I attended a wedding this past weekend (my younger brother’s, in fact) where, instead of throwing rice, everyone released balloons. (The ballons had postcards attached, asking anyone who found it to mail the postcard back to the couple. But that’s not germane to the question.)
“Egad!” my father exclaimed, “Releasing balloons? How inhumane! Birds eat deflated balloons and choke to death!”
“Nonsense!” replied my wife. “Why would birds eat balloons? They don’t look like seeds or insects or fish, and they can’t taste very good.”
“Nevertheless, they do indeed eat balloons. Martha Stewart said so.”
Now, leaving aside the question of which fields Martha Stewart is an expert in, will birds eat ballons? Which birds? Why would they do so? And do they die from eating them?
I’ve heard this “urban legend” as well, but fortunately, I also heard a discussion of it recently on the radio, so I’ll pass along what they said.
The issue of baloons versus nature is confined primarily to sea birds and turtles, which confuse deflated/popped baloons in the ocean with jellyfish. Presumably, this also would apply to condoms, which seem to undergo an alarming population explosion when they reach our oceans and beaches
Hmmmmmm… Well, then; additional question: would the color of the balloon matter (as in, do certain colors of balloons resemble jellyfish more closely)? Or maybe birds and turtles don’t see in color?
I’d be more alarmed by a father in law who watched Martha Stewart.
Seriously though, I see lots of questions re birds and never heard of anyone finding a bird that choked on a balloon. I have seen them in nesting material though but it is more likely they are after the string attached to the balloon rather than needing more color in their abode.
There doesn’t seem to be any scientific documentation of this, and I have never heard of it. I did a search of Biological Abstracts for the past ten years and came up with exactly zippo. As for the Web, I was unable to find any citations of specific studies or even individual cases involving birds. One site mentioned two anecdotes about a young whale and a sea turtle having digestive problems after ingesting balloons, but that’s it.
With regard to birds, especially land birds, it sounds highly implausible to me.
Balloon releases may be an issue with regard to littering, but it’s very doubtful they would have any effect on birds.
PS. Diurnal birds have very well developed color vision.
And, on the very unlikely chance that a seabird would injest a balloon, I have a feeling the balloon would be ejected the way it came in. Some birds (I’m thinking cormorants) have remarkable vomiting capabilities. Ugh.
Actually, he (my father) heard it on Car Talk, when Martha was a very special guest commentator. So it’s not so bad as it sounds.
Now, if balloons don’t harm birds, as is the consensus, where the heck does this bogus, Martha-Stewart-propagated information come from? Maybe from observation of birds gathering balloon (strings) for nesting material?
Well, there do seem to be some anecdotal accounts of sea animals being affected by eating balloons. My guess is that it is just the sort of thing that seems as if it might be true. Balloon releases may be seen as a bad thing, due to the litter they produce. This just provides another (although bogus) rationale for opposing them.
I remember seeingsome documentary aboyt how wildlife is threatened by our trash and there were many examples of birds and other wildlife being harmed by plastics. Not specifically ballons (which I assume are not that plentiful as trash anyway) but floating plastic bags. I also remember yokes of six packs being mentioned… nets, etc…
The way i see it is that there is no doubt that releasing ballons is littering. Now, we can discuss how bad littering is to wildlife. I would not be the one to raise a stink over a few seagulls (they shit on my boat continually) but ither people may feel differently.
What I can tell you is that it is not nice to be sailing and find trash floating about. Just like it is not nice to find trash in the country.
So, this is a matter of opinion and judgement more than anything else.
I remember seeing some documentary about how wildlife is threatened by our trash and there were many examples of birds and other wildlife being harmed by plastics. Not specifically balloons (which I assume are not that plentiful as trash anyway) but floating plastic bags. I also remember yokes of six packs being mentioned… nets, etc…
The way I see it is that there is no doubt that releasing ballons is littering. Now, we can discuss how bad littering is to wildlife. I would not be the one to raise a stink over a few seagulls (they shit on my boat continually) but other people may feel differently.
What I can tell you is that it is not nice to be sailing and find trash floating about. Just like it is not nice to find trash in the country.
So, this is a matter of opinion and judgment more than anything else.
