The Backyard Bird Chronicles

A recurring element in nature writing is the duality of nature—light and dark, violence and peace, love and loss. For Tan, a sick pine siskin symbolizes this duality and the importance of embracing all parts of what nature has to offer. In the second entry of the journal, Tan sees a pine siskin at the feeder. She struggles to determine whether it is a juvenile or an adult and soon realizes her uncertainty is because the bird is sick and losing its feathers: A disease is impacting the avian population, and she must remove her bird feeders for a while.

The death of the pine siskin leaves a lasting impression on Tan, causing her to remember it years later: “After an absence of two years, the Pine Siskins have returned to my yard […] I saw only one sick Pine Siskin, which I am sure died soon after. I was heartsick” (172). Her connection to the bird shows her unwavering ability to embody the experience of other animals and to draw meaning from her empathy. For Tan, paying attention means accepting all parts of the natural experience, good and bad.