Flicker at the Feeder

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While enjoying broccoli cheese soup for lunch we were aware of the comings and goings of birds at the feeder. A cardinal in bright red with his black mask perched on the edge and cracked sunflower seeds, discarding the husks to the ground below. A chickadee joined him hopping down inside the feeder so his little black head bobbing up and down was all we could see of him. Modest, simple titmice fluttered in and out. A tiny brown wren with perky upturned tail flew in after waiting for the crowd to clear. All of these were our usual visitors whom we appreciate and thoroughly enjoy. Then a flicker showed up.

When the flicker lit on the swinging feeder all the other birds flew away. Maybe they were a little afraid of his domineering presence. Maybe they just highly respected him and considered he deserved to have the feeder to himself.

The flicker is slightly bigger than cardinals and mockingbirds. He is startlingly beautiful with colors of red, grey, black and white, even a little yellow. He is a woodpecker equipped with a sharp hammer of a beak which does not work well in a feeder. I suppose that’s why he seldom lights for a snack. Instead, we catch glimpses of him on the trunk of an oak tree or a tall pine. To see him up close at the feeder is a thrill.

Though he isn’t equipped for eating at the feeder where eating is so easy for most other birds, the flicker still comes on occasion. He is comical twisting his head to make his sharp beak lift seeds instead of pounding out holes in hard wood.

Aside from the surge of delight at seeing the flicker on the feeder, his activity also made me think about how we too have to perform tasks sometimes for which we’re not equipped. We take a deep breath, say a prayer, and plunge into the job. We’re not as pretty as the flicker and probably far more comical. But we get the job done.

The flicker flew away not to be seen at the feeder again for many days. I can hear him sometimes high in an oak tree tippety-tapping for his highly delicious insect lunch. I try to spot him following the sound, but seldom see him. Though I do love to see him I know he’s happy up there at his own “table.” When he gets a strong urge for tasty sunflower seeds he will be back. In the meantime, we’ll enjoy our faithful little feathered friends–cardinals, wrens, and titmice–who fly in and out of the feeders every day.

I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. Phillippians 4:13