The Backyard Bird Chronicles

Tan notes that birds are highly habit-forming when it comes to food. After changing out a seed feeder for a new one, the finches look at the new feeder without eating, confused about the change. When she moves one feeder to a different part of the yard, most birds continue to search for it in the old spot. Hummingbirds, however, are quick to come to a feeder in a new spot, though they still check for the old one. This is true even if it is the same feeder; the hummingbirds treat an old feeder in a different location as something entirely new.

Tan also confronts some of the more challenging sides of nature. Her initial love for California scrub jays and their flashy personalities wanes when she realizes that they eat eggs and hatchlings. She tries to discourage jays from coming to her yard by installing feeders that are meant to deter them, but the new feeders instead encourage the smartest jays to come to her yard. When a lesser goldfinch with conjunctivitis forces Tan to close her feeders once more to avoid further spread of disease, birds tap at her window as if demanding food. The writer finds it difficult to get the picture of the sick finch out of her mind.