Tobi Zausner, PhD., reviewed Birds with a Cup of Coffee in Bulletin of Arts and Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association, 2000. She says:

This painting refers to a popular Renaissance image of birds drinking from a chalice or fountain, symbolizing the soul receiving nourishment from a divine source. But unlike images from antiquity where birds are seen taking nourishment, in McKay’s painting they are near the cup but none of them are close enough to drink. Instead, their arrangement suggests that they are guardian figures. Rather than drink from an infinite source, they instead care for its fragile condition. Having roles as guardians may explain their prominent humanoid eyes, ears and teeth, which enable them to better serve as protectors. In this work, the chalice that appears in Renaissance images has been converted into a coffee cup [and] the cup in this painting is composed of jagged pieces. The lines on the cup are not a design but a weakness in its structure because the artist has shown in it in a three-dimensional view and at its rim, breaks may be seen on the inside of the cup as well. . . . That the cracked cup still holds together says that the artist, despite his fragilities, has managed to maintain his psychological integrity. Other elements of optimism in the painting come from the color scheme. The background is sunshine yellow and the birds are blue, which in our culture suggest the bluebird of happiness. Each bird has a patch of green, a color traditionally associated with healing.