Gangs in the Neighborhood

This summer, I have spent a lot of time dealing with gangs in my neighborhood. It all started a month ago when I put out some birdfeeders. I bought a beautiful gazebo birdfeeder that coordinated nicely with the exterior of my house, filled it with what the packaging assured me were seeds that a variety of birds would enjoy, and waited for a culturally diverse group to show up. Within a few days, a gang of sparrows monopolized my feeders, wasting all the seeds by sweeping them to the ground with their beaks and scaring all the other birds away. You wouldn’t think sparrows would be intimidating, but they are aggressive and act collectively to establish their territory. I observed them for a few weeks as they abused my magnanimous food distribution system. I wasn’t going to enable these unfair bullies to take over my front porch! 

So I did some research online and followed the recommendations for detracting sparrows and attracting other birds. I replaced one of the feeders with one specific for finches. I changed the kind of seed I used on my general feeder. Around my pretty gazebo feeder, I placed a halo made with wire hangers—strung with fishing line and weights (this is supposed to discourage sparrows but not other birds for some reason). I made a fence around the trough so the sparrows couldn’t sweep the food down with their beaks. My once pretty birdfeeder now resembles an inner city convenience store with bars, chains, barbed wire, and locks on everything. As of today, the sparrow gangs are still patrolling the feeders. The juveniles are the worst offenders. They have no fear. They don’t have enough common sense to know that their wings can get caught in the fishing line, or that their escape route is compromised by the wire halo. I have seen a few finches, but they are still scared to even visit their own feeder, since the sparrows are only a few feet away. I saw a grosbeak and a cardinal today...which gives me hope. I SHALL keep fighting for the underserved, for the marginalized, for the gang victims.

In case you’re wondering…Yes, there is a point to this tongue-in-cheek narrative about my birdfeeders. We start many service projects with good intentions. We want to help the poor, feed the hungry, and care for the weak and oppressed. We spend a lot of time and energy trying to ensure fair and equitable distribution. Yet there are always groups that abuse our generosity by milking the system and hogging all the resources. This leads us to feel disgusted, discouraged, and burnt out. We feel like we are merely wasting our time and money just encouraging the trouble-makers and bullies.

Most of us would prefer donating money to refugees and then not worry about whether we are inadvertently funding the warlords in the process. However, this kind of irresponsible generosity can cause more harm than good. I think a certain level of creative strategizing and critical thinking is required, even in charitable pursuits. In order to resolve societal problems, we must stay observant—identifying the conflicts and scrutinizing the weaknesses in our charitable ventures. We must adapt our techniques as we respond to the complexities that are bound to pop up. We must stay engaged, develop solutions, and outwit the bullies and gangsters.