By Gabbie Burton
Contributing Writer

All photos courtesy of Chase Wilkinson of Wild Birds Unlimited

When I feel nostalgic and search for memories of my earlier life, my senses light up. I see the black soles of my feet from running around barefoot through the summer. I smell the peculiar odor of a brand-new dance costume.

I hear the call of a bird, whose name I never cared to learn but who I know well. It is a bird that you all know well, too. They sound like waking up too early during summer break, an alarm clock that I either love or loathe depending on just how early their warbling coo roused me, and that I mistook for an owl for many years. If you haven’t already guessed what bird I’m talking about, this bird is a Mourning Dove, a childhood companion I fear that I have ignored for too long.

Similarly, after my recent magazine assignment to walk through Auburn Valley State Park with Charles Shattuck and Chase Wilkinson from Wild Birds Unlimited in Hockessin, I now realize that the Mourning Dove is not the only bird I’ve thus far overlooked.

“Everyone can learn how to bird,” Shattuck said. “It’s not that hard.”

Shattuck has owned the Hockessin Wild Birds Unlimited for 25 years and revealed he only got into birding after acquiring the store, having no prior affinity for the hobby. The store – located in the heart of Hockessin -  has become a primary spot for all things birding, selling products for outdoor birds and bird watchers including feeders, feed, bird houses and other accessories. In addition, he and his team, including Wilkinson, supervise nearby bird houses and gourds in local parks – 57 in total.

For our walk in early June, we took a peek at some of those bird houses. A nest of four baby bluebirds occupied a bird house near Dew Point Brewing Company, the start of our journey. The mom and dad flew anxiously nearby as Shattuck opened the box to reveal the siblings huddled next to each other.

“A lot of people think you can’t touch a baby bird because it will get rejected by the parents, but that’s not true,” he clarified. “These birds can’t smell it.”

This was just one of the many lessons Shattuck and Wilkinson would impart upon me. Quickly, seemingly just every few seconds, Wilkinson was recognizing nearly every bird call I didn’t even know I was hearing, and both were pointing to identify who was making the noise from the trees. First, it was the Bluebirds, then the Catbirds - a seasonal guest to the region - then the Wrens, a yearlong neighbor.

While I was playing catch up to the scenery and squawks, Shattuck and Wilkinson’s extensive birding knowledge left me wondering, what is it about these birds that inspire so many people to be so captivated by them?

For many - like my childhood sound bath memories of birds calling outside my home - it also comes back to nostalgia. Shattuck described how when people realize the native bird populations that were once abundant in the region in their youth have since decreased, they want to do something about it. Shattuck cited development and pesticides as some of the reasons for declining bird populations, both in the past and still today.

“Development leads to bird deaths,” Shattuck said. “You have to do something for what you displace, and people don’t realize that when you start taking down trees it’s probably someone’s house.”

Dead trees, which may be an eyesore to some, provide a lovely and safe home for some species of birds. Clearly open and forested land for housing developments not only take the homes of the birds but introduce an additional threat to their survival in the form of windows. Birding is a step in the right direction to rectify this impact, according to Shattuck. A simple house, gourd or feeder in a backyard can help not only the birds but for the owner and the surrounding ecosystems as well.

“It’s beneficial for both you and the birds, and it keeps people calm,” he said. “People want to do something to save the planet. Maybe this isn’t saving the planet, but it’s a start.”

Shattuck explained how some birds, such as Purple Martins, are entirely dependent on human provided housing. Without provided housing, the Martins and other birds can’t eat plants or seeds that are later dispersed through their feces, spreading more plants to more places.

Threats to bird populations are not limited to development. Invasive species such as the European Starling and House Sparrow can threaten the Martins or other birds as they compete for nests. Starlings have been known to kick birds out of their nests to steal for themselves and the Sparrows will go far as to attack and kill native birds when looking for nesting sites. Checking up on birdhouses and Purple Martin gourds are imperative to ensure these surprisingly violent species don’t harm the birds these protections are aimed to help.

When asked their favorite birds - Starlings and House Sparrows were now out of the equation - both Shattuck and Wilkinson hesitated for an answer. Shattuck settled on the Purple Martin, due to the close nature of the bird-human relationship.

“Maybe just a Robin,” Wilkinson decided. “I shouldn’t say ‘Just a Robin,’ because when you walk the trails this often, you see the same birds but they’re all special and they’re all pretty.”

This sentiment struck a chord with me. Just after this moment we saw a deer off our path and, ironically, my excitement over the creature seemed to catch my guides off guard, as it is “just” a

deer. While the deer and the Robin may be mundane to most, that doesn’t inherently make them any less special or any less pretty.

Although I could appreciate the mundaneness of a deer, I realized that I haven’t spent a lot of my life offering the same grace to birds, and that just because they are common doesn’t mean I should ignore them. Near the end of our walk, I became so acutely aware of just how many birds I was hearing that there is a strong possibility that I will begin to acknowledge these sounds when I step outside.

“Whenever you go outside, are you thinking about all the different bird calls?” I ask.

“Every time I leave the house, I notice it,” Wilkinson confirmed.

I realize this concert of bird calls is something nearly forgotten to my ears, making me all the more aware. Does it always sound like this outside and I’ve just been missing it? I wondered. I haven’t heard this many birds in a long time.

In reality, I have always heard them. I just wasn’t listening to them. That tiny fraction of effort to acknowledge their presence was all it takes.

As I listened through my walk with Shattuck and Wilkinson, I concluded that it isn’t just the Mourning Dove who makes me nostalgic. Something about all the bird calls reminds me of when I was a kid. The noise of my inner world grew louder than the world around me as I grew up, and I stopped listening to the birds. Admittedly, I stopped listening to nature in general.

I always thought bird watching was a hobby reserved for those much older, and that engaging in it would feel profoundly uncool and, frankly, my unfair perception would be that I would be bored to be partaking in the activity. However, I found the opposite to be true. The floods of bird calls filling my ears and the stillness to watch them fly made me feel younger. Being on that walk with Shattuck and Wilkinson became for me a simple moment to reconnect with a part of nature that has for too long existed entirely in the background of my life.

“Birding is something that unites generations,” Shattuck said. “Children are fascinated by it and for my senior citizens, they want to know that life is perpetual and it’s still out there…just outside the window.”

Wild Birds Unlimited is located at 7411 Lancaster Pike, PO Box 249, Hockessin, Del. 19707.

To learn more about birding, providing backyard homes for birds and bird walks in the area, visit www.wbu.com, or call (302) 239-9071.

To contact Contributing Writer Gabbie Burton, email [email protected].