Are birds just birds?

Birds are birds are birds - not so. One of my favourite flocking bird is the Cedar Waxwing. I like it for its beauty and its disposition. Disposition? Watching these birds on a cold January mid-morning at the Stevensville Conservation Park or alighting on our pines on the family farm you notice something about these birds. They come as a group of ten or so and always seem to give the impression of being amicably inclined. In other words - they seem to get along. Whether eating little Russian olives at Stevensville Conservation Park or the feed scattered on my picnic table feeder they get along. They seem to enjoy the society of their kind. Share and share alike - no pecking order do I observe among them. Not so with other winter birds. We had three pairs of Bluejays come regularly to our table feeder. One pair would land to feed and the second pair would drive them out until the third pair came screaming and took over and controlled the feeding scene. Watch flocking crows at a feeding site - you see bickering and quarreling. They are prone “to explode into cawing” at any provocation. One of my least favoured bird is the Starling. Watch as they drive out the smaller songbirds from the feast of seeds. They strut around and by sheer numbers they drive out other birds. Some flocking birds seem to get along. As for me and my bird likes - I’ll take the Cedar waxwing. Life style - Let’s get along with each other in 2008.