BIRD LANGUAGE

I was at the Pond the other day relaxing with a cup of Cuban Coffee and a Custard Filled Glazed Donut and watching and listening. I first spotted a Mockingbird… about my favorite bird species and then a Grasshopper Sparrow, a Song Sparrow (House Finch), a pair of Mourning Doves, a quick visit from California Bushtits, Hummingbirds and a California Gnatcatcher, then a Gold Finch landed on the birdbath a little later, followed by a large male Scrub Jay (Blue Jay). As I took my last sip of coffee and last bite of donut a Red Tailed Hawk went zooming at high speed over the Pond to some high secret place.

During this experience I heard many distinct sounds from these birds… yet none were the same. Each one had an obvious and personal dialectal Bird Language. As the Mocking Bird talked to another of her kind and as a Red Tail to his kind, there was never even a glimpse of sameness in the bird language.

So, my take-away from the Pond that day was this: is Bird Language like ours in that I cannot understand if someone speaks to me in French, House Finch, Russian, Hummingbird or Chinese…etc. Is it the same with birds? The Goldfinch has no idea what the Blue Jay is saying… etc.? The Hawk and the Gnatcatcher don’t/can’t talk to each other?

This is why one must make frequent visits to the Pond and pay close attention and drink a good amount of Cuban Coffee.

No, really that’s what happened.

“And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Jesus