Eat Like a What?!

You know that saying “She eats like a bird?” As in, “No wonder she’s so skinny. She eats like a bird, ya know.” Well I’m here to tell you it’s a LIE. Birds eat like pigs!

Our household has turned into quite an aviary lately and it’s all I can do to keep up with the appetites of these feathered “friends” of ours. First of all, the hummingbirds are already on their fourth bag (and I mean, the largest-sized sugar bag that Walmart carries) of sugar for the summer. We have a pretty big glass feeder and even though I fill it with sugar water in the morning, it’s empty by the time I get home from work. It’s not unusual to see seven or eight hummers swarming the feeder at once. I’ve been dive-bombed many times as I’m filling the feeder, too. Patience is not a hummingbird virtue.

And now there’s a little tweeter that Maisie found at the bottom of a bush. We bought a cheap bird cage for it because it looks like it’s on the cusp of beginner flight school. Man, is he cute! Still has some of the fluff hanging on, but lots of feathers too. Good ‘ol Pop went and bought crickets so the kids could feed it. It’s also been feasting on blackberries, bananas, and the occasional earthworm or moth. This bird does NOT “eat like a bird” and when hunger pains hit, even in the wee hours of the morning, his not-so-cute “cheep cheeping” lets us know loud and clear.

So the next time you see a slim figure and decide to comment on said figure’s eating habits, say she must eat like a fish, squirrel, or whatever, but definitely not a bird. :-)