The Sweetest Elixir

Trey Smith

One of our great joys of spring here in South Bend is the return of the hummingbirds! By the start of May, there seems to be a gaggle of them buzzing around our front porch. They aren't here just to say a casual hello; they are sending a message that it's high time we put up our hummingbird feeders!

We don't use the various commercial concoctions marketed for hungry hummingbirds -- we make our own. It's a really simple recipe. We boil x amount of water and then add slightly less sugar. We stir it up until it makes the sweetest of a hummingbird elixir. At our house, we add in one extra treat. To provide the elixir with color, a portion of the sugar is in the form of brown sugar.

After I've filled the feeder to the brim, I take it outside to hang. These little birds are so funny. They flit around my head and outstretched arms if they intend to snatch the feeder out of my hands! The moment the feeder is hung they commence with jousting matches to see which one of them gets the first tasty slurp.

One of my neighbors commented the other day that the hummingbirds seem wary of humans. She said that, whenever she goes out on her porch, they quickly vamoose. We don't have that problem over here at all. I often sit on the front porch while they feed two or three feet above me noggin. In fact, there have been times I thought one or more of them might alight on by bald head.

I think the difference in how these creatures relate to the two household has to do with how we handle ourselves in their presence. Our neighbor is an animated woman who moves about loudly and boldly. She also has two children, one of which doesn't seem to comprehend the definition of the word, quiet. If I was a hummingbird, I think I would vamoose as a member of that family exploded onto their porch.

Over here, we treat the birds with the respect they are due. We quietly commune with them. We avoid excessive movements and loud entrances or departures. Because we don't stir up constant commotions, the hummingbirds don't view us as threats.