We’ve had our share of backyard birdfeeders over the years, some good, some bad. Invariably, the styles, shapes, capacity, and mount were based on what we thought was best to attract birds. The birds were mostly of a different mindset.

After years of experience, little seems to have changed. Do we hang or mount the feeders? Should they be tucked into the tree canopies or left exposed with a wide and safe range of view? Do we need half a dozen different styles or is one or two good enough? How important is it to have water nearby?

Much also depends on the type of feed. There is usually a balance between the size of the feed, the openings in the feeder itself, and the birds’ willingness to forage scattered seeds off of the ground. Suet, sunflower, millet, and thistle have all gone through periods of success and decline depending on the birds present and the time of year. What is missing after the worst of the storms this summer are ground birds such as killdeer. Also, of relative major concern, is the fact that the top of the pole feeder recently succumbed to high winds. What began as a quaint backyard feeder quickly devolved into a cat perch platform, not exactly what we had envisioned.

Enter the chicken starter and supplement block which is the size of a livestock mineral block but half the weight. Purchased on a whim and set atop the cat feeder platform, it has become the talk of local bird town. Covered with sparrows, finches, and thrashers, and providing bits of feed below for robins, doves, red-wings, juncos, and a few pigeons, the block has been a one-stop shopping experience that is literally for the birds. No social distancing among this bunch. The more we observe, the more species we discover are present, including several that we fancy came in on the winds of storms.

It is a reminder that not all birds of a feather are the same, although it is easier and simpler to classify them so. This year has shown that to be true as we attempt to articulate the Christian position on numbers of issues. Whenever the Christian label is attached to one group or another, it should come with the disclaimer that one size does not fit all. Who are the moderates, the progressives, the charismatics, the fundamentalists or the collective Christian right? What are their origins and why is today’s view of Christianity so monolithic? What does it mean to be an evangelical Christian? Does that tie us only to specific denominations, or is it broader than that? What if you are part of the eighty-eight percent of Protestants who do not claim the evangelical label?

We are trained and deemed qualified in various ways (including baptism) to embrace the theology in which we are embedded. Frequently, that includes being taught not to question. In religion, like no other field of inquiry, we are expected to swallow whole that which is before us. When the block party at the bird feeder is full on, we prefer to imagine it is populated by dozens of grateful happy birds. The reality, however, is that competition at the block is fierce, and there are many different species that will surround the same feeder as long as there is something to be gained. Know what types of birds you are observing, no matter how many are present.