April 22, 2004
Featherweights
Why, of all creatures, does the fowl have an inverse relationship between size and ferocity? I mention this because the hummingbirds have returned, and the dogfights have begun. They are territiorial, feisty things, and I honor them, especially compared to their larger, more hallowed cousins.
Case in point: a bald eagle was sitting on a fence post across the street the other day. A fence post, mind you, not exactly an Olympian aerie (he must have been on the long waiting list for laser surgery). An osprey was hectoring him. An osprey is a magnificent bird, and predator, and I revel in their fishing skills. Next to a baldie he is something of a runt, though. And yet he was hectoring this eagle, who sat meekly on his perch. Dive and nip, dive and nip. The osprey, in turn, was being badgered by four ravens. Swirling and feinting, they kept him off his game. The only thing that saved that eagle from a whipping, or an ignoble retreat.
The ravens, ha ha, were being savaged by a pair of mockingbirds. A little nesting pair of mockers were hitting them like samurai with a grievance to right. The spectacle was ludicrous, and yet gratifying. A magnificent bald eagle, surrounded by an ever-lessening whirlwind of peccant agitators.
The mockers were lucky those hummingbirds were engaging in genocide over in my back yard. Otherwise they would have gone to roost with a brutal beating.
One final point: why do we glorify the great raptors, while vilifying the lowly buzzard? The buzzard, after all, takes his meals like we do: already dead, and hopefully warmed up a bit. I'll have to check my Faulkner on that issue. He knew from buzzards.