What birds do you have at your place?

[turbo]

The variety of birds here is amazing. We have moved into a rural setting about 15 miles north of our last house (which was on the edge of a mature forest preserve near a major river), and the improvement in diversity is incredible. It makes me believe the claims of the enviromental scientists that say as man expands his spread on the Earth, biodiversity decreases. There is another lot (again about 9-10 acres) next to ours that is undeveloped and I want to buy it and keep it productive (cut our firewood, improve the woodlot, etc), but leave it mainly for wildlife habitat.

It feels so nice to sit on the back deck with a cold one after working up a few trees or tilling the garden, and hearing rose-breasted grosbeaks, white-throated sparrows, goldfinches, purple finches, etc singing their hearts out. It is 8:30 and dark now, but we still have singers - the tree-frogs known as "spring peepers". I'd love to send you all a CD of these performers!

 

[Moonbear]

I'm just so excited that the nuthatches have come to stay. I just love watching them try to eat upside-down!

 

[turbo]

I'm just so excited that the nuthatches have come to stay. I just love watching them try to eat upside-down!

That's their strength! The woodpeckers and other insect-eating birds will make their way up tree trunks and branches looking upward, and they miss most of the insects that hide in the top sides of crevices. The nuthatches fly of the top of a tree or branch, and work their way down, looking for bugs. You need both woodpeckers, creepers, etc, AND nuthatches to scour your trees for bugs!

 

[Les Sleeth]

Here 15 miles from the Pacific and 60 miles North of San Francisco I've personally observerd over a 10 year period. . .

Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Green-backed Heron, Killdeer, Sandpiper, Common Tern, California Gull,Herring Gull, Laughing Gull, Brown Pelican, White Pelican, Canada Goose, Double-crested Cormorant, Common Loon, Wood Duck, American Coot, Mallard, Red-breasted Merganser, Great Horned Owl, Great Gray Owl,Common Barn Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl (sleeping in our tree on his way somewhere), Bald Eagle, Turkey Vulture, Wild Turkeys (in herds of up to 80 or more), Red-shouldered Hawk, American Kestrel, Red-tailed Hawk, Black Vulture, Black-shouldered Kite, Osprey, Band-tailed Pidgeon, Mourning Dove, Rock Dove, Ringnecked Pheasant, Greater Roadrunner (though on the way to Yosemite), California Quail, Barn Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Pilated Woodpecker (flying overhead), Common Flicker, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Acorn Woodpecker, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Downey Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Anna's Hummingbird, Allen's Hummingbird, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Common Raven American Crow, Belted Kingfisher, Scrub Jay, Steller Jay, Blue Jay, Western Meadowlark, American Robin, Mockingbird, Varied Thrush, Brewer's Blackbird,Black-headed, Grosbeak, Northern Oriole (Bullock's race), European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Brown Towhee, Redwinged Blackbird, Rufous-sided Towhee, Hermit Thrush, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Swainson's Thrush, California Thrasher, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Golden Crowned Sparrow,Western Bluebird, White Crowned Sparrow, Black Phoebe, Song Sparrow, Oregon Junco, Western Flycatcher, House Sparrow, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Pine Siskin, Wilson's Warbler, Yellow Rumped Warbler, Plain Titmouse, Fox Sparrow, Harris' Sparrow (here out of his territory with a bunch finches), Lesser Goldfinch, Townsend's Warbler, Purple Finch, Lazuli Bunting, Chipping Sparrow, Warbling Vireo,, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Bushtits, House Wren, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bewick's Wren . . . and still looking.

 

[turbo]

Wow! What a flyway you must be in. That is an impressive list!

 

[Math Is Hard]

We've got babies! They are living in my neighbors' light fixture. I don't know what they are but they are tiny little brown birds, sparrow-sized. Two have brown chests and two have red chests, so we figure we've got two boys and two girls. One flew out yesterday and landed right in front of my cat, cheeped at her, and then took off. You should have seen the look on her face. She is too old and slow to pounce, but was she ever surprised!

 

[dav2008]

I've seen this bird on several occasions now, but I'm not sure of the name.

