07/01/2024
Dear Fellow Humans,
Four years ago, during the early months of the Covid 19 pandemic, four finch couples built nests in the pergola in our backyard. My husband, Yoav, tried to stop them by removing the twigs as they brought them. His argument was that nests bring trouble: critters, mess, etc. I convinced him to leave the nests alone, arguing that it will be educational for the kids to get to see the process of nest building, egg laying and hatching, and eventual flight out of the nest. It was Covid shutdown: there wasn’t much else to do during that time, so why not bird watch in our own backyard?
Yoav proved to be correct and the experiment did not end well. First of all, birds are nasty. As you can see in the photo above, they p**p in their nest. I don’t know whether it’s for structural reasons - perhaps it strengthens the nest and/or makes it waterproof - or just because they’re gross. We also learned that bird nests attract bird lice. After all the birds left their p**p filled nests behind for us to clean, thousands of teeny tiny lice started crawling all over our pergola. Lastly, we did not realize that new chicks fly low when they learn to fly, at least when they have to fly out from under the roof of a pergola. We have two huskies with a high prey drive. At least two of the chicks did not live past their first flight. One was chased straight into our neighbors fence which ended in a literal head-on collision, and the other one was toyed with enough that - well you know what happened. My middle kid, who was 12 at the time, was so affected by the brutality of nature that he became a vegetarian for a while.
After that experience, Yoav placed bird spikes in the corners of the pergola to deter the birds from building nests there again. The joke was on us: they built the nests in between the spikes! After that, he did a little construction work and closed off the corners completely so that there wouldn’t be a flat surface for them to build on. That worked until this year when one finch couple decided to build their nest on top of the curtain that hangs in the pergola. Again, Yoav tried removing the twigs as soon as they would bring them, but in the end, the birds were persistent enough that he gave up. Little nut-sized-brain creatures won the battle against a human. That's not because Yoav is lacking in any way, that’s just nature doing her thing.
Despite not wanting to be a landlord to birds, Yoav is actually a softy. He’s the one who took the photo you see above - he experienced a moment of awe and shared it with the family. I love this photo and felt compelled to share it with all of you because I see in it love, partnership, and resilience. Allow me to break that down for you:
Love: in the photo, we see mom and dad finch feeding their new chicks. They flew out (our version of going to the store) and brought back worms and such to regurgitate (ew) into their babies’ mouths so that they can grow.
Partnership: mom and dad finch working together, from building the nest to gathering food to feeding their chicks. It’s a beautiful family portrait of commitment, mutual responsibility, and support.
Resilience: four years ago, the birds showed us who’s boss and they did it again the year after by finding a work around to our deterrent. This year yet again, the birds beat the humans: you destroy our home, we will rebuild! They found what they deemed to be prime real estate in a hostile world and didn’t give up. They showed persistence in the face of adversity.
My dear fellow humans, when was the last time that you were inspired by a bird? How humbling it is to find inspiration in a creature so small. Inspiration to be a better parent, a better partner, and a more resilient person. I hope that you, as well, have found inspiration in this story. Truth be told, there are opportunities for inspiration all around us. We just have to stop and be silent long enough to notice them.
With love,
Dassy
