Chickens outweigh all other birds

It might not cross your mind when looking at a chicken nugget, but there was a time when chickens exclusively roamed the wild jungles of Asia. They were first domesticated more than 4000 years ago in India and have spread around the world ever since.

Despite being only one of 11,000 bird species worldwide, the chicken is the most common bird of all. And that is no coincidence.

The human desire for affordable meat that is easy to raise, and the bonus of eggs for breakfast, made them the go-to bird species for food.

Powered by the industrialisation of the food supply, the global chicken population quintupled since the 60s, surpassing 33 billion in 2020. That's roughly 4 chickens for every human, and 6 times more than the number of all cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs combined.

Meanwhile, wild birds have been declining due to habitat loss and degradation, shrinking their share of bird biomass.