Bird Behavior

Your Library Staff at Home – Watching Birds (& TV)

carolLeave a comment

It’s been hard to concentrate lately. I know that many people also are feeling this way right now. I’m even (sniff sniff) having a hard time reading. So, for some escape this week, and for lots and lots and lots of laughs, I’ve been streaming NBC’s Superstore, starring America Ferrera. The quirky characters on this multi-season sitcom are coworkers at Cloud 9, a big box store, where hi-jinx ensue on the regular. This show just might help you stop missing your coworkers whileworking from home.

What else am I watching? Birds! We are an advanced-beginner bird-watching household. We have our dog-eared guide book and hurry each other to the window to see something new.

Ducks. Hummingbirds (Yes, they are back even with this snow!). Orioles. Nuthatches. I know these birds have always been in (or migrating through) my yard, but it feels like I am seeing them with new eyes. This shutdown has provided me with an opportunity to be present, it slows me down when I feel restless and uncertain and helps me appreciate what is around me– my backyard, my pets, my family. To be comforted by the familiar, and to be open to viewing the familiar in a new light are starting to feel like gifts.

I see more birds because I am looking more, which takes time. I know that eventually everything will bounce back and return to a new version of normal, but I aim to hold on a bit to the good stuff I’ve learned from this. When life picks its pace back up, I plan to keep taking the time to take time.

One Amazing Parrot

EvelynLeave a comment

alex and meI can’t remember where I heard about the book Alex and Me by Irene Pepperberg, but it sounded interesting so I put a hold on the book on CD thinking that I’d listen to it. Well, I can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed a book as much as this one. Part scientific study and part memoir, Alex and Me is also the story of a thirty-year loving relationship that any pet owner would completely understand. As much as Dr. Pepperberg stresses Alex’s accomplishments in the field of animal behavior, she also shows his unique personality while telling anecdotes about her studies with Alex. 

Once, when given a piece of apple to eat, Alex would not repeat the word apple. Instead he gave it the name “ban-nerry.” The more the trainers repeated “apple,” the more he replied “ban-nerry.” Finally students figured out that Alex coined the word to describe the red outside skin of an apple and the soft inside of a banana.

Alex often got bored with the repetiveness of his training and would say “want a nut.” He expected to receive one right away. Once when he was repeatedly ignored, he sounded out the word nut–nnn…uuuu….tttt. Again, he amazed his trainers because he actually knew the sounds that made up the word and wasn’t just “parroting” other people’s phrases.

If you liked the story of Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat, you’ll love Alex and Me.

~Evelyn