It's completely black except for two golden/orange patches on the sides of the belly/breast.

Does anyone know the name?

 

[turbo]

How big is the bird, and about where are you located? I might try digging through some bird guides, but every black and orange bird that I have seen has at least some white, too.

 

[Astronuc]

She is too old and slow to pounce,

Yeah, I know the feeling.

but was she ever surprised!

Probably thinking - now birds start dropping in.

 

[Astronuc]

Here 15 miles from the Pacific and 60 miles North of San Francisco I've personally observerd over a 10 year period. . .

Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, . . .

That is an impressive list as turbo-1 mentioned.

If I go to nearby ponds or streams, I'll see ducks (mallards mostly) and Canadian geese (when they are passing through), perhaps a wookduck or merganser. We see herons now and then.

The only time I've seen owls is at night, so I couldn't identify them. Red -tailed, broad-winged and gray hawks are common. A couple we know had a nest of red-tailed hawk in one of their trees - what a mess that was with the hawk poop on the front lawn.

We once had a pair of house wrens nest in a hanging basket. The sphagnum moss made for a good nest. We watch the babies grow and were present for their first flight - to the ground. I stayed around until the babies got off the ground and into the nearby tree (30+ ft spruce). Same tree from which I had to retrieve one of our cats - twice.

 

[Les Sleeth]

I've seen this bird on several occasions now, but I'm not sure of the name.

It's completely black except for two golden/orange patches on the sides of the belly/breast.

Does anyone know the name?

Sometimes it is hard to see all the features of a bird without binoculars, so it might have other markings you are missing. As turbo-1 said, most birds with orange have another color besides black. Also, sometimes immature males are different colors than mature males, like the Hooded Oriole seen here:

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i5050id.html

The other orange oriole is the Balimore:

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i5070id.html

(BTW, did you know blackbirds and orioles belong to the same subfamily? A lot of people think blackbirds and crows are related. But the beautiful "liquid" songs of blackbirds give away how far they are from crows.)

The blackheaded grosbeak has orange on the body . . .

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i5960id.html

. . . as does the brambling . . .

http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?issue_date=04-12-2006&ID=2005109191&var_Year=2006&var_Month=04&var_Day=12

. . . and the rufous-sided towhee:

http://www.nhptv.org/Natureworks/rufoustowhee.htm One of my favorite ways to identify birds is to listen to the song and call (in case you haven't guessed it, a number of birds are named for their call or song, like the phoebe, chickadee, towhee, flicker, etc). That's many times the fastest way to identify since one can often hear before seeing a bird, and it also quickly let's you know an unfamiliar bird is around (right now I know without looking an enthusiastic Western flycatcher, a purple finch, California quail, an Oregon junco, a red-shouldered hawk, wild turkey and a black phoebe are outside . . . plus way off in the distance a Swainson's thrush -- I don't know why but I've never heard one close -- let's loose his beautiful poignant call every few minutes).

 

[Les Sleeth]

That is an impressive list as turbo-1 mentioned.

Well, it's funny because before I started watching them, if you'd asked me how many different birds were around I might have said 20 or so. Once I started paying attention I couldn't believe how much I was missing. There are some avid birders around here. Once I made the mistake of telling a grocery clerk who I knew took trips to Central America to watch birds that for several days in a row I'd seen a Harris' sparrow hanging out with some finches who came to eat sunflower seeds we threw out each morning (Harris's are not native to this area). He freaked and scolded me for not calling the local birder ass. so they could all have camped out at my house and watched.

 

[Astronuc]

Once I made the mistake of telling a grocery clerk who I knew took trips to Central America to watch birds that for several days in a row I'd seen a Harris' sparrow hanging out with some finches who came to eat sunflower seeds we threw out each morning (Harris's are not native to this area). He freaked and scolded me for not calling the local birder ass. so they could all have camped out at my house and watched.

Yeah, I know people like that.

