The ruby-throated humming bird appears often, but fancies itself superior to this crowd. It comes to the café to show off. Its aerial manoeuvres astound the other celebrity guests. It flits, skims, hovers, reverses gears, spins around, and then nonchalantly refuels while hovering in front of its very own bright red sweet water container hanging from a miniature tree nearby. For variety, it will also sample nectar from the hollyhock, honeysuckle, or rose blossoms scattered around the perimeter.
Other more subdued exhibitionists are the hairy and downy woodpeckers with the red patches on their heads. And once in a blue moon their much larger red-bellied cousin will join the tree climbers. Surprisingly, its red patch is on its head not its belly. There is no lowly seed diet for them. They demand premium suet prepared for them in cake form and housed in a metal frame hanging in a miniature tree. After eating they will climb the telephone pole above the café and drum out loud,secret messages to relatives in the neighbourhood. It’s awfully rude but they don’t care.
Although their arrival is often unpredictable, the “black tie crowd” is a fairly regular group of ordinary-looking customers. Scruffy-looking starlings come in groups to gulp down their meals and leave together.Cowbirds, known as brooding parasites, are the pariahs of the café crowd. Attired like monks with brown heads and black bodies they are not overly friendly, or very handsome. Even if unpopular, they, too, have to eat. Grackles, with their purple heads, golden eyes, and bronzy, iridescent bodies are more poised and stately, with an assertive manner. They have class. They usually take their time to enjoy a good meal. Crows who occasionally come, often look as if they had made a mistake and landed at the wrong restaurant. Ill at ease and antsy, they seldom stay long and often do not even order a meal. Their body language seems to be saying, “Get me out of here!” The red-wing blackbird, sporting a red hanky puff on each wing, is not comfortable with this black tie crowd, and so hangs out with the celebrities. It rarely visits as it prefers marshy places far away from human habitats. There it may be heard for long periods of time singing its trademark song, “Okalee, Okalee, Okalee”.
The blue jay is the self-proclaimed security guard. When it suddenly sounds its one-note alarm all customers scatter immediately into the treetops and “freeze.” It is the signal that the Mafia have arrived. Their appearance strikes terror into the hearts of birds everywhere. There on the telephone wire sits the Mafia scout, the compact sparrow hawk, a ruthless killer. It is not looking for seed, suet, or sweet water. It is looking for customers to tear apart and eat.Even more frightening is an appearance by the swift and brutal sharp-shinned hawk, a much larger killer. It is the local Mafia boss.These cannibal predators show no mercy when they are searching for a meal. Fortunately for the Witherspoon Café, their drive-by terror raids, although unpredictable, are rare.
Waking early in the morning to the joyful sound of birdsong makes the expense of running this eatery worth every penny. Several of the most prominent songsters are among the early risers. The American robin is first up just before dawn. Its beautiful melodious song rings out over the whole neighbourhood letting everyone know that it is just happy to be alive. Not far behind is another early riser, the blue jay with its loud, strident one-note pitch that sounds like”jaay, jaay, jay,”which it repeats over and over to ensure that everyone is awake. Later when everyone is no longer snoozing, it changes to a more gentle song that sound like “toolool, toolool” and “weedelee, weedelee.”
The cardinal sings off and on throughout the day and really gets wound up around dusk. It has four different, pleasing songs which it practises throughout the day.Two of them are “whoit, whoit, whoit….whoit, whoit, whoit”, followed by “what cheer, what cheer, what cheer… what cheer, what cheer, what cheer”. The northern oriole treats us to many beautiful musical notes from high up in the nearby trees. The sparrow crowd, often singing as a choir, is not as pleasing, but the huge numbers can certainly make themselves heard in the trees nearby. Of course the chickadee, famous for repeating its name with its gentle, but distinctive “chickadee-dee-dee,“ as well as ”tseet” and “feebee” are welcome additions to the musical menu.When all is quiet the distinctive voice of the mourning dove with its “coo-coo-coo“ solo sometimes echoes from the telephone wire above the café where the dove often relaxes with its mate.
For ten years, through every season, the Witherspoon Café has never failed to spread the welcome mat for wildlife in the area. Some residents may be aware of the wild four-footed animals that patronize the café,but few neighbours realize how very many bird species actually inhabit our immediate urban neighbourhood. Even fewer appreciate how very welcoming the café is to all these customers. The café’s proprietor has willingly footed the hefty, decade-long food bill because his reward is an ever-changing backyard,alive with wildlife, in all its spectacular beauty.
