Feeding Birds

I love feeding birds. I like to see the different common varieties come and partake. I like the glimpse of the occasional rare or outstanding bird that happens every once in a while. I like to think I am helping out in some sort of way. I like the colors and activity and the glimpse into the social lives of the little feathered guys.

During the winter it is fun to sit near a window and see who shows up. During the summer, it is fun to see just how many regulars there are. To see who likes what kind of seed, or particular bird feeder or perch or dining spot.

During the summer I especially like watching the hummingbirds. I like the courting dance in the air, the aggressive males keeping others away from their “nectar”, the bringing of the youngsters to the ol’ watering hole. Unfortunately we only have one kind of hummingbird here in the north east, the Rufous hummingbird. It’s great to see them early in the spring and sad to realize they have left in the fall but there is little variety. I understand there are a number of hummingbird species in New Mexico and I look forward to being able to spot and identify them. I also look forward to counting how many little hummers there are at any one time.


When we took the kids to California, we stayed for a few days, with my aunt and uncle in the hills north of Los Angeles. They had a wonderful back yard with orange and avocado trees, desert turtles and a great trellises and flowing vine. On any given afternoon there were 20 or more hummingbirds checking out the flowers. Grand!

One of current favorite They Might Be Giants albums is “The Else.” On it is a song about the hummingbird moth which they call an insect that thinks it’s a bird (hummingbird) acting like a bee. The lyrics:

Bee Of The Bird Of The Moth

Everyone is crying at the dread hypnotic flying
Of the bee of the bird of the moth
You can't walk, you can't ramble 'cause you're gonna have to scramble
From the bee of the bird of the moth

Catbug is a cat, but he's got bugness in his veins
Manhouse lives within himself with thoughtful human brains
Neither one is equal to the challenge of the freak we'll call
The bee of the bird of the moth

Now the moth defeats the mouse and man
It's messing with the plan, it can't be believed
'Cause it's just a hummingbird moth
Who's acting like a bird that thinks it's a bee

Got a brand new shipment of electrical equipment
It's addressed to the bottom of the sea
Send a tangerine-colored nuclear submarine
With a sticker that says 'STP'

Windshield wiper washer fluid spraying in the air
Head lice under hats lie in the headlights everywhere
Subatomic waves to the underwater caves
Of the bee of the bird of the moth

And the moth defeats the mouse and man
It's messing with the plan, it can't be believed
'Cause it's just a hummingbird moth
Who's acting like a bird that thinks it's a bee

Is it us or it that's messed up?

Everyone's deforming in the presence of the swarming
Of the bee of the bird of the moth
Protozoa, snakes, and horses have enlisted in the forces
Of the bee of the bird of the moth
All are irresistibly directed by the section of a hypnotizing tractor beam
presenting a prediction
Of the sleep of reason corporation in association
With the bee of the bird of the moth

I’ll miss the chickadees, the cardinals and the rest of the New England crew. I will enjoy seeing the most common LCNM birds and maybe spotting a rare one or two