Of Cats and Kids

Birds: not just cat snacks anymore

Posted by: Carol Lombardi

Monday, April 30, 2007 11:08 PM

I am 90-11% sure I saw a rose-breasted grosbeak at our bird feeder this morning. This is amazing because (1) I haven't seen one before and (2) I care.

And so, it seems, we have become bird-watchers. Our little plastic feeder was replaced by a large squirrel-proof feeder and we've added a finch feeder and a goldfinch feeder. A hummingbird feeder (to go along with our hummingbird-attracting plants) is in the works. There is also a blue wren house attached to our tree.

The arrival of the first goldfinch last week, just 4 days after putting up the feeder, was heralded like the first springtime sighting of the ice cream truck, except that my daughter has never actually seen an ice cream truck. (I'm positive she would greet it with the same degree of enthusiasm though.)

I've heard of people like us, and I always kind of wondered what was wrong with them. I mean good grief, they're birds. You put food out and they eat it. Big deal.

But it has become a big deal. There is a bizarre sense of accomplishment in seeing and identifying birds I've never seen, as if my personal finesse in putting seed in a tube brought them here.

I gleefully e-mailed a friend to tell her about the rose-breasted grosbeak, only to feel a little jilted when she saw one a few hours later at HER new birdfeeder. Hmph.

P.S. For what it's worth, my cats stay indoors and just look lustfully at the birds. I am not advocating the use of songbirds as cat snacks. I just needed to put something in the headline box.

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