Summary
Birders mixes politics with preserving habitats in an insightful Netflix Short Documentary that looks at birdwatching on both sides of the US-Mexico Border.
Netflix Short Documentary Birders releases on Netflix on September 25, 2019.
I’ll tell you this — it’s challenging to immerse yourself in a documentary about birdwatching when it’s nowhere near a passion of yours. Like those who watch planes fly, or visit old trains, this type of hobby is something that has never fascinated me.
Regardless, Netflix Short Documentary Birders made me understand that passion. The small feature stands on the side of political irony, describing how migrant birds travel thousands of miles back and forth over the US-Mexico border each year. They have no regard to the human-made rules, no relation to the consequences of crossing the border and no regard to the symbolism of what they represent.
Their natural way of life does not delve into political spectrums, and that is the comparison Birders creates. The people watching the birds who are wildlife observers on either side of the border has a singular passion that unites them. It’s not about the ramifications of what the border means; it’s observing their favorite creatures having the luxury of being able to live on both sides of their world.
But the Netflix Short Documentary isn’t just about a shared love and a common passion. Birders delve into the protection of their habitats. The media makes it well-known the fall-out caused by the incoming/not incoming wall that is debated by both sides of blue and red weekly; but zero consideration has been made about protecting the habitat. An observer wisely sounds out that the birds do not see a wall — they see their habitat.
And that’s the critical strand I pulled out of Birders; the realism these birds are facing in an evolving human-made world and what it means. Of course, for birdwatchers, you’ll likely take great delight in this short window — I, on the other hand, had to find other aspects to grasp.
