From Tan’s new book, ‘The Backyard Bird Chronicles,’ drawings and observations about attracting and befriending birds
Birders have described my yard as “very birdy.” But it was not always that way. I had to lure these birds to check out my woodland habitat and make it so irresistible they would never leave.
The birds see me, too. They are unperturbed if I sit at the dining table inside and watch them eat, bathe and cavort on the patio. They don’t mind if I stand still next to the cage feeders and fill the bowls. But when I pick up the binoculars, even from a distance or from inside the house, the birds fly off. When I put down my binoculars, they usually return within 20 seconds. Oh, it’s just that flightless creature who brings the food.
I have since discarded the notion of a bird-human friendship. I love that the birds are wild, but my relationship with the Scrub Jays is complicated. They scare away the smaller birds by landing like a bomb and devour their food. A Scrub Jay weighs about 2.8 ounces andWhen a huge week-long rainstorm came, I took the feeders down and placed them on a table under a patio umbrella.
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