Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

[Candor]

Not everything is great for a bird. Here is a bird I found while bushwhacking earlier this year well off any trail. It was fresh dead in that there were no flies and no smell. No obvious signs of gunshot or other human intervention. No power lines anywhere around.

May have been poisoned from eating a poisoned rodent.

[jebmke]

May have been poisoned from eating a poisoned rodent.

That would be my first guess.

[jebmke]

Snowy Egret showed up in the creek today. First of the season in the back yard.

[LadyGeek]

May have been poisoned from eating a poisoned rodent.

That would be my first guess.

I've seen hawks capture and feed on small birds in my backyard. It's a shredding process. This is different.

Based on the way the body is positioned, I'd say a natural predator. It looks like a something tried to grab it in its mouth. Perhaps the bird was on the ground and didn't detect that he was about to be dinner.

[livesoft]

Perhaps the bird was on the ground and didn't detect that he was about to be dinner.

Perhaps, but the red-tailed had not become dinner by the time I came across it. I don't think poisoning can be ruled out.

[LadyGeek]

The angle of the neck, tail, and closed right wing suggest crushing. If a hawk is dining on his prey, he's vulnerable to attack. Every few seconds, they'll stop and survey the area for predators.

If you were bushwhacking, the grass must have been tall. I'll bet he was eating and didn't see the attacker sneak up on him. The attacker may not have been interested in eating - or dropped the bird for some other reason.

(List of topics discussed in the Bogleheads consumer forum:
- Amateur forensics. )

[JAZZISCOOL]

^A very good reason to avoid rodent poisons IMO (and to keep your pet cats indoors as Audubon recommends to help the bird populations.)

[livesoft]

Just found this feather in backyard:

Barred owl or Cooper's Hawk ... both have been seen and heard in the trees above where this feather was found, but ...
https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/
suggests this might be from a red-tailed hawk. Red-tailed hawks do nest within a half mile of the house.

[sevenseas]

Here in the Catskills, am seeing many of the same feeder birds that others have mentioned: goldfinches and house finches, hairy/downy/red bellied woodpeckers, mourning doves, juncos, cardinals, blackbirds and cowbirds, black capped chickadees, blue jays, tufted titmouses (titmice?), nuthatches, sparrows. Also robins on the lawn of course, the harbinger of spring. A Carolina wren (they are such cute little birds) has been nesting in the top of my propane tank just outside my kitchen window. Am still waiting for the Eastern bluebirds to return to their usual nest box. Also due for ruby-throated hummingbird arrival soon and will put up the feeders tomorrow.

[minesweep]

Here in the Catskills, am seeing many of the same feeder birds that others have mentioned: goldfinches and house finches, hairy/downy/red bellied woodpeckers, mourning doves, juncos, cardinals, blackbirds and cowbirds, black capped chickadees, blue jays, tufted titmouses (titmice?), nuthatches, sparrows. Also robins on the lawn of course, the harbinger of spring. A Carolina wren (they are such cute little birds) has been nesting in the top of my propane tank just outside my kitchen window. Am still waiting for the Eastern bluebirds to return to their usual nest box. Also due for ruby-throated hummingbird arrival soon and will put up the feeders tomorrow.

With the exception of the cowbirds I'm seeing every bird that you mentioned at, or around my bird feeders here in eastern PA. Although I believe that the juncos have headed north. The downy woodpeckers, nuthatches, and Carolina wrens are attracted to my peanut feeders. I put the unshelled peanuts in those feeders (they have no trouble pecking holes in the shells). It keeps those pesky English sparrows away from them (didn't see as many of them this past winter, or now). I put unshelled peanuts outside of the feeders for the blue jays and red bellied woodpeckers. I used a much lower volume of black oil sunflower seeds this past winter. Perhaps it was because of the mild winter that we're had.

[investingdad]

I'm not a bird watcher but I saw this thread and wanted to mention that we have a bird around I've never seen before.

An albino Robin.

I also didn't realize that Robins stay in one place once they return for Spring. The albino has been around our house since arriving about a month ago. I also spotted him in the bordering woods.

Best birds I've seen from my deck? Bald Eagle and Heron. I'm in PA.

