These Birds Are Made For Walking

My brother's budgerigar used to walk around our kitchen table at breakfast. His (the bird, named Captain) wings were clipped and I doubt that he wanted to do much else, considering how well he liked soggy granola.

I remember thinking that God could not possibly have made these creatures for walking. They certainly looked clumsy doing it and moved much more slowly.

But when I first paid attention to shorebirds and their long-legged smoothness of gait, I thought differently. Just as there are forty different kinds of mayonnaise in the supermarket, there are thousands of different kinds of creatures, each with its own specialty.

I was reminded again of the uniqueness of each at the close of my romp through the park this morning. I was strolling back to the car when I saw two Killdeer also strolling through the grass.

They rounded out a delightful morning, one foregrounded by Red-bellied Woodpeckers (which, try as I might, I could not find red bellies on), Eurasian Collared-doves (in greater profusion than I have yet seen) and Carolina Chickadees.

I am still mystified by the loud machine-gun scolding bird which I glimpsed flying for less than a second through the overhanging branches. It was my first confirmation that it wasn't an overzealous squirrel.

I still admire the flying more than the familiar walking. A Killdeerish variety of abilities seems to me quite enviable, but we all do best what we were created for.