What birds do you have at your place?

[GCT]

We're getting a lot unique bird species these days, my house is located in the suburb, however it's one of the few that is located adjacent to a wooded area; the backyard lend itself to a wonderful view and as well as the music of plenty of bird calls. One interesting bird seems to have developed great animosity towards my cat, every time it leaves the house it has to fend off constant attacks, where this bird follows it adamantly and attacks it repeatedly. This behavior seems to be too vigilant to be territorial.

 

[turbo]

I once had bookmarked a video clip in which a mockingbird repeatedly attacks a cat, which flips over several times as it tries to avoid the attacks. I can't find it right now, but here's another one. The Siamese seems to be resigned to his fate...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8170530497062130046

 

[BobG]

I like the killdeer that feign injury to lure predators away from their nest. I was walking my dog (yes, I got another dog!) in the creek and a couple have a nest somewhere along the bank. I didn't search for the nest, since there was no point in showing my dog where the nest is, but you could tell we were getting very close to it. Both went full throttle into their acting routine and became very daring about how close they would come to letting Zoie catch them.

 

[turbo]

Killdeer are very entertaining - this tactic is also used by the ruffed grouse. If you see a hen grouse sidling away from you, clucking and holding her wing outstretched toward the ground, you have just stumbled onto her brood, and she is leading you away. Just 10 minutes ago my wife and I saw our first (local, anyway) scarlet tanager of the year. Our property is located on the northern edge of what used to be considered their nesting zone (north central Maine), but with warmer winters and summers, they are moving north, as are many species. They don't sing as well as the rose-breasted grosbeaks, but they sure are eye-catching in full breeding plumage.

 

[Mk]

On Guam brown tree snakes distributed by trading ships ate all the birds. An effort is still in place to try and bring back tropical birds, and to kill the snakes, but its not working. One species has been introduced, but it is not very pretty, and if you get to close to its nest it will dive bomb you. Several small children have died.

 

[turbo]

Small children have died? Of what? Very few birds have the potential to kill anything larger than a rabbit, cat, or small dog.

The birds are definitely extending their ranges northward with the shorter winters and warmer year-round temps. My dad lives another 20 miles to the north, and he is getting indigo buntings at his feeder - a species that he has never had before. Politicians in Washington might deny that the climate is changing, but the birds don't lie.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I've identified the birds who made the nest in my neighbors porchlight. They are house finches:
http://www.birdsofwestwood.com/birdpages/housefinch.htm
I wasn't completely convinced until I heard the recording of the song. The last three chirps are very distinctive and sound exactly like the male who still hangs out on my patio. He is a very brazen little guy, and he scolds me and my cat if we are on "his" patio too long.

 

[turbo]

Very nice! We don't have house finches here (yet!), but the purple finches are pretty entertaining. My computer is in front of a window, and under the eaves I have a seed feeder and a hummingbird feeder. The purple finches see their reflections in the window and perch on the lower pane, look at themselves and peck at the "intruder". When I reach over and poke my finger at the glass, they fly away (not far) then come back for another session. Pretty funny. Hummingbirds are not fooled by their reflections. It's entertaining when the a female comes to drink and a male spends his energy flying side-to-side figure-8s trying to get her attention.

"We are Siamese if you please. We are Siamese if you don't please."

 

[Math Is Hard]

Very nice! We don't have house finches here (yet!), but the purple finches are pretty entertaining. My computer is in front of a window, and under the eaves I have a seed feeder and a hummingbird feeder. The purple finches see their reflections in the window and perch on the lower pane, look at themselves and peck at the "intruder". When I reach over and poke my finger at the glass, they fly away (not far) then come back for another session. Pretty funny.

Silly finches! I have been messing with the porch finches by playing a recording of the finch song on my laptop. I think it made the male angry, and he now thinks there's a studly finch in my house who might be out to woo his lady.

"We are Siamese if you please. We are Siamese if you don't please."

There are no finer cats than "we am"!

 

[turbo]

I knew this was going to happen! We had some cowbirds around earlier this spring, and just now I watched a pair of little white-throated sparrows hopping around trying to find bugs to feed a baby cowbird almost twice their size, and screeching incessantly. Cowbirds are brood parasites that lay their eggs in the nests of other species, and in the case of smaller species, the cowbird chick routinely out-muscles the songbird chicks, gets the bulk of the food and ultimately pushes them out of the nest, dooming them. That's the way nature works, but I love the song of the white-throated sparrows. At least one other pair on the property nested sucessfully with a healthy (and loud) chick, and they've got time to get another brood going.

A couple of days ago, I was driving to town and saw a "turkey" pop its head up out of the ditch, so I hit the brakes. Broods of wild turkeys have a way of deciding to cross the road at "inconvenient" times, and as a motorcyclist, I brake instinctively for the big stuff. As I got closer, I realized it was a turkey vulture on a carcass, and I was glad I braked because the dodo decided to take flight and it couldn't gain altitude very quickly. Man! they look big when you think they're going to come through the windshield. Big birds are a constant road-hazard around here. Not only the wild turkeys, but the Canada geese with their huge broods of as-yet flightless chicks crossing the roads to get from one wetland to another to find food.