Hoarding

I love to lull the song birds to my deck with plates of seed and nuts for them to eat.

I enjoy all the different sparrows who find their way there along with the purple finches, the cute titmouse with the little black hooded heads and cute little chirp.  I smile when a yellow finch shows up; it’s not very often so, their solid gold presence it such a joy to see.  Occasionally this spring I’ve seen a humming bird.  I don’t know if they’re not back yet or this year will be low on humming bird sightings.

I have an open air deck so the bird seed platters are not protected against rain.  I have lost and replaced too much birdseed from rain-filled plates where the seeds sour and the birds won’t eat them.

Occasionally someone flips over one of the tin platters with too boisterous a lift off, seeds and nuts plummeting to the floor.  It’s usually one of the morning doves or pigeons that is the culprit.  Their big luggy bodies can’t seem to make the graceful getaway that the cardinals or even larger blue jays perform.

The thing that annoys me most about the pigeons and doves is their penchant to stand in the middle of the food and just gorge.  Most birds come for one piece, they eat it and fly away or take it with them, or they move to another spot where they can crack it against something hard.  But the pigeons loiter and hoard even when others come looking for their daily needs.  Take your turn, buddy, and get out so we can have some! Come back for more later on.  Or, as we say at church potluck dinners “family hold back” which means let everyone get served once (conservatively) before you come back for seconds.

I don’t like people or corporations who hoard either.  Business leaders who are paid millions each year.  How many millions does a family “need” to live on?  How many homes can a CEO, President or Vice President live in at one time?  Corporations who buy back stocks rather than increase wages to those who actually create the products and services hinder the economic exchanges that our system is reliant on. Who do you think you are plugging up the flow of resources? Our economy, our livelihoods, depend on a flow of exchange.  The millions of employees who create that wealth provide more exchange points in more diverse markets. When one bird stands in the way, stopping that flow, the larger community is hurt. We’d all like the opportunity to enjoy the wealth being made by many hands.  So, take your turn, buddy, and let others have some too.