Detroit’s Feathered Friends

A bird comfortably explores Detroit's airport. Photo credit: Vicky_TGAW on Flickr.

The McNamara Terminal in Detroit, used by Delta for its hub operations there, is gorgeous and boasts many impressive features, including its own birds. Yes, birds.

No one really knows how they got in (a big guess is that they came during construction), but nevertheless the birds (the majority of which are sparrows) enjoy the environment. And why not? It's a protected building where the birds face no natural predators. The crumbs from human food are a nice perk as well. The sparrows are especially fond of the large fountain in the center of the terminal (pictured below).

Airport officials have tried many options to get rid of the birds - including birth control. Yeah, I didn't know birth control existed for birds, either. They're currently trying to play the sounds of the birds' predators over the airport's sound system, but that hasn't been working too great either.

Perhaps eventually the airport will give up. If the birds aren't bothering anyone, what's the point?

Read more here.

Detroit's uber-fancy fountain, where the birds like to hang out. Photo credit: Vicky_TGAQ on Flickr.