A flash of color, a subtle movement, a loud call and I’m at my window, wondering what kind of treat I’ll be seeing!  I feed the birds in the winter and provide a fountain and a birdbath in the summer, so I have a variety of birds in my yard yearround.   Some of them look painted, total works of art – spotted tohees, blue jays, three kinds of nuthatches – all with colors that defy explanation.  A flock of gold finches is like something out of Disneyland!  Even the sweet little birds that have underrated plumage can make a big statement.  Pine siskins come in flocks.  They show the softest of yellows but are among my favorite visitors.  Not to mention grosbeaks and crossbills and wrens.  And magpies – they will always look exotic to me!  The list goes on.

I remember birds from childhood in Phoenix.  We had mockingbirds, cactus wrens and cardinals.  There were pinion and stellar jays and black hawks in the central part of Arizona, and that’s where I saw my first bald eagle.

Living along the coast brought more to see, requiring more books and more learning, from gulls to pelicans and cormorants.  Each species is collectable, like a souvenir of a place you will always love because of what you saw there.

I collect feathers too, works of art unto themselves with stripes, spots and colors graduating one into another or tipped with an explainable pattern.  I can’t always identify the species but I love the finds nonetheless.

Birds are dying in huge numbers, a tragedy for many reasons.  Like all works of art, birds are there to be enjoyed, nurtured and protected for myself and generations yet to discover them!