[Dottie57]

Thanks to all who have contributed. I’ve really enjoyed the pictures during the current lock down. It brings me a real sense of peace. Keep the pictures coming!

[JAZZISCOOL]

I'm not a bird watcher but I saw this thread and wanted to mention that we have a bird around I've never seen before.

An albino Robin.

I also didn't realize that Robins stay in one place once they return for Spring. The albino has been around our house since arriving about a month ago. I also spotted him in the bordering woods.

Best birds I've seen from my deck? Bald Eagle and Heron. I'm in PA.

Very cool! I've never seen an albino bird but have heard about them.

I saw this Audubon article you might find interesting:

https://www.audubon.org/news/how-tell-if-bird-albino

[investingdad]

I'm not a bird watcher but I saw this thread and wanted to mention that we have a bird around I've never seen before.

An albino Robin.

I also didn't realize that Robins stay in one place once they return for Spring. The albino has been around our house since arriving about a month ago. I also spotted him in the bordering woods.

Best birds I've seen from my deck? Bald Eagle and Heron. I'm in PA.

Very cool! I've never seen an albino bird but have heard about them.

I saw this Audubon article you might find interesting:

https://www.audubon.org/news/how-tell-if-bird-albino

Hmm. Well, consider me educated! After reading this, said Robin is not a true albino.

Where there should be color there is only white. But where there should be grey, there is grey. That makes him a leucism sufferer.

[camper]

Sitting here in my backyard in Arizona on a glorious spring morning. I saw the 3 hummingbirds that are frequent visitors on the feeder in the tangelo tree. Yellow finches and sparrows visit another feeder all day every day. A beautiful male and female cardinal stopped by. I was serenaded by the calls of mourning dove. I can hear the flying rats (pigeons) that roost under the solar panels on the neighbor's house a couple of houses down the way. I wish the cooper's hawk that lives in the other neighbor's tree would make an appearance. It snacks on the dove and pigeons. Messy, but needed to control the populations.

[InvisibleAerobar]

Sitting here in my backyard in Arizona on a glorious spring morning. I saw the 3 hummingbirds that are frequent visitors on the feeder in the tangelo tree. Yellow finches and sparrows visit another feeder all day every day. A beautiful male and female cardinal stopped by. I was serenaded by the calls of mourning dove. I can hear the flying rats (pigeons) that roost under the solar panels on the neighbor's house a couple of houses down the way. I wish the cooper's hawk that lives in the other neighbor's tree would make an appearance. It snacks on the dove and pigeons. Messy, but needed to control the populations.

And you folks in AZ get the pyrrhuloxia (aka "desert cardinal") to boot. Apparently they view cardinals as competitors



Photo from allaboutbirds

[Teague]

We are teaching one of our ducks to conduct orchestra. He's coming right along.

[LadyGeek]

Figures. I don't take my cellphone with me and there's a Great Blue Heron standing in the creek at the back of my property.

We stared at each other for a while. I got to within 100 feet of him until he(?) decided to move further away.

I've seen herons before, but never this close. He(?) was almost as tall as I was. That is one big bird, the wing-span is huge.

[livesoft]

We are teaching one of our ducks to conduct orchestra. He's coming right along.

Wonderful caption.

[investingdad]

Figures. I don't take my cellphone with me and there's a Great Blue Heron standing in the creek at the back of my property.

We stared at each other for a while. I got to within 100 feet of him until he(?) decided to move further away.

I've seen herons before, but never this close. He(?) was almost as tall as I was. That is one big bird, the wing-span is huge.

There are a few that fish the large creek that runs a bit behind our home. They look prehistoric when they fly over the house.

[rivendell]

A pileated woodpecker was working on a small stump at the edge of our yard for about 20 minutes. The wood chips were flying!

[Candor]

Great Blue Heron I came across on Friday.

[JAZZISCOOL]

A pileated woodpecker was working on a small stump at the edge of our yard for about 20 minutes. The wood chips were flying!

Cool! This species is not in my state but I like to read about different birds.

Sometimes I like to go to Cornell's ornithology website to learn about them. You can also listen to their calls and drumming sounds here:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pil ... ker/sounds

[JAZZISCOOL]

Great Blue Heron I came across on Friday.

