The Backyard Bird Chronicles

by Amy Tan

When I see a bird that has died, I don’t accept the sanguine saying, “It’s the circle of life.” It is good to mourn and wish it weren’t

Hot Pepper Suet, also from Wild Birds Unlimited.

California Scrub Jays store a lot of acorns, one source saying it was 3,500 to 6,000 acorns a year.

I am guessing that birds are more driven to establish dominance over the bath among their own kind. The dominant bird might share, but the subservient bird must look away.

birds do indeed have olfactory receptors and taste buds, albeit fewer than mammals do. And so do yellow jackets.

Songbirds prefer shorter, fatter unshelled sunflower seeds, more depth than length, because they contain more oil.

almost all the birds are deferential to the White-throated Sparrow and only one bird was not submissive: the California Towhee. It is bouncer-sized.

And then I saw an American Robin. It was sitting on top of the fence, looking kingly with its bill classically upraised. They are common enough in some habitats, but in my backyard, they are rare. I had seen one in my yard only three times in the last five years that I had been noticing birds.

75 to 85 percent of young raptors that die before reaching adulthood.

male juncos are excellent fathers. They help build the nest, feed the female when she is brooding, feed the nestlings, clean out the poop, and guide the fledglings as they learn to fly and forage.

To all the birds in my backyard. If only you knew what I see in each of you. If only you knew how much I love you.