for the birds

Sgt. Buck Erickson, Camp Ellis, Ill., News: "Don't take too seriously the belief that we have football at Camp Ellis solely for the entertainment of the personnel—that's strictly for the birds. The Army is a winner … The Army like to win—that's the most fortunate thing in the world for America."

1944 October 20, “Today’s guest star”, in Dixon Evening Telegraph, number 247, Dixon, Ill.: The B. F. Shaw Printing Company, →OCLC, page 7, column 7

Burly Arthur [Godfrey] works hard. Six days a week, 52 weeks a year, he "yaps at a mike" from 6 to 7:45 a.m. over Manhattan's WABC. […] Says he: "This gettin' up at 5 o'clock is something for the birds."

1946 September 2, “Radio: Early Bird”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Sep 2010

The advertise in about a thousand magazines, always showing some hot-shot guy on a horse jumping over a fence. […] And underneath the guy on the horse's picture, it always says: "Since 1888 we have been molding boys into splendid, clear-thinking young men." Strictly for the birds. They don't do any damn more molding at Pencey than they do at any other school.

1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, chapter 1, in The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 4

New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson expressed confidence on his way out of the courtroom Friday as the eight-day trial to determine his mental competency came to a close. […] When asked if the trial has taken a lot out of him, Benson said, "Ahh, no, man. You know, it's not fun, it's not any fun. To have your kids turn against you, that's for the birds."

2015 June 14, “Saints, Pelicans owner Tom Benson confident as trial closes”, in ESPN, archived from the original on 01 Apr 2016