Admittedly, I have become the crazy bird lady. I feed the birds outside my kitchen window every morning, throwing some seed into the ground feeder which sits on top of a bench, …so technically not a ground feeder. I throw some seed on the brick wall and pillar that surround the front patio area, some on the windowsill, and some amidst the mulch in the front landscaping. I routinely replace the fat-laden suet cake in the feeder that hangs from the Japanese maple and fill the bird bath with fresh water every few days. My brother-in-law gave me a mug for Christmas that reads “I like to party and by party, I mean watch birds”. It’s gotten that bad.
And I do like birds, but I originally started feeding them not for my own pleasure but because our cat sits on her perch at this window and having a bird menagerie is a bit like watching reality TV. She gets to see avian drama played out daily, and it’s crazy, fascinating, and addictive! There are pecking order squabbles that rival epic Bachelor and Keeping Up with the Kardashians television episodes. There are bird bath beauties that relish dipping their heads under the water and splashing water over and under their wings with the same excitement and innocence as Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman’s tub scene, and I can practically hear the bird singing “I just want your extra time and your….kiss!”. And then there are the unexpected standoffs between the fur versus feather species: squirrel versus mockingbird, and mouse versus junco, and it’s always a crap shoot as to who wins.
There are the sparrows who have made it a profession of making a chaotic mess of my landscaping as they dig holes and scatter the mulch with their feet in hope of finding that one last seed. There are the neighborly nuthatches and chickadees who sit on the windowsill but are they really as sweet and innocent as they seem? They know the cat is there and they wait for her to charge the screen, and you can almost hear them laughing when she hits glass and bounces back stunned. The woodpecker is clearly conflicted as he jumps between the suet feeder which is a convenient and available food source, and the trunk of the tree, where he pecks hoping to find the stray bug. It’s as if he doesn’t want to completely abandon the skills his parents taught him and take what is easily provided instead of working hard for it. The doves, God bless them, with their doe eyes, are just slow and resigned. And they sit around together in groups, as if they have earned this right, looking like the residents in the community room at the assisted living facility down the street.
I have realized that watching the birds outside my kitchen window, while purely entertaining for my cat, is a personal litmus test for me. With which bird do I most relate, or which bird should I least try to be like? For example, like the female birds do, will I try to challenge the pecking order that also exists among people, and assert myself as a woman today? Technically speaking, pecking order refers to the order in which animals eat, the dominant going first, and darn if I don’t love food too much to be relegated to the least! Maybe today, I will try not to be territorial and protect things that best and only serve my family and me like the blue jay does, and instead try to be other-regarding like the cardinal and the robin who share their nests with others. Maybe today I will try to not be like the starling who is notoriously the bully, and instead I will make sure my words and actions could never be construed as unkind or make someone feel less than they are. Maybe today I will choose to work hard for what I accomplish like the woodpecker who returns to the tree trunk, choose to find joy in simple pleasures and luxuries like the birds in the bath, or choose to slow down and not feel rushed or guilty as I enjoy the company of others like the doves.
I keep wondering if spending $23.81 every few weeks on bird seed (and thank you Amazon for delivering it right to my front door) is worth it. First, the birds should technically be able to find natural food sources for themselves, and two, that is a pretty hefty feline entertainment budget. But I have come to realize that I have become the crazy bird lady, and not just because they are pretty and it’s fun to watch them in action. It’s because watching our feathered friends reminds me to focus on the qualities that ultimately make me a kinder human. It's fun to ask, “which bird will I try to be like or not be like today?” But really, if I am being honest, I may simply be channeling the nuthatches and chickadees and the $23.81 birdseed investment serves my own comedic purposes because when my poor cat hits the screen and bounces off the window, I can’t not laugh!
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