When we go to our cabin in Canada, one of the first things I do once the “stuff” is unloaded and put away, is hang a hummingbird feeder. It takes all of ten minutes to attract the first hummer. In August we had at least five of the little critters battling for supremacy of the feeder. They are territorial, you know.

At our home in Tennessee, I’ve hung feeders as well. These are pretty feeders — glass with decorative elements. Tennessee hummers don’t care for elegance. The glass feeders can hang there all summer without a visit from a bird.

Last week I traded a glass feeder in the backyard for a cheap plastic one with a fake flower on the feeding ports. Lo and behold! We’ve had a regular visitor.

I don’t understand that. Are hummingbirds rednecks at heart? Cheap plastic over elegant glass? Wal-Mart over Macy’s? What’s up with those birds?