Ornithology

[mikelz777]

It looks like a goldfinch with a red face.

you must mean the American Goldfinch (Carduelis trístis), as the Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) has a red face.

Yes, the American Goldfinch. In different lighting they can have that lime-ish yellow appearance like that tananger picture.

Edited March 1, 2007 by mikelz777

[Jim R]

One of my favorite camp robbers is Clark's Nutcracker. At almost a foot long they're pretty impressive birds, and you don't want to leave things out unattended even for a couple of minutes as they'll take advantage. At least they can't work zippers like ravens!

Wow... I had forgotten all about those. A familiar sight back in our days of camping and backpacking up and down the west coast.

Joe G mentioned the Pileated Woodpecker in that other thread (thanks for that, btw, Joe). I remember the excitement that caused when we saw one (in Yosemite, iirc) while backpacking in the Sierra.

[Noj]

Snowy Owl

Peregrine Falcon

African Grey

[Jim R]

Snowy Owl

Peregrine Falcon

African Grey

What is this, "Name Three Birds"?

Nice, Noj. Ever tried to paint birds?

[Noj]

Owls are among my favorite animals, they're so well-adapted for night hunting. On top of the tremendous night vision, swiveling heads, and sensitive hearing, their feathers actually grow in a certain way which makes them virtually silent in flight. They rarely miss their prey, since it doesn't hear or see the owl coming.

Peregrines have been my favorite since I was a kid, the ability to dive at over 200mph was always so cool to me. I recently watched a show on them and found out they dive in a corkscrew pattern to keep prey in their line of vision. I've heard the Indian Swift is actually faster.

African Greys' ability to mimic noises is amazing. There's a wonderful Discovery program in which a photographer takes a snapshot of one and the bird repeats the mechanical noise of the camera several times with incredible accuracy.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

quickie parrot from a few years back.

the company went for realism instead...

[Joe G]

One of my favorite camp robbers is Clark's Nutcracker. At almost a foot long they're pretty impressive birds, and you don't want to leave things out unattended even for a couple of minutes as they'll take advantage. At least they can't work zippers like ravens!

Wow... I had forgotten all about those. A familiar sight back in our days of camping and backpacking up and down the west coast.

I remember one year doing some winter camping in northern Michigan, at a state forest called Pigeon River. No Pigeons up there that I can recall, but the snow was pretty deep, and the chickadees (which are one of my favorites) would flock to the campsites looking for morsels. They were pretty bold by this time, and were landing on everything, including ourselves. One landed on the edge of a frypan, while the stove was on. Another flew up into the van and landed on the steering wheel. We went out to cut some brush, and one landed on the handsaw my dad was holding up as he pointed toward some deadwood. Several birds hitched a ride back to camp on the branches we were dragging. Eating a sammich was fun, what with all the dive bombing. It was all pretty hilarious. I think my dad has a picture of me holding 3 chickadees and a nuthatch in one hand, as they fed on the trail mix I held out.

Had another interesting experience with some chickadees. I was walking in a wooded area, and encountered a small group of them doing their thing. Later on, I found them again, but instead of the normal activity, they were all huddled together, making this quiet peeping sound. I stopped and looked around, and after about 15 seconds, a cat came walking up the trial I was on. As soon as the cat saw me, it stopped, turned tail and ran back up the way it had come. I was really amazed that these chickadees were aware of the cat's approach long before I could see it or hear it. They were probably responding to warning calls from other birds, is my guess.

[rachel]

Sweet Baby!!

that's not a regular chickadee, is it?

(inside joke, everybody....)

Edited March 2, 2007 by rachel

[Joe G]

Around here it's the regular kind. Up north, they're high octane.

