Proliferation

Like every other creature on earth, birds must reproduce in order to survive. This was God’s plan from the beginning. At the time of creation, “God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth’” (Genesis 1:22).

The word “multiply” means to increase greatly or exceedingly. We all understand that multiplication results in bigger totals than does addition. I believe it is quite possible that God deliberately blessed the reproduction of birds in the beginning years after creation, so that they could fill the skies.

There is one other time that God gave a similar directive. After the Flood, He instructed Noah, “Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth” (Genesis 8:17).

This time, not only were the birds to “be fruitful and multiply,” as at the time of creation, but they were also to “breed abundantly.” This Hebrew word is translated as “swarm” or “teem” in other passages, like the plague of frogs in Egypt. It appears to indicate births beyond the norm, and I believe this was God’s direct intervention to repopulate the species following the Flood.

In normal times, what is bird proliferation like? Well, that depends a lot on the species. In general, though, birds must have multiple offspring per year to keep each species from dying out. One major factor in the necessity for multiple births is that, as a rule of thumb, more than half of chicks die during their first year. This is true for the majority of bird species. Having only two chicks per year (with only one surviving) is not a sustainable number.

Another factor is the short life expectancy for wild birds. Most small birds (sparrows, warblers, finches) are likely to live only two to five years. Larger birds (crows, blue jays) might live five to fifteen years, and some of the largest birds (eagles, cranes, waterfowl) can live two or more decades. Obviously, birds with short life spans have a limited number of attempts at raising chicks.

Most birds have a clutch of multiple eggs, and many birds raise more than one brood per year. House sparrows are a highly productive bird; they average twenty chicks per year, laying four to seven eggs in each of three or four broods. Even if half the chicks die, leaving ten (theoretically, five males and five females), house sparrows can multiply their number by five each year. This bird was first introduced in the US in 1851, and is now believed to be our most abundant species, with an estimated 100 million birds. I’m usually aware when a new brood fledges, because suddenly my neighbor’s hedge is alive with loudly chirping birds that fly around the area in large groups.

At the other end of the spectrum is the albatross. (Picture an extremely large gull. The largest species of albatross has a wingspan of up to twelve feet, and even the smaller species have a wingspan greater than six feet.) The albatross lays one egg per year, and sometimes they skip a year, meaning one egg every two years. This is due to the great physical demands of egg-laying for this bird, as well as the nine (or so) months of dependency of the chick. Raising an albatross chick requires a great deal of commitment. Some other large birds, like kiwi and California condor, also lay a single egg per year or per two years. The tradeoff is that these large birds can live several decades, so that they can still have a significant number of young over their lifetime. There is a tagged Laysan albatross named Wisdom that breeds at Midway Island. She is now over 75 years old and still nesting. (She hatched a chick in 2025 that did not survive, and in 2026 she was raising a grandchick.) It is believed that she has successfully raised over 30 chicks.

Many duck species have a large clutch. Wood ducks might lay up to fifteen eggs. The nice thing about ducks is that if you are in the right place at the right time, you can see (and possibly count) the large number of chicks. Momma duck will be swimming in a lake or creek, and she will have a long trail of very cute chicks trailing out behind her. I have seen this with wood ducks, mallards, and common mergansers.

If we consider a well-known bird, like the American robin, we find that there are usually two clutches per year, although it can be three to four clutches, especially in more southern regions. Robins typically lay three to five eggs in each clutch, yielding six to ten chicks per year for northern birds and perhaps twice that down south. Probably fewer than half survive, but that is still enough for the overall population to grow, which is not hard to believe if you’ve ever looked at a grassy lawn in the spring or summer.

In our complex world of changing conditions – weather, available food, land development, interplay of predators, conservation efforts, and other factors, certain birds flourish and other birds struggle. Species can trend in a positive or negative direction, and that trend can reverse as conditions change. In recent history (1968-2025), the species with the sharpest decrease in population is the common tern, down 98% in that time frame. Meanwhile, Canada geese lead the opposite end of the spectrum, having multiplied 105 times in that same time frame. (Data from US Breeding Birds Survey). So if you have thought that geese are everywhere, fouling up parks and parking lots, honking loudly every morning, and taking over ponds and lakes, you’re right!

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.