Birds of a Feather Sure Fight A Lot!

"Bird is a four letter word; B, i, r, d!" Sesame Street characters happily taught kids how to spell while imprinting their ditties on unsuspecting adult minds as well. It's been thirty-five or more years since Bert or Ernie first sang that, and it still comes to mind while I'm watching the antics of some of my favorite creations. We ate breakfast outside this morning and enjoyed some up-close-and-personal time with our birds.

The hummers were fighting, as usual, over domination of our one remaining feeder. We had three, but because of bees and my slippery hands, we gave up two of them. I wish I could have clocked their speed as they flew in and out of our ramada, chasing one another away from the nectar. I know they came within three inches of my head! Silly creatures.  There are four openings with little perches where they could rest and drink to their heart's content, but I guess they don't see it that way.

Our seed feeder was attracting sparrows, doves, and finches, and yes, they were sparring over it too. I always love watching the drama as one group flies in and ousts the feeding flock. The departing birds rise almost as one and circle around a bit, only to come back down to "their rightful spots." The scrub jays will pick out corn or sunflower seeds from the feeder, but they prefer raw peanuts. Talk about fighting over food...they can have thirty peanuts to choose from, but screech and fly at one another over one nut. Their M.O. is to strut around from peanut to peanut, testing each one by picking it up and dropping it again. Having found the perfect one, if it doesn't get snatched by a competing brother, they fly up to our bank and bury it in the ice plant. This behavior is repeated until the patio is bare, and the originally rejected peanuts are all gone.

Another feeder we fill is for the orioles, those gorgeous black and yellow males with the more sedate-looking females. Oddly enough, they love grape jelly and will empty the specially designed feeder every other day until they migrate. I haven't noticed them fighting too much, but their swooping, somewhat erratic flight (up and down) has intrigued me all summer.  They didn't show up today. I'll miss them.

There are many other birds which live in and around our canyon in the front of our home, but the mockingbirds, pigeons, and crows, while they are constantly flying around the trees, don't make a habit of visiting. We have actually had a roadrunner, a hawk, and a family of quails come in our backyard, and at night we hear owls calling to each other. A family of ducks tried to make the clubhouse swimming pool their home, but were relocated.

It's amazing to me that we have this awesome variety of birds with different voices and feather patterns and colors. The Bible says this about the most plain bird around, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."