Gossamer Wings by William Dalton on Flickr.
Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration. Like a hummingbird, we aspire to hover and savor each moment as it passes; embrace all that life has to offer and to celebrate the joy of every day. The hummingbirdâs delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is lifeâs sweetest creation. âPapyrus
IâŠAhâŠhmm.
Look, itâs a great photo. The photographer kicked butt. They should be very proud of this photo.
But hummingbirds are not carrying your hopes for joy around. I am sorry. Have you met hummingbirds? Hummingbirds believe strongly that they should be eighteen feet tall and have flamethrowers. They are a half ton of pugnacious wrapped up in a half ounce of feathers. Given the choice, hummingbirds would fly around with âRide of the Valkyriesâ blasting out of tiny speakers on their wings, putting the eyes out of their enemies.
They do not fear humans, but if they learn that humans will provide feeders, they will become very demanding. They are fiercely territorial. They areâŠkind of jerks, actually.
Also, there are papers indicating that female hummingbirds engage in what can only be termed ânectar-based prostitutionâ where they trade sexual favors to males in return for access to particularly rich nectar sources.Â
If your hopes for love involve nectar and your hopes for joy involve crushing your foes, seeing them driven before you, hearing the lamentations of their nestlings, etc, then possibly the hummingbird may carry them around, otherwiseâŠuhâŠhave you considered vultures? Vultures are very pleasant, affectionate, and social birds. You should probably give them your hopes and dreams. They would be better at it.Â
Did I mention itâs a great photo?
VULTURES, NOW.
this is Jack.
Jack (full name: Jack Sparrow) lives at the Hawk Conservancy. (Heâs missing some toes because he was rescued from Vulture Smugglers.)
When you interact with Jack, you can tell heâs at about the level of ⊠something between a ferret and a dog. Funny short little attention span, and a weird face to look at, but a human reads him as curious, friendly and interested in people.
When you meet a working vulture, you realize that they are definitely a wild predatory animal and very instinctive, but with a consciousness that extends to interest in their surroundings; like, heâs very much focused on THE SNACK, but before and after the SNACKTIME he also wants to have a chat about your day and look at your face and peer into your camera and ask to look at the pictures you took and then say âhey now take one where Iâm doing duckfaceâ and youâre like âok Jack go aheadâ
Contrast with owls, which are typically pretty, but which are basically as interactive as a pop-up ad. They exist to land on things and eat them. They are not complicated. Vultures are hey-whatcha-doin. Theyâre yeah Iâm a psychopomp but my real hobby is DJ-ing. Theyâd like to couchsurf next time theyâre in town. Youâd let them.
I would give Jack my dreams to carry. He would hold them well, in his big black lovely inky eyes, in his broken gentle feet.
Why is the last line making me tear up?
What a sweet vulture.
This is the best thing I have read today tbh
I was just thinking about jack today and then someone was like âhey I liked jackâ so letâs have jack back again.

















