Sweeping the Clouds Away!

I think it also touches on CPS and how it can fail so many children all over the world, rather than helping them.

The Feathered Friends is quite literally a metaphor/stand in for CPS, finding bird children and reclocating them to live with other birds, because the main antagonist, Mrs Finch, thinks he should be with other birds like him.

This is literally what CPS does: they find children who are in unsafe environments and move them to a foster family or state care or whatever. The big problem is: CPS can end up doing more harm than good in many cases.

In the movie, Mrs Finch immediatly assumes Big Bird is unhappy with his environment, when she didn't even take the time to properly interview him about what he thinks of his home. She just takes him away to live with the Dodos without proper research.

And speaking of the Dodos, they are clearly not a good family for Big Bird. If my memory serve me correctly, the Dodos didn't do a good job at making Big Bird comfortable in their home. They don't take into account that Big Bird might still be shocked and confused about his new environement and just expect him to deal with his new surroundings without helping him adapt or supporting him (there's a scene where Big Bird cries and says he wants to go home, but Mommy Dodo dismisses him, saying"but you ARE home!"). Keep in mind Big Bird is 6 and a half.

His siblings, Marie and Donny, don't know how to play pretend with Big Bird, and, assuming they're just as young as him, that is really messed up. Have you ever seen a kid with no imagination? If that isn't a red flag to how the parents raise their own biological kids, then I don't know what is. Also, Marie and Donny don't even attempt to properly learn HOW to play pretend. They're so set in their ways that they don't even try to allow their new adoptive brother to give in his ideas.

The Dodos are also very prejudiced, and they won't allow Big Bird to befriend anything that isn't a bird ("but you're a bird! Your best friend should be a bird!").

So Feathered Friends fucked up badly by not only only taking him away from a PERFECTLY stable and loving home, but putting him in the care of a family who is not only dense, but prejudiced too.

And to me, this is a metapor for how CPS can always just easily take children away from their parents without valid reasoning. The kids can't consent. They could take children away from parents who are genuinely trying but don't have the resources needed, but let kids stay with abusive family members. CPS also risks sending kids tat maks their living state even WORSE than the last.

This happens all the time in real life. Don't believe me? Just look up the case of Elisa Izquierdo for example - her death was literally the cause of CPS. When her father, Gustavo, died, case workers attempted to give full custody to her abusive mother, Awilda. Despite everybody objecting to the idea and pleading CPS to give custody of Elisa to Gustavo's cousin, CPS STILL gave full custody to Awilda, leading to the child's death at the hnds of her own kin

TL:DR = Follow that Bird is a metaphor for how CPS can fuck over children way too easily and how they often just set kids up for failure by placing them in potentially worse environments than before.