For the Birds!

[donheff]

Sparrows, nothing more. But we are leaving for our weekend place in a couple of hours. There I see a couple of Bald Eagles almost every morning plus ducks and geese of all sorts.

 

[Walt34]

Saw a cardinal just this morning. At least I think that's what it was since it's bright red. And a few wild turkeys a month or so ago.

 

[Lsbcal]

Today I saw a pair of black phoebes, green jays, greater kiskadees, altamira orioles, white-tipped doves, golden-fronted woodpeckers, a screech owl, a northern beardless tyranulet, a clay-colored thrush, chachalacas, a green kingfisher, a pair of verdins, black-crested titmouse, orange-crowned warblers. I heard several olive sparrows and a couple of house wrens, but I couldn't get on them with my bins.

I walk the park next door and look at their feeders.

Audrey

Audrey, I think you won the unofficial bird viewing medal for Jan 27, 2012. Most of those birds I've never seen.

 

[Ronstar]

Not much of a bird person, but we have a large hawk with an intestinal problem that perches only in branches over our driveway. And an owl that keeps me awake at night. But in spring, the geese, ducks, herons, wrens, robins, cardinals, etc will be back.

 

[braumeister]

Saw another of my favorites this morning, a yellow-shafted flicker. Haven't seen one since last autumn.

 

[Brdofpray]

Today as I look out the window, we have a "charm" of goldfinches feasting on thistle seeds.

 

[HFWR]

None, right now...

Regular visitors are sparrows, blue jays, cardinals, blackbirds, and doves. Less regular are juncos, crows, and the occasional hummingbird or hawk.

Forgot mockingbirds...

 

[Goonie]

As we sit and look out our windows, or sit on the back deck contemplating all of the financial machinations we need to go through to stay FIREd, I wonder if we all take the time to enjoy the natural world we live in.

Towards that end, what birds are you seeing, right now, in your backyard?

We love watching the birds, especially in the winter when we're stuck indoors more. That being the case, I've set up nine feeders of various types that we can see from our warm confines, and view our feathered friends as they feed and frolic around.

On any given winter day, our visitors almost always include:


Several pairs of Cardinals
Typically 4 or 5 Blue Jays
a few Goldfinches (but not nearly as many as usual)
Purple Finches
Tufted Titmouse
Pileated Woodpeckers
Red Headed Woodpeckers
Juncos
Several Morning Doves
Several different kinds of Sparrows
Chickadees of various types
Nuthatches

....and a Red Tail Hawk looking for it's dinner ON the feeders! BAH!!!

And of course the grackles and cowbirds that try to take over the feeders, but usually end up just scattering the seed onto the ground where the other birds (and [-]bushy tail tree rats[/-] squirrels) scarf it up!

If we're outside, overhead we also normally see Turkey Vultures, various hawks, Mallards, and Canada Geese.

If we take a ride down to the river at this time of year, we'll see a dozen or more Bald Eagles 'fishing' for dinner. In fact at Starved Rock State Park about 10 miles downstream from us, this is "Eagle Watch Weekend". There are usually several hundred visitors from Chicago and the 'burbs that come down to get a look at those majestic birds. Before I ER'd, I worked on the south bank of the river, and in the winter we'd have dozens of Bald Eagles in the trees overlooking the river at our plant. It was normally the only place along the river for miles that was not frozen over, due to the millions of gallons of processed water we put in everyday, and the fish and birds of prey were both in abundance!!! We could walk within 15 or 20 feet of the eagles, and they wouldn't fly off!!! It was way too cool!!!

 

[Nodak]

Just saw a couple of Robins....in ND......in January. In my 64 years I have never seen that before.

 

[PaddyMac]

winter flock in central mountains of New Mexico, juniper/pinyon pine forest:

daily visitors include northern flickers, ladderback woodpecker, acord woodpeckers, titmice, bushtits, red-backed juncos and dark-eyed juncos, pine siskins, canyon towhees, scrub jays, and robins

 

[justplainbll]

This winter we regularly have a few cardinals and black capped chickadees that come to our window to beg for food, a half dozen mourning doves that congregate at our birdbaths most evenings and a few red headed woodpeckers who peck on our dogwood and chestnut trees.

 

[happy2bretired]

I have a bird feeder but hardly any birds right now. What kind of food do you all use to attract such a variety of birds? I don't want starlings so I tend to put out safflower seed in my main feeder.

 

[Goonie]

I have a bird feeder but hardly any birds right now. What kind of food do you all use to attract such a variety of birds? I don't want starlings so I tend to put out safflower seed in my main feeder.

