I ran across this article on Sierra Club about the Hummingbird Whisperer of UCLA.
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/m...m_campaign=sierramag&utm_medium=sierra_social
Meet the Hummingbird Whisperer
A UCLA geologist has turned her office into a hummingbird paradise
PHOTO COURTESY OF MELANIE BARBONI
BY JASON DALEY | SEP 27 2017
Ask around the UCLA campus for the crazy hummingbird lady and they will direct you to the office of Melanie Barboni—a post-doctoral fellow on the ground floor of the geology building. There, Barboni oversees a fairyland of hummingbirds, where over 200 of the diminutive feathered sugar-fiends perch on four 80-ounce feeders. Not only do they nest in the surrounding trees, some even fly into her office and perch on her fingers for belly rubs. Barboni is so bonded with the birds, she has named and can easily recognize 50 of the resident hummers, including Marshmallow, Zircon, and Stromboli.
As I'm reading the interview with Melanie Barboni—a post-doctoral fellow on the ground floor of the geology building and her love of hummingbirds I realized that's me! Except I own a chicken. She doesn't have a nest. And there's no swordplay for food.
But my chickens do live outside my bedroom window where we interact on a daily basis. My Precious RIR doesn't like to be handled at all. She does however like to initiate contact by coming and pecking at my window to get my attention and that's when she allows me to pet her, check her wings and body.
I realized that's what we all do in our own way with maybe one or more birds of whatever species. Build them a little paradise and hopefully at some point we enjoy the benefits of sharing our space.
BTW I do have hummingbirds in my yard because I do have plants that attract them. It's funny how my dogs will chase away any bird but them.
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/m...m_campaign=sierramag&utm_medium=sierra_social
Meet the Hummingbird Whisperer
A UCLA geologist has turned her office into a hummingbird paradise
PHOTO COURTESY OF MELANIE BARBONI
BY JASON DALEY | SEP 27 2017
Ask around the UCLA campus for the crazy hummingbird lady and they will direct you to the office of Melanie Barboni—a post-doctoral fellow on the ground floor of the geology building. There, Barboni oversees a fairyland of hummingbirds, where over 200 of the diminutive feathered sugar-fiends perch on four 80-ounce feeders. Not only do they nest in the surrounding trees, some even fly into her office and perch on her fingers for belly rubs. Barboni is so bonded with the birds, she has named and can easily recognize 50 of the resident hummers, including Marshmallow, Zircon, and Stromboli.
As I'm reading the interview with Melanie Barboni—a post-doctoral fellow on the ground floor of the geology building and her love of hummingbirds I realized that's me! Except I own a chicken. She doesn't have a nest. And there's no swordplay for food.
But my chickens do live outside my bedroom window where we interact on a daily basis. My Precious RIR doesn't like to be handled at all. She does however like to initiate contact by coming and pecking at my window to get my attention and that's when she allows me to pet her, check her wings and body.
I realized that's what we all do in our own way with maybe one or more birds of whatever species. Build them a little paradise and hopefully at some point we enjoy the benefits of sharing our space.
BTW I do have hummingbirds in my yard because I do have plants that attract them. It's funny how my dogs will chase away any bird but them.
