“Bird(wo)man” by Uma Raja was a very descriptive article that humorously described the author’s volunteer work. Raja explains how she works at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, taking care of the birds. She details the good, the bad, and the very ugly of her experiences on a Sunday. Though I’ve never worked at a sanctuary before, I enjoyed reading her descriptions of each bird and how she tends to them. Her writing was vividly detailed, like when she said, “There’s also a sand hill crane named Fraser that is allowed to roam outside his cage. I throw twigs and the four-foot-tall bird plays fetch with me, spreading his enormous wings and jumping up and down with excitement.” The rest of the piece incorporates similar snapshots that directly depict what the author does.

No matter how gross the job gets, the author remains optimistic about how she is impacted the birds. To explicitly share her responsibilities, she says, “I pour live mealworms and frozen crickets into a bowl and weigh raw meat. I clean flecks of mystery substances off dishes in a room full of caged raccoons.” Despite this, it is evident the author enjoys helping her eagles, hawks, and falcons. Reading about the effort the author puts into her volunteer work is quite inspirational. Though I might not start off cleaning birdcages, I do want to help the environment in some way soon.