Lots of words tend to be associated specifically with critters in the backyard. These verbs are rarely used otherwise: dust bathing, flocking, preening, roosting, nesting, incubating, foraging, caching, drumming, fanning, mobbing, and displaying. Yikes! What are all these "ings"?

Observing birds in the backyard will likely provide examples of many of these actions. Take "mobbing" for example. On more than one occasion I have been out by the shed in my backyard only to see 10-15 crows go after a great horned owl. We think the owl, an interloper in the crows' territory, lives somewhere near Northdale Lake. Such noise and frantic soaring ensues! The crows don't let up on their mobbing until satisfied the owl is far enough away.

And "drumming" - who has not heard the rat-a-tat-tat in early spring of the woodpecker's beak ceaselessly hammering a hollow tree? This behavior, employed to establish territories and attract a mate, is even more annoying if the woodpecker decides to drum on your house.

At the Backyard Birds store on 54th Street, we get lots of "roosting." Birds roost at Northdale Lake. They stop in a secondary location before joining up with the flock. The power lines in front of our store tend to be loaded with birds in September and October. Next door, Marco's has outdoor patio dining. I wondered how they were going to serve dinner with birds on the lines overhead. Well, the restaurant waiters noticed that a group having a birthday party had balloons. One of the balloons was released, scaring the birds away. I understand balloons still get released as needed. Isn't it curious how we humans adapt as birds go about their ways?