We have a peregrine falcon visit us occasionally, and one time it brought down a dove in our back yard. I was standing in the yard, when all of a sudden I hear a screech. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a bird dropping to the ground with the falcon coming down right behind it. Feathers were floating/dropping through the air. The Falcon landed right at the dove and just stood there. I ran and grabbed my camera, and I was able to get a few shots before the Falcon took off. It was an amazing thing to see. Somewhere I've got those photos.

At the time that happened, peregrines were just starting to make a comeback in our area.

 

[dav2008]

How big is the bird, and about where are you located? I might try digging through some bird guides, but every black and orange bird that I have seen has at least some white, too.

Nah don't worry about it. I just thought someone might know off the top of their head.

As far as I could see it's completely black with the two orange patches on either side of the breast. I'm located in Northern Illinois.

All of the pictures Les posted had birds with orange patches but none of them completely black otherwise. (I've seen this bird on two occasions so I know it's not some weird mutant I came across)

Thanks for the website though. I'll browse through it.

 

[Astronuc]

Nah don't worry about it. I just thought someone might know off the top of their head.

As far as I could see it's completely black with the two orange patches on either side of the breast. I'm located in Northern Illinois.

If the orange patches are on the wings close to the body then its probably an immature red-winged blackbird - http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/photo_htm/Images/h4980p4.jpg When the wings are folded close to the body, it could look like oranges patches either side of the breast.

The adults males have red patches, with a yellow border. We see them quite often in our area in tall grass near marshy or swampy areas (aka wetlands).

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/photo_htm/Images/h4980pi.jpg

 

[Math Is Hard]

For the last two or three weeks, Mr. and Mrs. Crow, who live in a tree in my backyard have been, an absolute pain in the patoot -- yelling all day long and attacking squirrels. I figured they had babies somewhere nearby. Well, I finally got to see what all the fuss was about this morning. One of their fledgelings had fallen from the nest. He looks just like this:
http://www.birdsofwestwood.com/images/birdpics/crow-nestling.jpg

 

[turbo]

Neat! Some of the larger birds will accept help in caring from unfledged babies. A number of years ago, a friend of mine (the chief of the Maine Warden Service at the time) and I stopped to help a broad-winged hawk chick on a camp road. I stayed with the chick while he went for some gloves, and when he came back, I put on the gloves and trapped the little guy's wings against his body (with him trying to bite me all the time) and we took him into the woods where his parents were calling. We enlisted a retired relative in the area to take chicken, turkey, etc to the rock wall so the parents could guard the chick without having to hunt for fresh food. They took the food readily for at least a week (during which time the little guy probably should have been fledged well enough to fly), and we like to think that the chick made it, with his parents' constant presence. There is no way of knowing for sure...

 

[Chi Meson]

Just saw a new bird today during a fire drill. An American redstart. It's a black warbler with orange patches on breast wing and tail. I'm thinking maybe its the bird Dave2008 is tryng to i.d?

 

[Math Is Hard]

They took the food readily for at least a week (during which time the little guy probably should have been fledged well enough to fly), and we like to think that the chick made it, with his parents' constant presence. There is no way of knowing for sure...

I bet he did just fine.

A few years ago, I had a catnip plant in a hanging basket and some doves made a nest in it. Only one baby hatched and I named him Catnip. Poor little thing fell out of the nest and hurt his wing and was hopping around driving the neighborhood cats insane. Can you imagine a worse situation than a baby bird with a broken wing who smells like catnip in a neighborhood full of puddy-tats? I ended up taking him to a wildlife sanctuary. They made me make a donation of $80 to take him in!

 

[turbo]

I ended up taking him to a wildlife sanctuary. They made me make a donation of $80 to take him in!

Ouch! That's pretty steep. It was nice of you to do that. I love animals, but I would have found it difficult to justify paying them $80 to take a dove. I probably would have done it for a raptor, though - they are higher-maintenance and more expensive to feed, too. BTW, I think the broad-winged hawks like doves. We have a pair of broad-wings nesting nearby, and several days ago, I found mourning dove feathers under our bird feeder. If they will keep the doves out of our garden until all the seeds are sprouted and the plants are well-developed, I will be very grateful to them. A flock of doves can pull up a row of sprouted beans or peas in no time flat.

 

[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.