Last night the moon was full and the temperature dropped to minus 5 Celsius. This morning, frost nipped at my fingers and blanketed the ground as I pulled the tarp from the car window.

I drove to the restaurant where I usually have my morning coffee and spied some Crows picking aimlessly at the cold pavement and drinking from a puddle by the restaurant door. I remembered I had planned to take them some fat from a recently trimmed ham.

Later that morning, the sun shone brightly and Crows were on my mind, so I purchased a package of suet from the meat counter. Then I walked out the door of the grocery store and saw a Crow tugging at an empty bag. I peeled back the plastic of the suet package with my car keys and tossed a small clump of the fat toward the Crow. It stopped its fruitless bag tearing and walked toward the morsel on the ground. Before it reached the food, two other Crows flew in to feed. I didn't pause long enough to see which bird got the prize because I was already thinking of a place to deposit the rest of the suet.

I walked through the Highway 97 underpass and strewed the rest of the fat on the path. A gang of Crows immediately descended on the food. I felt a sense of relief as I got into the car and drove home.

My 'need to feed the birds' reminded me of an article I just finished reading in a popular bird and flower magazine. In the magazine people were responding to the question "Why do you feed birds?" Although feeding birds is just something I do without thinking, I decided to put down my response to the question.

I struggled with my answer for a bit and then went back and read the replies of people in the magazine article. One person said that feeding birds gave them a chance to see birds up close. Another said they liked the feeling of recapturing a sense of connection to the wild. Another said she just liked lending a helping hand to the winter birds. One man said his family did it when he was a child and so it was a continuation of a family tradition. All good answers I thought, and some could definitely be my own but perhaps there were still some missing ingredients.

So why do I feed wild birds? Entertainment is part of the answer. There is no feeling like that of devising a new or improved bird feeder. And with birds about, there are often dramatic struggles unfolding that leave me with small insights into their lives. I also admire the esthetic beauty of the creatures from a close vantage-point. For example, a rather plain Junco seen from up close, has a subtlety of plumage truly deserving to be described as magnificent.

But, I believe there is another reason for feeding birds, and if I examine my interaction with the town Crows, I think I can expose it.

This morning I dispensed suet to one group of Crows, then moved on and dispensed suet to another group of Crows without stopping to admire my own generosity or their beautiful, bold forms up close. I had stripped my motives down to the core. A friend of mine said it best. Why feed the birds? You feed them because they are hungry!