Friday, March 1, 2019

476: 3rd MONTH, 3rd DAY, 3rd HOUR.... and 3 BIRDS


I asked my sister to come hear a talk this Sunday. The talk will be given on March 3 at 3:00 in Centerville at the Centerpoint Legacy Theater on the Center stage. I find that the time, the location, and the subject matter to be interesting.  When something is repeated 3x.. it is important. Procedure calls for the 'May-Day' distress signal to be said three times in a row so that it won't be mistaken for another word or phrase that sounds similar under noisy conditions. Critical commands are repeated 3 times. This ensures there is absolutely zero doubt in anyone's mind (especially on a big crew airplane) of what needs to be done in a critical situation.   When the Lord pronounces the word 'Woe' three times to His people, it means it probably would be a good time to take cover. In addition, there is a reason why we knock three times to get someones attention, even in the sacred places.

There was a research conducted in 1890 by Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist about what he called the "rule of three". Ebbinghaus studied how many repetitions were necessary for his test subjects to remember things by repeating the word.  The results showed that three was the optimal number, and that became a rule of thumb in many other things, such as advertising.

In my conversation with my sister about attending this talk, she told be about 3 different types of birds.  The bird analogy and the talk are not related, but since this post is about "3's" I thought I would add it to this blogpost.

My sister has birdfeeder that hangs over her back porch  and lately, she has been observing these birds out her kitchen window.  All three types of birds each have a specific behavior and all eat seeds. I found there to be some symbolism with these birds and thought I would share.


Bird Number 01: The House Finch

The House Finch is the bird that goes straight to the birdfeeder to get their food. They are fast, active and nimble. House Finches are gregarious birds. With their large beaks they are able to get the seeds quite easily from the bird feeder while still flying. The finch has been associated with joy and happiness in various Native American cultures. The finch comes in a variety of colors, sings different songs, and behaviors of these little birds are deemed the perfect animal symbol of happiness and celebration






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Bird Number 02: The Black Eye Junco

The Black Eye Junco never fly up to the bird feeder to get the seeds directly. Instead, the Junco bird stays on the deck under the bird feeder and waits for the seeds to drop on the ground. This bird feels safer on the ground and doesn't exert the needed energy to fly upwards to get the seeds. These birds are reliant for the seeds to fall down to them. Most of the seeds however are "leftovers" and also they need to pick through what are either seeds or the bird droppings of the House Finch. 

Also interesting to note is that the Black Eye Junco usually flocks together. They typically have a hierarchy or pecking order, and earlier arrival birds tend to rank higher in the group than later arrivals.

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Bird Number 03: The Blue Jay

The third bird is the Blue Jay. She said that she sees the Blue Jays not only getting seeds from the birdfeeder with the House Finch but also flies down onto the deck collecting seeds along side the Black Eye Junco.  Blue Jays are known for their intelligence and complex social systems with tight family bonds.They usually fly across open areas silently, especially during migration.. They stuff food items in throat pouch to cache elsewhere; when eating, holds a seed or nut in feet and pecks it open. 



I believe there is more coincidences about the March 3rd - date and time for this upcoming talk. For example, events that happened 6 years ago on March 3rd as well as what happened on September 3rd (18 months ago)