Birds and cat food

Joe Shoemaker
Lambertville
    Pouring some dry cat food in a bowl in the back yard of my house on the so-called friendliest street in Lambertville is always fun.
   A few ferals have been waiting for the handout. One of those cats has a very short tail, maybe 5 inches long. I called him “Shorty” when first met, but he didn’t like that name, so I changed it to “Ti” (short (oops) for Ticonderoga).
   After eating their fill the cats meander away and two birds show up perched on a tree limb. What makes this an anomaly — one is a crow, the other a bluejay. They take turns eating the cat food.
   The bluejay watches while the crow eats and yelps out an intense shriek if a cat comes anywhere close to the feeding crow. The crow then hops up on the limb and scans the yard while the bluejay eats and wails a loud CALL if a cat comes near.
   These two have done this routine more than once. I didn’t know birds enjoyed dry cat food, and that sometimes, birds of a feather adapt.