I use nyger or thistle seed in the feeders for the finches, as those feeders have very tiny openings that keep the fat-beaked birds out. I put safflower seed in one of my dome-covered tray feeders for the cardinals...not very many other birds around here like the safflower seeds. I put peanuts (in shell) in another dome-covered feeder that is hung in a sheltered place that only the blue jays and cardinals frequent...and the [-]bushy tailed tree rats[/-] squirrels absolutely can't get to (try as they might!). And I have two feeders that have a steel-wire mesh cage around that only allows the smaller birds and those with long beaks to get to the seed. In those two I use a premium wild bird seed mix....one that contains NO millet or other 'junk' seed that most birds just toss out onto the ground. The very small amount of seed of whatever type that does hit the ground is quickly scarfed up by the juncos, morning doves, cardinals, and sparrows.

We also have a couple of trees and shrubs that have small fruit or berries on them, that the birds love! And my gardens are filled with native wildflowers that I leave standing through the winter for the birds to eat the seed heads...especially Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) and Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta). We also toss out chopped up fruit occasionally, as well as old trail mix, cookies or chips that have gotten stale (though most things never have a chance to get stale around us!)

And the [-]bushy tailed tree rats[/-] get all of the nuts and acorns off of our walnut and oak trees...as well as those trees of our neighbors!

 

[happy2bretired]

Thanks Goonie. I think I pay too much attention to what I DON'T want at my feeders. Looks like I need more assorted feeders and foods.

 

[Brdofpray]

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13540&stc=1&d=1327873786

This afternoon the red headed woodpecker came back. I caught him in an unusual pose. Usually, they will be on a tree trunk sitting back on their stiff tail feathers for support.

 

[grasshopper]

Great photo of one one the birds I miss from the East.

 

[audreyh1]

Audrey, I think you won the unofficial bird viewing medal for Jan 27, 2012. Most of those birds I've never seen.

Location, location, location.

Audrey

 

[Nords]

Towards that end, what birds are you seeing, right now, in your backyard?

It's almost time for our 5 PM brown quail family to come scuttling through the backyard shrubbery.

Plenty of mockingbirds, Brazilian cardinals, mejiros (whiteyes), red-vented bulbuls. They breed in our fruit trees, especially the mango and a mock-orange bush.

This time of year we have a kolea (plover) standing guard on each block of the neighborhood. I sometimes wonder if they have kolea sergeants with little clipboards under their wings directing them to their watchstations.

Dozens of zebra doves. Just about every window of our house has a bird-print of a zebra dove doing a face-plant at full speed. I don't understand how they live long enough to reproduce.

A flock of 24+ green parrots. During hurricane Iwa in 1982 a breeding pair escaped into Pearl City Industrial Park (really an overgrown jungle valley of warehouses) and they've thrived. They fly over our house a couple times a day and hang out in the haole koa trees next door. The noise is unbelievable, like a haunted house full of rusty metal gates swinging in the wind.

I've seen pueo (Hawaii owls) twice. Once I was buzzed at 5 AM when I was sitting on the back lanai, and it scared the heck out of me. (I think he was just making sure that I was too heavy to lift.) The second time I was bicycling to work before sunrise, and he kept pace with me for a hundred yards before peeling off for breakfast...

 

[Brdofpray]

Today I am watching a yellow-bellied sapsucker, working his way up a tree. The sapsucker will make many parallel holes into the trees trunk. Most often a basswood, or other smooth bark tree. Once the sap starts flowing, insects are attracted. The sapsucker returns to lap up the sap covered insects.

So really, he should be referred to as the yellow-bellied sap lapper! (it probably won't fly!)

 

[MBAustin]

Great photo of one one the birds I miss from the East.

+1

Love this thread!

Related question - how long does it take for the birdies to discover a new source of food? Our feeder was down for the past 6 months (long story) but is now back in operation since last week. But there haven't been many birds yet. Just curious.

 

[Brdofpray]

We put up a thistle feeder last year, and it took about a month before goldfinches and siskins found it. Once they did, we could not keep seed in it. This year we put it up and they found it within a week.

Birds use a system of habitat sampling. They rotate through a number of feeding sites. This is a natural adaptation so that when any high quality food source is available, they will be ready to exploit it. Think of it like a paper route. They go from source to source, looking for the best available food. They will spend the most time at the site that gives them the most energy for the effort. If that source dries up, they know exactly where the second best site is located. That way they will never be left without an option. I have heard to many times that once you start feeding the birds, you have to continue. Otherwise the poor birds might starve. Birds may be dumb (you know, bird brains), but they rarely put all of their eggs in one basket. Oh wait, I guess they do, but you know what I mean.

Give it some time. They will arrive soon.

 

[bbbamI]

The most colorful birds I've seen in my yard are Bluejays and Cardinals. Other than that....nothing really exotic.

I did manage to catch this bird a while back and he stayed still long enough for a pic.

 

[Lsbcal]

...
I did manage to catch this bird a while back and he stayed still long enough for a pic.

What about the bird with the fancy nails?

 

[bbbamI]

What about the bird with the fancy nails?

Ahhhh...she's never still.....

 

[Avalon]

Took a while to find this one. My best friend and I with two great horned owl chicks we rescued from a destroyed nest many years ago. We successfully raised them to adults and they were released into the wild after we were certain they could catch live prey.