This is sort of a rant...I went out to take my daughter to school this morning. It was about 40 degrees and had rained all night so was a really wet cold. As we sat in the car letting it heat up something hit the hood. I looked up and between the hood and windshield sat a small finch (there is no nest in the tree so I assume it had perched the night on a branch). I got out to make sure it wasn't hurt and it was nearly frozen solid. I scooped it up and cupped it in my hand. I drove to her school (we were running late) cupping this small bird who was very cold but still moving a little. When I got home I put it in a small cage with some warm blankets...but unfortunately it was too late, it moved around a little and then died...I guess the cold (and then the fall) was just to much.

This poor bird started me thinking...it has been getting cold for several weeks why hadn't it flown south. I looked around our neighborhood and noticed 4 swans, 20 ducks and hundreds of geese (along with a lot of small birds) and then I saw in the front yard of one of the ladies down the street were 5 ducks and 2 geese along with 10+ small birds all eating and grazing the ground around this lady's 4 bird feeders.

So it makes you wonder in our quest to attract pretty birds to watch have we made it too easy for them to find food that we have changed their habits and they no longer fly south for the winter? What happens when people stop feeding them what are they too do? Are we removing their survival instincts one bird feeder at a time?

Just makes you wonder