Great photo! Thanks for posting. I love Great Blue Herons!

[sevenseas]

Here in the Catskills, am seeing many of the same feeder birds that others have mentioned: goldfinches and house finches, hairy/downy/red bellied woodpeckers, mourning doves, juncos, cardinals, blackbirds and cowbirds, black capped chickadees, blue jays, tufted titmouses (titmice?), nuthatches, sparrows. Also robins on the lawn of course, the harbinger of spring. A Carolina wren (they are such cute little birds) has been nesting in the top of my propane tank just outside my kitchen window. Am still waiting for the Eastern bluebirds to return to their usual nest box. Also due for ruby-throated hummingbird arrival soon and will put up the feeders tomorrow.

With the exception of the cowbirds I'm seeing every bird that you mentioned at, or around my bird feeders here in eastern PA. Although I believe that the juncos have headed north. The downy woodpeckers, nuthatches, and Carolina wrens are attracted to my peanut feeders. I put the unshelled peanuts in those feeders (they have no trouble pecking holes in the shells). It keeps those pesky English sparrows away from them (didn't see as many of them this past winter, or now). I put unshelled peanuts outside of the feeders for the blue jays and red bellied woodpeckers. I used a much lower volume of black oil sunflower seeds this past winter. Perhaps it was because of the mild winter that we're had.

I've been feeding the Choice blend from Wild Birds Unlimited which includes black oil sunflower, sunflower chips, striped sunflower, safflower and peanuts. The number of goldfinches in particular that this has attracted is astonishing. The goldfinches apparently feed in flocks, so there can be 7+ adult males, females and juveniles all duking it out at the feeder, while the other birds wait for their chance to swoop in. An endless source of entertainment. I bought a mealworm feeder and dried mealworms to put up for when the blue birds arrive. I've heard that rehydrating the worms helps with their palatability but am kind of creeped out at the thought...I find them gross enough as it is (which is why I couldn't stomach the thought of feeding live ones...ugh!)

[TnGuy]

Here in East Tennessee, our Ruby-throated hummingbirds started showing up about two weeks ago. The Hooded Warblers arrived some days back. And, for the past few days we've been having Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at one of our feeders.


David

[Dottie57]

Great Blue Heron I came across on Friday.

Great photo! Thanks for posting. I love Great Blue Herons!

The are quite wonderful.

[Sandtrap]

Great Blue Heron I came across on Friday.

Great Blue Heron's cruise up and down the large running stream that goes onto and along our property and tree line.
When they land in the pastures, we just see these long necks and heads moving through the tall grass.
Certainly get's the attention of our horses.

Beautiful picture!

What camera and lens did you use?

j

[Sandtrap]

We are teaching one of our ducks to conduct orchestra. He's coming right along.

Great shot!

What camera and lens did you use?

j

[JAZZISCOOL]

Here in East Tennessee, our Ruby-throated hummingbirds started showing up about two weeks ago. The Hooded Warblers arrived some days back. And, for the past few days we've been having Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at one of our feeders.


David

Nice. I had to look up a Hooded Warbler. Very pretty and nice song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ONAHnvCWjI

[Random Musings]

A partial albino robin is regularly visiting my MIL's house. The chest is colored, but not strongly.

RM

[Northern Flicker]

Robins, repeatedly flying straight into my windows and bouncing off.

Birds flying into a window most often is caused by foliage reflecting in the window. Large numbers of birds die every year from this. Paying attention to foliage reflecting off the glass and pruning as appropriate can help, as can attaching some kind of decorative stickers, or hanging stained glass pieces in the window.

[LadyGeek]

^^^ When I first setup my bird feeders many years ago, the windows near those bird feeders were constantly getting flown into. Unfortunately, a few broke their necks when they bounced off the glass.

Others were stunned. I used to hold them in my hand for about 10 minutes until they recovered and took off. (Ten minutes seemed to be the amount of time they needed.)

Those windows were located in a sun room that had perfect visibility to the windows on the other side of the room. So, the birds saw a clear flight path to the other side and never thought twice about it.

