They call it “the birds and the bees” because it’s a gentle metaphor adults use to talk about sex and reproduction by pointing to simple, visible things in nature: birds laying eggs and bees pollinating flowers.

What the phrase actually means

  • The phrase is a euphemism for explaining sex, reproduction, and “where babies come from,” especially to kids.
  • Birds stand in for animals that lay eggs (easy to observe nests, eggs, hatching chicks). Bees stand in for pollination (pollen being transferred so new plants and fruits can grow).
  • The idea is: “See how nature makes new life? Humans have a version of that too,” without going into explicit detail.

Where the phrase came from (short version)

  • The exact origin isn’t fully pinned down, but it seems to grow out of 18th–19th century English imagery that used spring, birds, and bees as symbols of fertility and new life.
  • Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge mentioned “the bees are stirring, birds are on the wing” in 1825, and later writers and speakers likely helped turn that kind of imagery into the fixed phrase “the birds and the bees.”
  • By the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was already being used as a coy way to refer to sex education and “the talk” with children.

Why birds and bees specifically?

  • They’re common in everyday life: kids can actually see birds nesting and bees visiting flowers.
  • Both are linked with fertility:
    • Birds: eggs, nests, baby chicks.
    • Bees: pollination, flowers and fruits appearing afterwards.
  • The imagery feels innocent and “natural,” which helps adults talk about an awkward topic in a softer, more poetic way.

A few fun/extra angles

  • Some modern explanations spin playful interpretations (like the bee “stinging” and the bird “swelling”), but these are more joke explanations than proven history.
  • Today, the phrase is also a bit nostalgic; with more direct sex education and the internet, people sometimes use it jokingly: “Guess it’s time for the birds-and-bees talk.”

Mini SEO-style recap (for your post)

  • Main idea: “Why do they call it the birds and the bees?” → Because it’s a soft, nature-based metaphor for explaining sex and reproduction to kids using birds’ eggs and bees’ pollination.
  • Trending/context angle: In 2020s conversations, many parents still reference “the birds and the bees,” but often mix it with more straightforward, age-appropriate sex education rather than relying on the metaphor alone.

TL;DR: It’s called “the birds and the bees” because people borrowed innocent, easy-to-see examples from nature—birds hatching eggs and bees pollinating flowers—to talk indirectly about human sex and how new life begins.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.