bathing beauties!

The person who coined " bird brain" to mean " a simpleton," or an "idiot" must not know much about birds. Birds are, smart,discerning creatures created by God on this part of the Universe.
For example: I throw some day-old cooked rice in my backyard. In a few minutes, a flock of sparrows would come and peck every morsel. How would they know from a distance, that it is COOKED RICE? Just to test them, I placed some small GRANULES of styro foam ( from afar, these looked like cooked rice ) on the same spot. Not one of them came and even looked at the stuff.

Each time I arrive at the house from somewhere, a few of them would start chirping from our eavesthrough. They are saying either "Hello!!" or "Where is the food?"

Weston is the nearest commercial district. This is where I buy groceries from the Asian store, supplies from various dollar stores, bread from a small Vietnamese bakery, emergency $ from the ATM, etc . There is a small square there where seniors would hang out. They live in a high rise building nearby which cater to their age group.

Since I remember, there is a flock of pidgeons occupying this corner ( Lawrence & Weston ). There is a big sign in there that says PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS FOR SANITATION REASONS. But the sign is not worth bird crap, not to some of the seniors anyway.
One of them would come from a coffee shop across the street, holding a plastic bag . He/she would go to the corner and toss out slowly the contents of the bag which are mostly food left overs. The birdies would approach ANYBODY carrying a PLASTIC BAG. If it is a bird-loving senior, then there would be another happy hour for the feathered friends. Once you have started feeding birds, you will be hooked with it for life.

I now have three feeders hanging from the pine tree in front of our house.. As soon as day breaks, a few of them would start checking out if there is something. They are like children. If the feeders are empty, they would roost under the higher branches waiting for someone to feed them.

One of the first thing I do in the morning is to fill 'em up. While doing this, one would start chirping. Others would answer. After I go back inside the house, the birds ( mostly sparrows ) would swoop down like small kamikaze airplanes.

They are such messy eaters. Most of the grain would fall into the ground below. The feeders could only accomodate four birds each. So the rest would just have to eat on the ground. Ocassionally, a pidgeon would join them. Or some crows who are nasty to the sparrows. Rarely, a Blue Jay would drop by but it does not stay long.

There applies the saying, "Birds of the same feather, flock together.."

Of course, birds need water as well. There are several water basins in the front yard just for this purpose. Some of them would use them as bird baths. Others would use them as drinking fountains.

Arent't they just great?---#