Dickie Birds

Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those

who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ~ Luke 6:31-32

Those adorable chickadees that frequent your feeder, flock to you when you fill it, and perhaps even trust you enough to eat literally out of you hand, are as gentle and kind as you imagine them to be. Except, of course, during the breeding season. During those weeks in the spring when they are seeking a mate and defending a territory for nesting, they can be quite aggressive. You may not know it though, because the biggest indicator of their mood and intentions is song. Whether attracting a mate or defending their territory, switching from chick-a-dee to hey sweetie (if you’ve heard it, you know) is all they need do. Yes, there is the occasional skirmish between angry males, feathers may fly, but blood is not drawn and there is never serious injury. No, singing does just fine as a tool doubling as a non-violent weapon of sorts.

Chickadees peaceably coexist with other species. Birders sometimes refer to dickie birds, a term lumping together the common small birds that chickadees often flock with, such as Titmice and Nuthatches. The obvious exception to being friendly regardless of species are predators. This is also when differences among the potential prey matter the least. When a threat is present, Chickadees will sound the alarm. The greater the dees in the Chicka-dee-dee-dee the greater the threat. This alerts all the dickie birds to gather in hopes of mobbing the threat into leaving hungry.

Perhaps we need to learn how to get along like the dickie birds do. What business is it of mine if a nuthatch chooses to travel headfirst down the trunk of a tree? Just because I can’t do it, doesn’t make it wrong. And if I wait my turn on the feeder, trusting that the Titmice will let me eat once they have, we can share the feeder hoping that this peaceful scene will be among the reasons that the human will return with more seed to fill it. And when there is a threat that threatens us all, surely we ought to flock together bringing all our varied gifts to the struggle to survive. That’s not how it is going though, is it? We don’t seem to be able to muster even loving those who love us, let alone treating others the way we would want to be treated. Maybe the birds should be teaching us remedial ethics. We might even learn to sing.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, fill us with your breath so that our words come out sounding more like songs, perhaps even in harmony with the one you sing through us. Amen.