Guilty Pleasures

When I first went to the Philippines, everyone looked the same to me. "They all looked alike," is such a commonly heard phrase in speaking of ethnic groups that I know I was not alone in that boat. After I was there for a year, however, I could look at a person and pretty much tell whether they were Filipino or Filipino/Chinese or some other combination of ethnicities.

It is pretty much the same with a lot of things — including birds. After you observe them, you become familiar with characteristics like behavior and you begin to understand what they are doing or why they are acting certain ways.

That is why I put these images all together. I know just by looking at their behavior and their posture that they are feeling guilty about being discovered at the feeder by the hummingbird that considers it her property. They are experiencing...  guilty pleasure.

Actually, on a couple of these, it is the "owner" who is sitting on the feeder looking around to make sure no other bird is trying to horn in on her honey pot. I can tell this is her in this image. Don't ask me how; just trust me on this one. I can tell she is a Colombian/Guatemalan bird mix.

Here is the grand dame as I refer to her. I know from her posture that there is another bird right over her head who would like to visit her honey pot. She may not actually be saying anything audibly. Birds are pretty good at speaking simply using body language.

This little male is just plain guilty, guilty, guilty! Getting back to the opening line of thinking — everybody (justifiably) profiles. You constantly evaluate — consciously or unconsciously — for your own safety. That, in itself, is not the problem. The motives behind the profiling is where the racism raises it's ugly head.