[Big Deal]

This winter has brought an unusal visitor to my yard and the neighbors birdfeeder--a peregrine falcon. I first

noticed it back in January when winter really started here in SW Michigan. There was a light snow falling and I saw a bird hanging out in the back yard, just sitting real still. As peregrine falcons are about the same size as a crow and due to the low light, I just assumed that it was a crow. I thought that the way the snow was sticking to its wings would make for an interesting picture and so I started a slow walk through the yard with my telephoto lens at the ready. Just I got within range for a fairly good shot, he flew off and that was when I first realized it was a peregrine. They don't usually hang around here, but I have seen them here in the winter before. I saw him again this morning checking out the activity at the neighbors bird feeder (hey! it is a bird feeder in more than one way I guess!) and so he must have found things to his liking here. It would be very neat if they would find a place to nest and stay year round, but without any cliffs or high buildings, I guess that won't be happening.

[sidewinder]

quickie parrot from a few years back.

the company went for realism instead...

Norwegian Blue?

[Late]

Have had two pairs of black-headed grossbeaks on and off in our backyard for about a week now. Beautiful birds.

[Tim McG]

Outside of my window right now are:

• juncos

• a Townsend warbler

• a kinglet (male; flew away just now)

• two chickadees

• one thrush

Curious to hear if there are other fans of birds here, and what's outside your window!

Big time!

We put out wild birdseed for the local birds in our area.

Year around birds:

Scrub Jays

House Finches

Sparrows [two varieties]

Morning Doves

Red Shouldered Hawks [we have a nesting pair in the Cottonwood Tree next to our house]

Barn Owls

Woodpeckers [two varieties]

Black Crows

Mockingbirds

Migrating/Seasonal Birds:

Gold Finches

Cedar Waxwings

Dark-eyed Juncos

Mud Swallows

Red Wing Blackbirds

Starlings

Red Breasted Robins

Mountain Blue Bird

A tiny mountain bird we think is a Nuthatch

Birds that fly by our house a lot:

Snowy Egrets

Turkey Vultures

Blue Herons

Canadian Geese

Mallard Ducks

Sea Gulls

Sandpipers

Edited May 12, 2008 by GoodSpeak

[Michael Weiss]

I know to you ornithologists this is like saying "Ever heard of a trumpeter named Miles Davis?" but a few weeks ago, I thought that damn mockingbird was back again to keep us awake until the next frost, but discovered this time it's a cardinal. He doesn't carry on all night like the mockingbird did, but he gets started around 4:30am. Has quite a range of calls, clucks and such.

Edited May 12, 2008 by Michael Weiss

[Tim McG]

A few weeks ago, I thought that damn mockingbird was back to keep us awake until the next frost, but discovered this time it's a cardinal. He doesn't carry on all night like the mockingbird did, but he gets started around 4:30am. Has quite a range of calls, clucks and such.

I saw my first Cardinal in Madison, WI several years ago...much smaller bird than I thought.

[BruceH]

Beautiful pictures guys.

[Royal Oak]

Sweet Baby!!

that's not a regular chickadee, is it?

(inside joke, everybody....)

That looks like what we'd call a Willow Tit in the UK. Is it one and the same? I actually thought it was a coal tit at first look, but the RSPB website put me right.

I have in my garden a collection of humble (but still great) British garden birds - house sparrows, blackbirds, starlings, magpies, blue tits, a solitary robin, jackdaws (on the chimney stack) and housemartins. Quite a collection really, considering I didn't think there was much going on in my garden when I saw this thread.

[Tim McG]

This is my favorite local:

Western Scrub Jay

[Quincy]

This is my favorite local:

Western Scrub Jay

I'm with you there. Highly intelligent crafty critters they are. We had one with a chipped bill in that nested in our back yard for about 6 years (maybe more before the beak injury too as it's hard to tell the individuals apart.) Some jays are famous for becoming tame as they get to know the people in their territory and "broken bill" used to plunk down in the grass behind me as I'd use the manual mower. Shorter grass made it easier to pluck worms out of the ground. That bird is no more but the current pair are just as tolerant of us. Yesterday I spotted the 2 hopping up our front porch to check for bugs in the Welcome mat (nothing there) which was new behavior, or at least the first time I noticed. They'll sometimes land on the gate at the same time I'm opening it. They seem to like to play games with the people in the house.

