Birds of a Feather

Chickadees are the most gregarious and cheerful little birds in our part of the world. They delight everyone when they perch on a finger and feed from your hand. At only 11 grams, they are practically weightless when they land. Our little granddaughter still flinches and clenches her fist when a bird comes close, so they do a U-turn, but she will get the hang of it soon. 

Much as I like watching eagles and discovering owls, passerines make up the majority of the birds we see each day. They are "sparrow-shaped", interesting singers, and share a unique foot of three toes forward and one toe back that allows them to perch. In a few short weeks we will be awakened each morning by birdsong when our migrants return for the spring and summer. If we are lucky, two or three species may nest in our yard. When the trees are in full leaf, it is often easier to find one of these birds by its song, than trying to see it. 

It isn't unusual to find several different passerines in the same tree, especially if that tree offers a good food source of insects or berries. In the winter they congregate around backyard feeders and get along quite well.

Looking at the almost limitless variety of birds around the world in the order Passeriformes, I think of the almost limitless variety of human beings sharing this planet. We come in various colours and sizes, with diverse habits and tastes. We like different songs, speak different languages, eat different foods, and spend our days doing different activities.

The saying "Birds of a feather flock together" is true of birds and people. We tend to hang around others who share our tastes and interests. That is fine as long as we respect those with different tastes and interests. How boring it would be if we were all the same. Sadly, we are pushed to some degree of comformity from the time we start school. Each society has standard expectations of what it takes to be a successful adult. It takes a courageous person to march to the beat of a different drummer. 

No one asks a Chickadee to sing like a Cardinal. Chickadees nest in a cavity and a Cardinals nest in the fork of small tree branches. But they could easily share the same tree. I could not imagine doing spring birding if there were only two or three different species around. In May, it is not that hard to locate over 40 species in an afternoon in a natural area with a meadow, forest and a river or pond.

There is room in society for diversity as we share space and time people unlike ourselves. If we could take a lesson from these birds, the best way to get to know each other would be sharing a meal together!