Lunchtime is for the Birds

“We’ve been doing our part to keep wildlife in Hawaii well-fed,” he said facetiously, tossing more leftover rice on the driveway.

For the past few months, we’ve taken our leftover rice from the night before and put it in a small bowl in the fridge. The rice partially dries and hardens, making it easy to separate the grains with a little bit of water.

This rice isn’t wasted ... well, not in the general sense of the word, but old-time great-grandmothers would argue that the only way not to waste rice is to eat it.

I scatter the rice in the driveway and retire quickly to my reading spot (a director’s chair in the open carport) to watch the birds attack their lunch – demure zebra doves, larger spotted doves, ubiquitous mynahs, red-crested (Brazilian) cardinals, northern (Kentucky) cardinals, and red-vented and red-whiskered bulbuls.

Occasionally, I’d see a linnet or a Japanese white-eye (mejiro) checking things out from the branches of our nearby Pirie mango tree.

Who knew leftover rice had the power to bring the avian world to our backyard?