[Tim McG]

This is my favorite local:

Western Scrub Jay

I'm with you there. Highly intelligent crafty critters they are. We had one with a chipped bill in that nested in our back yard for about 6 years (maybe more before the beak injury too as it's hard to tell the individuals apart.) Some jays are famous for becoming tame as they get to know the people in their territory and "broken bill" used to plunk down in the grass behind me as I'd use the manual mower. Shorter grass made it easier to pluck worms out of the ground. That bird is no more but the current pair are just as tolerant of us. Yesterday I spotted the 2 hopping up our front porch to check for bugs in the Welcome mat (nothing there) which was new behavior, or at least the first time I noticed. They'll sometimes land on the gate at the same time I'm opening it. They seem to like to play games with the people in the house.

The Scrub Jays in our yard do the same things, that is, play games with us or search out the bugs on the porch. Often, I'll whistle at them and they chirp back at me...this could go on for hours, if I let it.

They even perch in a spot next to the kitchen window, peering in at us when the seed we put out gets low or is gone. They've got us trained pretty well.

Cool birds.

[Joe G]

Jim Alfredson has reported recently sighting an indigo bunting:

[Late]

Wow — I'd love to see one of those in my backyard, or anywhere.

I took a baby crow to our local wild bird rehabilitation clinic this weekend. A neighbor's cat had gotten to it, but it was still alive. The parents were going wild, dive-bombing the cat (who was simply toying with it) whenever it got closer to the baby. It couldn't seem to fly, and I couldn't bear to watch it suffer, so I scooped it up and drove it to the clinic. The employee there said I'd done the right thing, but that the baby probably wouldn't make it. I felt awful for the parent crows — they hung around that area for the whole day. It made me feel, by intervening, that maybe I hadn't done the right thing.

[Jim Alfredson]

Yes, I saw one driving back to my grandmother's house after lunch. She lives way out in the boondocks and I saw this small blue bird in the field as we drove by. He stuck out like a sore thumb! Very neat!

[Jim R]

Around our house, we have ... a very annoying gang of crows.

Btw, Late, my brother up in Lebanon is always sending me photos of the wonderful variety of birds that visit the feeders on his deck.

And people wonder why the taxonomical reference is actually a "murder" of crows.

It sounds like you have a nice variety down in the Bay Area, Jim. We get most of the birds you've mentioned, but I haven't seen an oriole around here ... or ever, I think. It's been a while since I've seen a cedar waxwing. Those birds are beautiful. Strangely or not, we've been getting Downy's here quite frequently in the last few weeks. I'd like to see a hairy woodpecker (I know, questionable name) — they're supposed to look just like the Downy, but up to twice the size!

Recently, the woodpeckers made their annual return to our neighborhood. I saw an Acorn Woodpecker at a nearby park, and the next day I heard (and carefully viewed, since my binoculars are now left out where I can grab them quickly) a woodpecker on the utility pole behind our house. I assumed it was a Downy, but after reviewing the info in my field guide (Nat Geo), I realized it was a Hairy. Larger body, longer bill.

A few days later, I glanced out toward the rear of our yard and saw a bird feeding on the lawn. I almost passed it off as a Mourning Dove, which are omnipresent, but I decided to reach for the binoculars anyway. Glad I did. It turned out to be a Northern Red-Shafted Flicker. Very attractive bird. I've seen these before, but usually at parks. Never saw one in our yard before. Our resident California Jay was watching him from his perch on the telephone wire overhead, and kept dive-bombing him, but the Flicker just continued to calmly go about his business. I got a long look at him, and 360-degree views. The only thing I didn't get a look at was his underside. I had a little doubt as to whether it might have been the similarly-colored Gilded Flicker, but I ruled that out based on their range. I know these are commonly sighted in some places (my brother in Oregon tells me that he sees them fairly often), but I consider this a memorable "event", and will hope to see one of these return here someday.

[Noj]

An interesting bird phenomenon in my area are wild parrots. Small groups of these escaped pets have grown into full-blown flocks of the beautiful but noisy little buggers. They seem to migrate between Burbank and Pasadena, which coincidentally enough is where my home and work are respectively. So I've seen them quite a bit. It's really odd to see a big group of green birds in the sky or in trees.

Edited March 2, 2012 by Noj