With the Falcons out of the Super Bowl, another type of bird is on Georgians’ minds.

“Wings are very popular; we’re pleased with that,” said Mike Giles, president of the Georgia Poultry Federation.

But contrary to some of the rumors floating around, there won’t be a shortage of chicken wings.

“This has happened before — attention paid on the supply of wings and the amount that are used,” Giles said. “I’m certain that if someone wants to have wings on Super Bowl Sunday, they’ll be available to them.”

The problem stems from obvious limitations to the supply of wings.

“There are only two wings per chicken. When you have a very high seasonal demand for a product like that, supply and demand dynamics take over,” he said.

That means consumers should expect higher prices, he said.

“They should expect to pay a little bit more for wings, but it’s certainly worth it and still a great value,” Giles said. “If you look at wing prices, they are near historic highs right now. The price of chicken has increased in the last year as well, so wings especially are near their historic high.”

Giles said those highs have to do with challenges for the poultry industry.

“The past year has been one of the most challenging times in our industry’s history because of the higher input on corn especially,” he said. “So in order for a company to remain profitable, we have to recoup that price in the marketplace.”

Giles said about 1.2 billion wings would be consumed over the Super Bowl weekend.

“Georgia produces 1.4 billion chickens a year, two wings per chicken, so that’s 2.8 billion wings, but they’re produced throughout the entire year,” he said.

Dane Woods, general manager of sales, service and engineering for Cantrell, a Gainesville poultry company, said retailers use last year’s numbers to prepare for the demand.

“A billion wings is a whole lot of chicken. But we’re just backing up the orders. We’ll cover them, I’m sure of that.”

Giles said he will be among the millions of Americans enjoying chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday. He plans on baking them.

“I like to bake them then put the buffalo sauce, rather than frying them. It’s just easier to do at home. It’s so easy,” he said. “You just put them in the oven and roast them, and they’re crispy, then put the sauce on them.”

To alleviate any wing-related anxiety, he said, “You might go ahead and get some just to be safe.

“But I think if anybody really wants wings on Sunday, they’ll be fine,” he said.