Around ten years ago I gave my son a set up for bird feeding so he and his boys could observe the birds while sitting at their dining room table. It was a lot of fun and even the youngest son learned to identify the Mommy birds and Daddy birds as well as the juveniles.
Now I have become the one to enjoy the feeding, feathered friends. After all these years some changes are taking place at his house so he has brought his feeding station and accompanying feeders to my house. He set them up in front of my dining room window and I can watch the birds eat while I eat.
It occurred to me that this was becoming an addiction as I sat mesmerized in front of my window and time was passing without me even realizing it. Perhaps it is not all bad as I am curious about which birds are visiting. I got out my Audubon Field Guide Book to North American Birds and it is becoming very well used!
When I saw one bird flying from one place to another, not to the station, I remembered reading about a bird whose flight has an undulating pattern. I did not remember which one so I began looking through the grassland birds. I am not positive but I think it may have been the Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius Iudovicianus). This bird has no talons so he impales his prey on a thorn or barbed wire fence in order to tear it apart to eat then or later. For this reason he has another name "Butcher Bird". His food consists of insects, mice or small birds so he hunts for this food and not the seeds I have provided. I did not see him at this station so it does seem logical that I have seen this unusual bird as this area is part of his range.
Another fact which came to me because of this "addiction" is that some birds are much smarter than humans. They curb their population when food is scarce. They lay fewer eggs or do not breed at all. This bird may be the "wise old owl" we refer to at times. He is the barn owl (Tyto alba) and eats mostly rodents. He has a heart shaped face, is the size of a crow, and has keen hearing, which he relies on when hunting. He can see just fine in the daylight and his large eyes allow him to see very well at night.
Who wouldn't get addicted to such fascinating creatures which are able to do something we will never be able to do, fly through the air in our birthday suits.
