My Pet Birds

I have a few pets. Their number range from one to eight. I feed my little friends, and they give back by providing me the pleasure of being able to watch them. No, they do not sit on my shoulder, head or even fingers. They are not even domesticated. Each spring they come home and leave each fall. My pets are hummingbirds.

I did not find them; they found me. A few years back there was a tiny bird looking through my window at me tapping the window, too. Immediatedly, I went to the Walmart and purchased a cheap feeder and set it up for the tiny bird. Ever since that first encounter, there has been a relationship of sorts between us.

Years have been spent trying to train these little critters to accept me and allow me very close. The reality of this situation is they have trained me. When the feeder is empty they search each window in my house until they find me or another member of my family. We are talking about 21 windows. When they find one us at a window, they hover and bump the window. If they see me, these birds will go to me instead. If a window is open, I hear them tweet for my attention. As I re-fill the feeder and set it up, they tweet as if to give me a scolding for allowing the feeder to run dry.

Another interesting observation I have made is these bird recognize my voice. If they are perched on the feeder, and they hear my voice they will cock their tiny heads and look over at me. Mind you, I must be inside of the house and a few feet away from the window. The birds will fly to a nearby tree if it is someone elses voice.

Last night I received an earful from the birds. I was very late with re-filling the feeder. The birds were hovering at the sliding glass door and screaming at me as I worked on something. It only occurred to me what the birds wanted when the Educator told me the feeder was empty. Since this was a longer than usual between re-fills, I got the silent treatment when I re-filled the feeder.

Today, they’ll be happy and fight with each other over the feeder. Life will be good, and I’ll have a smile on my face as I watch the birds.