It took some doing, but eventually we found a bird feeder
that would fend off the squirrels and the doves and yet allow the small birds
such as finches and the larger birds such as jays and cardinals to feast. And finches, chickadees, titmice, cardinals and
jays, along with hummingbirds, account for most of the bird population in our
backyard. From our garden room, while we
are giving our cat, Max, his daily brushing or while we are utilizing the
stationary bicycle, we can often see all sorts of interaction between the
various birds. 
And it is really a revelation. Because the big birds bully the little ones,
the little ones bully each other, and the hummingbirds, while they really don’t
compete for the seed feeder, are fierce with each other. In fact we have had many occasions to observe
hummingbirds in literal aerial wars, presumably because they are so very
territorial. When one considers how
little hummingbirds are and how active they are in flight and in hovering and
how little they seem to sip at a time, one wonders how they manage to sustain
themselves through the vigorous battles they pursue.
I’ve never cared for attributing human characteristics to
our fellow earth creatures, but sometimes it is hard not to see self-defeating
possessiveness and greed in the behavior of these big and little birds. Why, sometimes they seem almost human.
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