became silent. Efforts have been taken to control the snakes and to introduce birds to Guam, but Guam is not a birder’s paradise. Over its 24-year history, eBird reports only 132 total species, and only 40 different species by all birders combined for the first five months of 2026. (For comparison, I can often see 40 species in a few hours even in the winter.) Almost all of Guam’s birds are accidentals, migrants, or introduced species.
None of the above situations, however, reflect man’s greatest threat to birds. The greatest danger came about 1600 years after creation, when “the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart” (Genesis 6:5-6). The colossal and universal depravity of man led God to an extreme decision. “The LORD said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them’” (Genesis 6:7). The animals and birds were going to suffer the same fate of destruction, through no fault of their own, but simply because they lived on the same globe with sinful man.
While God promised never again to destroy the earth by flood, the negative impact of man’s sin continues. At the time of Hosea (around 750-720 B.C.), God gave this estimation of mankind. “There is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed” (Hosea 4:1b-2). What was the impact of such wickedness? “Therefore the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky, and also the fish of the sea disappear” (Hosea 4:3). God does not disclose the specific consequences for the birds at this time, only saying that they mourn and languish. Again, this was due to man’s sin raging in the earth.
Approximately 100 years later (630-620 B.C.), Zephaniah wrote his prophecy. God’s message was this: “I will remove man and beast; I will remove the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked; and I will cut off man from the face of the earth” (Zephaniah 1:3). My impression is that this prophecy may have a double fulfillment. At the time it was written, God was predicting imminent judgment on Judah and the surrounding countries, so I would assume a fulfillment at the time of Judah’s destruction. Both verse 2 and verse 3 of this chapter refer to the impact on “the face of the earth,” seeming to indicate devastation on a global scale rather than localized; I would assume that extent of judgment is yet to come with the ultimate “day of the LORD” that Zephaniah speaks about. Whether or not I accurately understand those dynamics, what is clear is that God’s judgment on man’s sin will result in concurrent devastation to the birds.
It is evident from these three verses (Genesis, Hosea, Zephaniah) that the actions of man have a definite impact on the bird population. While our malicious actions, mistakes, carelessness, and apathy matter, (as related in the opening examples of this post), our sin matters FAR more. Just like there is no comparison between windmills and cats, even so there is no comparison between environmental choices and sin choices. Ultimately, man’s sin will result in the destruction of the birds on this planet as we know it now. This is not just some nebulous, universal sin of mankind. Universal sin is made up of individual sins by individual sinners. Individually, we grieve the heart of God. What we do matters; it has impact on our environment and on a more pertinent and immediate scale, our actions matter to the people around us. What we do impacts others for good or for bad. Let us strive to please God so that we can have the best possible impact on our world.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE ®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
No comments:
Post a Comment