Clif

Question:  Why do birds matter to me?  Beauty, primarily.  I get a certain joy out of seeing an animal that is so perfect in design.  And the more I learn about birds, the more I understand those perfections.   They have adapted to every variation in environment in every conceivable (and inconceivable) way.  Their coloration is gorgeous, even the ubiquitous little brown sparrows are gorgeous when you get close, and the grackle's iridescence almost makes up for its crowding of the airspace and obnoxious noise.  No designer could ever come up with a color scheme of the wood duck, and no artist could ever create the glow of those colors.   Their diversity also stuns me.   Great blue herons and hummingbirds?  Each bird has evolved to fit its ecological niche.   I wish humans could evolve to suit the environment as opposed to crafting the environment to suit them.   We have a lot to learn from birds.

My backyard: Mature trees, one of which is dying, some bushes in the Murphy’s yard where small birds hang out in between trips to the feeders.   Also, some rhododendron bushes, in which I’ve never seen a bird.   Small yard has direct sun about six hours a day.   Two scotch pines provide mottled shade.    Two feeders, one with shelled peanuts, the other with a mix with a lot of sunflower seeds.  The Murphy’s also have feeders, I’m not sure what they use. The only thing that I think makes our yard appealing to the birds is the proximity of cover to the food and a birdbath. Bass Ponds: Minnesota River valley, extremely wide and flat flood plane with mature vegetation and lots of water.  Would seem to be ideal spot for water birds.  Also lots of trees on the bluff edges provide cover and nesting for woodpeckers and songbirds.