Birds of pray

 

When most people see birds (no doubt through the coated optics of their grandfather’s field glasses), they see freeloaders, singing for their supper living in subsidized birdhousing. Not me. I see their chirps and tweets as varying degrees of devotion. Birds are concerned with their place on heaven and earth. 

Roosters crowing in the morning is akin to the call to prayer heard throughout the Arab world. The way a woodpecker bounces between bark is not that dissimilar from the hallmark head-bobbing of the Hasidim. A dove’s daily cooing is not unlike a Lutheran congregation pulling from the familiar pages of their hymnal. The warble from a blue jay is eerily close to the kyrie in a Catholic mass, with its impressive vocal range. But those are simply the classics. There are others, too. 

A tufted titmouse’s whistle reminds me of the high-pitched screeching a Pentecostal preacher makes in the tunnel of a crowded subway exit during rush hour. A junco’s trilling calls to mind the messianic ramblings of a lonely scientologist auditing aspiring actors on the sunset strip. Catbirds with their confusing songs give the impression of a Jew for Jesus; a foot in two worlds. Don’t tell me you’ve never noticed the resemblance between a bald eagle – our national bird – and St. Francis of Assisi.

And then, there’s the parrot. A talented mimic, able to give the listener flashbacks to the confessional booth or reruns of the Andy Griffith Show, depending on their mood. Parrots gained their fervor on the mast of a pirate ship, arguably one of the most godless places on earth. But pirates in those days still prayed, only it was for treasure and wood cleaner. It took a few generations of buccaneers to realize that whatever they stained the deck with also works on peglegs. You don’t want your plank splitting (especially not when you’re trying to make a point), any more than your primary extremity. Before that, they concerned themselves with varnish and waxing, not understanding that it did very little to preserve. This was long before carbon fiber made its way to the high seas. Parrots are a little different. All you have to do is ask them.