An Observation About A Certain Bird:

Our church’s parking lot is mostly gravel except for a small paved section. Ordinarily that’s not a problem but recently, we’ve discovered a very small problem. Would you believe, it’s a bird?

Birds of various types are mentioned often in the Bible. All were unclean, according to the dietary laws in Leviticus 11:13-19 (owls, vultures, and other carrion birds, to name a few) but some, like pigeons, were okay for sacrifices (Lev. 5:7, 11; 14:22, 15:14, e.g.).

But there are other examples of birds and their behaviors. One such illustration is in Deuteronomy 32:11, “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings (KJV):” The Lord Jesus Christ used a different figure of speech, about a different type of bird, just before He went to Calvary.

Text: Matthew 23:37, KJV: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

You may be asking, what does this verse about a hen gathering her chicks under her wings have to do with a bird in a parking lot? Fair question, and here’s why there’s something in common:

The bird in our parking lot is a killdeer and, frankly, it’s pretty small but still makes “don’t come near me” gestures like fluttering its (I don’t know if this bird is male or female) wings or making steps towards anyone who comes within 10 yards/meters or so! I’ve tried to reason with the bird, even telling it “go thy way!”, but nothing works.

Now, I don’t think like a bird but what I’ve found on the Internet (for what it’s worth) is that this killdeer is protecting the young. I haven’t found anything that even remotely looks like a nest but, anyway, it looks like this one bird is trying to keep us humans away from whatever.

You know, in one sense, I can almost (!) appreciate this bird for doing what, well, any parent is supposed to do, namely, protect the young. Some humans don’t do nearly so well at this! And I can almost appreciate the “no-go” zone where that bird approaches anybody, including me, who would approach his/her “land”.

My hope is that the young grow up and LEAVE and then take Mom and Dad with them! I want my church’s parking lot back!

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)