I hung a few stained glass mosaics in the windows, along with some plants to block the view.

[jebmke]

Hummingbird showed up yesterday. Also Eastern Kingbird.

[Chip]

We have an Eastern Phoebe hanging around in addition to the usual suspects this time of year.

Yesterday I was spraying some weeds in the yard and flushed a Red-shouldered Hawk out of a patch of periwinkle about 15 feet away from me, at the edge of the yard. He/she flew off carrying a gray rodent about the size of a mole, then landed on a branch about 100 feet away. The rodent was ripped to shreds and eaten shortly thereafter.

[Think]

Funny, I figured Boggleheads would mention the Cornell Orinthology Lab offerings...including the Merlin app. Why....these are free apps that are imho better than any paid app I have seen

[kayakprof]

Out hiking in a marshland with the kids yesterday when we saw two large Canada geese get into a savage fight that lasted 3 minutes. Biting, pushing underwater, running and chasing, funny noises. Never seen that before. After the fight, lots of bathing and preening behaviors from both animals.

[JAZZISCOOL]

Robins, repeatedly flying straight into my windows and bouncing off.

Birds flying into a window most often is caused by foliage reflecting in the window. Large numbers of birds die every year from this. Paying attention to foliage reflecting off the glass and pruning as appropriate can help, as can attaching some kind of decorative stickers, or hanging stained glass pieces in the window.

+1

Here's some additional info from Audubon on how to avoid this problem. One suggestion is keeping your blinds closed.

https://www.audubon.org/news/help-birds ... -collision

[JAZZISCOOL]

Funny, I figured Boggleheads would mention the Cornell Orinthology Lab offerings...including the Merlin app. Why....these are free apps that are imho better than any paid app I have seen

+1 Merlin (Cornell) is excellent. Audubon also has a free app but I use Merlin the most.

Cornell's full website has some great resources:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/

[JAZZISCOOL]

Out hiking in a marshland with the kids yesterday when we saw two large Canada geese get into a savage fight that lasted 3 minutes. Biting, pushing underwater, running and chasing, funny noises. Never seen that before. After the fight, lots of bathing and preening behaviors from both animals.

Spring (and quarantine) brings out some interesting behaviors. I was at the store recently and saw a female Canada goose sitting on her nest in the middle of the parking lot on a small strip of landscaping. Her mate was not far away hanging out by a closed nail salon.

[Candor]

Thanks folks!

Sandtrap, it was taken with a Canon 1D Mark IV and 500mm F4 v1 lens.

[jebmke]

Funny, I figured Boggleheads would mention the Cornell Orinthology Lab offerings...including the Merlin app. Why....these are free apps that are imho better than any paid app I have seen

+1 Merlin (Cornell) is excellent. Audubon also has a free app but I use Merlin the most.

Cornell's full website has some great resources:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/

The Princeton "Warbler Guide" app is excellent for warblers. Not free but very rich content for identifying warblers which is a particularly challenging task since they are small and often only flit around in tree canopies (e.g. Cerulean Warbler) or stay hidden in the woods (e.g Ovenbird). Many IDs this time of year are by sound only.

[minesweep]

Here in the Catskills, am seeing many of the same feeder birds that others have mentioned: goldfinches and house finches, hairy/downy/red bellied woodpeckers, mourning doves, juncos, cardinals, blackbirds and cowbirds, black capped chickadees, blue jays, tufted titmouses (titmice?), nuthatches, sparrows. Also robins on the lawn of course, the harbinger of spring. A Carolina wren (they are such cute little birds) has been nesting in the top of my propane tank just outside my kitchen window. Am still waiting for the Eastern bluebirds to return to their usual nest box. Also due for ruby-throated hummingbird arrival soon and will put up the feeders tomorrow.

With the exception of the cowbirds I'm seeing every bird that you mentioned at, or around my bird feeders here in eastern PA. Although I believe that the juncos have headed north. The downy woodpeckers, nuthatches, and Carolina wrens are attracted to my peanut feeders. I put the unshelled peanuts in those feeders (they have no trouble pecking holes in the shells). It keeps those pesky English sparrows away from them (didn't see as many of them this past winter, or now). I put unshelled peanuts outside of the feeders for the blue jays and red bellied woodpeckers. I used a much lower volume of black oil sunflower seeds this past winter. Perhaps it was because of the mild winter that we're had.

