My neighbor's kid said something about the finches that stuck with me

I was out on my porch around 6am the other week, just watching the usual crowd at my feeder. A little girl from next door came over and asked what I was doing, and I told her I was just watching the finches start their day. She looked at them for a minute and then said real quiet, "They don't seem worried about anything, do they?" I laughed at first, but then I thought about it later that night. I've been getting up before dawn for years now, and she was right. They just go about their business, chirping and eating, no stress about yesterday or tomorrow. It made me wonder when I stopped seeing them that way, you know? Has anyone else had a kid say something that made you look at the birds different? I'm still thinking about it every morning now.

3 comments

3 Comments

ray1362d ago

You ever just watch something that long without seeing it? I dunno. I see it a little different. They're not carefree. They're just doing what they gotta do. Find food. Don't get eaten. That's not worry-free. That's survival. Just programmed for it. Kids see what they want to see. And maybe that's the point. But the birds still gotta deal with weather, predators, finding a mate. That's plenty of stress if you ask me.

claire_gibson2d ago

Hold on, @ray136, you're telling me birds have to worry about finding a mate on top of everything else? Never really thought about bird dating stress before. I guess even the robins outside my window have more going on than I give them credit for.

patricialee2d ago

Wait, is that from that nature documentary that was on PBS a few months back? I remember catching part of it, something about bird courtship rituals. It blew my mind. @claire_gibson, you're right, we don't really think about it. Those robins outside my window probably have their own little dramas going on every spring. It makes you wonder what else we're missing just because we don't stop and look close enough.