Advice From Birds About How to Survive a Pandemic
Find Ways to Relax and Stay Calm
Like the Marabou Stork, who defecates on its own legs in order to cool off.
Like the Marabou Stork, who defecates on its own legs in order to cool off.
Prepare Your Home
Like the Edible-Nest Swiftlet, who makes its nest entirely out of its own saliva.
Like the Edible-Nest Swiftlet, who makes its nest entirely out of its own saliva.
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Wash Up
Like the Vulterine Guineafowl, who extracts an oily substance from a gland at the base of its tail and then carefully spreads the oil across all of its feathers. You will probably need to use hand soap, though. |
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Practice Social Distancing
Like the female Great Hornbill, who sequesters herself into a hole in a tree. She closes most of the opening of the hole off with mud mixed with her own poop. Her dedicated male partner will come to her poop door everyday to deliver the food that sustains her while she incubates her eggs. |
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Keep in Touch with Friends and Loved Ones
Like the male Kakapo. During breeding season, he inflates his thoracic air sac to create a very low frequency boom that can be heard more than three miles away. 
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Get Plenty of Sleep
Like the common swift, who spends up to ten months in the air (without landing!), and thus sleeps while flying.
Like the common swift, who spends up to ten months in the air (without landing!), and thus sleeps while flying.
Eat Healthy
Like the Bearded Vulture, whose diet consists mostly of bones.
Like the Bearded Vulture, whose diet consists mostly of bones.
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Care for the Vulnerable
Like Nicola Tesla, who was so deeply enamored with a pigeon that when she was injured, he created a special device to support her body and help her bones heal. |
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And remember that beyond any national boundaries, we are all connected as citizens of one planet.
Like birds, whose flight isn’t hindered by border walls or immigration checkpoints. 
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