Jail Birds

I thought I would take this time to tell you about my birds. Yes, I have birds also. Since I have been moved downstairs I have had my window covered up with plastic to keep the draughts out. But since the weather has gotten warm, I have had the opportunity to remove the plastic and open my window.

I have observed that there are many birds that scavenge through the dirt outside my window for food. My window is covered in its entirety by a steel plate with half inch holes drilled into it for ventilation. You can look through these holes and see what is going on outside. So it is nice to stand on my toilet lid and look out and watch the birds.

An idea came to me that I could feed these critters with a little imagination. I rolled up a piece of long paper into a tube like a pea shooter so that it could fit through the holes in the metal over the window. Then what to feed them? I decided that I would use the bread that they give me for my meals. I take it and roll it into pellets about an inch long and about a quarter of an inch in diameter. I insert the pellets into the end of the tube and blow them outside as if I was blowing a dart out of a blow gun. Sometimes the bread is not fresh enough to mould into pellets, it is dry and will not form. So I then take the bread and mix it with water and make a ball of dough to which I roll out strips of long pellets. I cut the strips into smaller pieces and leave over night to firm up. This is the preferred method.

All it took was one feeding to teach the birds where to come for their bounty. Now early each morning they are scouring the ground in front of my window for their food. If I don’t get up and start feeding them, they simply sing louder. And today one actually flew up to my window as if to say "hey, let’s get on with the feeding!" So I stand on my toilet lid and shoot the pellets out and I watch as the battles begin for the food. One guy may grab it and start to eat it and another one will come up and steal it out of his beak! Or if it breaks apart when bitten and falls to the ground, another will quickly scoop it up and fly away with his reward. Most of my birds are repeat customers. I can tell by their markings. I have sparrows, blue birds, crows, love birds and a big raven. There are a few little sparrows that never seem to get the early pellets and stand around looking up at my window with a look in their eyes as if to say "what about me!" So I try to aim my shots to land right in front of them. Usually I succeed. No one leaves hungry, but sometimes I wonder where they put it all. They are such small birds.

Well that is my story about my birds. I thought I would share it with you. I really feel good about my new family. They depend on me and I am hooked on seeing them every day. Life works in strange ways.