I've been feeding the Choice blend from Wild Birds Unlimited which includes black oil sunflower, sunflower chips, striped sunflower, safflower and peanuts. The number of goldfinches in particular that this has attracted is astonishing. The goldfinches apparently feed in flocks, so there can be 7+ adult males, females and juveniles all duking it out at the feeder, while the other birds wait for their chance to swoop in. An endless source of entertainment. I bought a mealworm feeder and dried mealworms to put up for when the blue birds arrive. I've heard that rehydrating the worms helps with their palatability but am kind of creeped out at the thought...I find them gross enough as it is (which is why I couldn't stomach the thought of feeding live ones...ugh!)

I use black oil sunflower seeds, peanuts, suet (wintertime), safflower seed, & I put peanut butter into the holes of a hanging wooden log (in the wintertime). In the wintertime I put some mixed seed (absent the milo filler) on the ground at dusk for the juncos and small ground sparrows (until the juncos head north in the springtime).

I get just a few goldfinches here for the black oil sunflower seeds. Probably would get more if I put out thistle seed. I have an upside down thistle feeder (keeps other birds away from it) but I haven’t used it in years. It’s a little bit early to put out the hummingbird feeder.

On rare occasion I see a hawk circling my birdfeeders. The birds take cover but the poor slow moving doves most often become the unfortunate victim. On occasion a cat will nab a bird as well. I just read that scattering some citrus peels or sprinkling cayenne pepper flakes might keep them away. I might give that a try.

I do my best to keep the bird feed away from those pesky squirrels with squirrel guards and squirrel proof feeders.

[InvisibleAerobar]

I presume this is a ruby crowned kinglet (I don't think the reddish patch on the forehead is an artifact)? At first I thought it could be a female goldfinch, but this one moves a bit too often.

Due to the bad lighting, sh**ier camera, and the fidgety bird, I couldn't get a good focus on it

I think there's also a warbler or two around; or maybe this was the warbler I saw the other day

[bandoba]

I presume this is a ruby crowned kinglet (I don't think the reddish patch on the forehead is an artifact)? At first I thought it could be a female goldfinch, but this one moves a bit too often.

Due to the bad lighting, sh**ier camera, and the fidgety bird, I couldn't get a good focus on it

I think there's also a warbler or two around; or maybe this was the warbler I saw the other day

Sounds right. See https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rub ... ed_Kinglet.

[Dottie57]

Two pair of cardinals are at the feeder along with red headed finch. Blue Jays on the phone lines looking for a handout of peanuts. A few sparrows.

[JAZZISCOOL]

I presume this is a ruby crowned kinglet (I don't think the reddish patch on the forehead is an artifact)? At first I thought it could be a female goldfinch, but this one moves a bit too often.

Due to the bad lighting, sh**ier camera, and the fidgety bird, I couldn't get a good focus on it

I think there's also a warbler or two around; or maybe this was the warbler I saw the other day

Sounds right. See https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rub ... ed_Kinglet.

Looks correct to me as well. Fun to see "new" birds show up.

[Northern Flicker]

We get a lot of ruby-crowned kinglets in our yard and that is a correct identification. The difficulty is with female kinglets where the ruby crown is missing and it may be confused with a female golden-crowned kinglet. I’ve never seen a ruby-crowned kinglet where the red crown has grown out into almost a rooster comb. Most just have a red cap, maybe all where we live.

Here is some info about window strikes, which apparently kill up to 1 billion birds every year.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/why- ... revent-it/

[Teague]

We are teaching one of our ducks to conduct orchestra. He's coming right along.

Great shot!

What camera and lens did you use?

j

Thanks! This was a Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300 f2.8 shot at f2.8 or f4, I forgot which.

[LadyGeek]

^^^ It was f/2.8. How do I know? The EXIF data is embedded in the file.

Exposure: 1/3200 sec.
Focal length: 270.0
ISO: 400
Nikon D4
Mon, 06 April 2020 04:51:27 PM