hummingbirds fighting

I loved this post that my husband sent me yesterday!

It is written by author Anne Strieber, well known for her thrillers An Invisible Woman and Little Town Lies.

She is married to Whitley Strieber, best known for his horror novels The Wolfen and The Hunger and for Communion, a non-fiction account of his perceived experiences with non-human entities.

In this post, Anne draws an analogy between hummingbirds who love to pick a fight, and people of the same ilk. It proves yet again how much we can learn by drawing upon and make connections.

John Donne in 1624 said it so well in his famous poem,
“No Man is an Island:”

No Man Is An Island
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

He speaks of the need for human connectedness. Anne extends that connectedness to the entire natural world.

Here is a teaser from her post:

” … I’ll see a hummer [aka, hummingbird] land on our feeder, take a sip of sugar water, then immediately put his head up and look around, searching for a rival. I used to think this had something to do with guarding the food source, but now I’ve realized it’s because hummingbirds really ENJOY a good fight.

Soon two (or three) hummers are buzzing around, darting at each other, feinting and threatening, sometimes even telling each other off with that little “cht, cht” sound they make.

I’ve written before about why we humans are designed to make love, not war (even though we seem to be starting a new battle, somewhere, almost every day). But SOME people are more like hummingbirds–they relish a good fight and actively look for one … ”

Click here to read the rest of this intriguing post (from the Unknown Country website)