November 9, 2009

On our last trip to Canada, we pulled off at a highway rest stop for coffee to go with the sticky buns my sister had baked for us. The building reverberated with jangling artificial sounds so we found a bench in the sun. As soon as we seated ourselves the sparrows appeared. Bold little guys hopping around our feet. Clearly they were used to being fed or just scarfing up dropped crumbs. I normally don't feed birds where people eat but these two were so direct, so bold that I encouraged a few more crumbs to crumble. One dived forward, the other held back. Soon they were joined by others and my husband joined in the feeding game. Within minutes it was clear he had a game plan; to distribute the crumbs equitably. This involved, as you might guess, scattering a few crumbs close in for the brazen and pitching a larger piece far out for the timid. I'm sure he is not unique in his bird feeding behavior. How many of us do the same, trying to even out the odds. We root for the underdog, or in this case the underbird. But the underbird with the big crumb only attracts the attention of the top-bird and often looses his crust. Thereby earning the scorn of the dispenser.