Birds out your windows

[almondbutterandjelly]

The cardinal thread inspired me.  What birds are you seeing out your windows lately?  I have been seeing egrets (cattle egret I think) just walking around the lawn, and brown pelicans in the water (bay).  Plus the usual seagulls.  

I do miss the forest song birds of my childhood in the midwest.  But the Gulf Coast has its charms.

[marbel]

Daily we see blue jays, crows, various woodpeckers, chickadees, carolina wren, juncos, cardinals. Often but not daily - gold finches, red finches, robins, red tail hawk, cooper's hawk. Rarely in summer - hummingbirds! We are continually trying to improve our plantings to attract more. We also have birdfeeders and put out peanuts for the crows (but the squirrels often beat the crows to them). 

Egrets and pelicans! Would love to see those again. But they'll never visit my yard in SE PA! 

[fairfarmhand]

Chickadees

Sparrows

House finches (I get the goldfinches in the summer when I plant sunflowers)

Cardinals

Doves

Woodpeckers

Hummingbirds in summer

Lots of hawks,

A few weeks ago, my son and I were coming up the drive at dusk and an owl flew across the drive.

[knitgrl]

When there's snow, we see lots of juncos at the feeder. Now that it's 50, I haven't noticed any today. Mostly sparrows.

[MEmama]

Oh gosh. Blue birds, chickadees, juncos, nuthatches (2 kinds), goldfinches, house and other various finches, woodpeckers (pileated, red bellied, downy and hairy), cardinals, blue jays, crows and ravens, hawks, seagulls, bald eagles (flying overhead, obviously, not at the feeder lol), hummingbirds, mourning doves, wrens, the occasional orioles....and so many I'm forgetting and can't identify. There are owls in the hood, but I've not seen one in the yard.

[stephanier.1765]

One day, we had turkey vultures eating cat food on our patio. I'd never seen one up that close. Ugly but interesting to look at. Lots of hawks, blue jays, woodpeckers (pileated, downy and red-headed), Cedar waxwings, warblers, wrens, sparrows, cardinals, starlings, sea gulls, hummingbirds (I have a potted powderpuff set outside my window so I can get close up views of them), mockingbirds aka the jerks of the bird world, crows, egrets, the hateful Muscovy ducks and Canadian geese.

[Melissa in Australia]

Twin 2 found an some egrets nesting in a tree near the house. He noticed parts of small crabs on the ground and looked up. We are very close to the ocean

There was a family of Swamp Quail beside me in the flower garden in front of the house this morning. They are so cute. I think they were waiting for me to finish pulling up some weeds and hop out of their way

Over 10 birds nests are in my flower garden this year.

Birds nesting this spring and summer close to the house  include Bush Wren, Superb Blue Fairy Wren, Fire Finch, Yellow Breasted Robin, Swallows Greater Egret, Willy Wagtail, Tree Creeper, Thrush, Swamp Quail, New Holland Honeyeater, Wattlebirds

In the bush behind us there are   Kookaburras, Magpies, Wattlebirds, Fantails, Frogmouths, Mopokes and other birds that I am forgetting

down by our dam are some Wood Ducks and a Kingfisher

The morning chorus is unbelievably magnificent 

[bookbard]

Lately we have noticed a bush turkey rummaging around under the trees. They can dig really big holes so fortunately it only pops around occasionally. 

On a regular basis we see cockatoos (yellow-tailed black cockies, also white cockatoos), rosellas, king parrots, sometimes rainbow lorikeets and occasionally gang-gangs. We see kookaburras, magpies and currawongs regularly. Swamp hens and ducks pop up from the dam. For little birds, we have blue wrens and fire finches, honeyeaters of various types, willie wagtails and fantails. 

1 hour ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Twin 2 found an some egrets nesting in a tree near the house. He noticed parts of small crabs on the ground and looked up. We are very close to the ocean

That is very cool. One time I was walking down the paddock and saw a whole lot of passionfruit - I looked up and the tree was full of white cockatoos who were taking turns to fly into the neighbours place, steal a passionfruit and fly back to my house to eat it, as though they were protected once across the border fence! We are in the mountains, far from the sea - for some reason I had imagined you were out west somewhere. 

[*****]

Sadly, we have had a whole lot less birds the last 2 winters.  Like, I saw 1 flicker at my suet feeder this winter, just once.

Usually we have nuthatches, juncos, sparrows and chickadees in the winter also.  But nope!  I'm glad to hear ya'll have them because I was beginning to think it had to do with global warming (we hardly had any bees last summer, too).  But there were acres of woods thinned around me 2 years ago, so I am hoping that is the cause.  At least there is hope they will be back as the trees reforest themselves. 🤷‍♀️

We do have eagles, blue herons, sandpipers, hummingbirds, quail, turkeys, etc.  in the summer though.

[Laura Corin]

I participated in the Great British Bird Count a few weeks ago. That day I saw bluetits, crows, a wood pigeon, European blackbirds and a migratory Fieldfare. I commonly see greattits, coaltits, long-tailed-tits, European robins jackdaws and mistle thrushes. Seagulls follow the plough in the field over the wall and I occasionally see a sparrowhawk. Once in a while, a woodpecker visits.

[Pawz4me]

We have lots of little birds that I don't know the names of (sparrows? wrens?). Cardinals are probably our most common feeder birds. It's normal for us to have six to ten at our feeders at any given time, but especially early morning and late afternoon. Lots of chickadees and finches, various types of small woodpeckers and other clinger types, doves. We have three crows who visit a couple of times a day.

[Rosie_0801]

Throughout the year there'll be lots of bloody sparrows, magpies, crested pigeons, bloody Indian mynahs (next door won't fix his eaves so they nest in his roof,) a pair of bloody blackbirds, currawongs, crimson and Eastern rosellas, blue wrens, silvereyes, New Holland honeyeaters, red wattlebirds, king parrots and sulphur crested cockatoos.

Down one end of the street we get galahs, but they almost never come up to my place. At the other end of the street, plovers, but they almost never come up to my place either although I got home the other day to find one walking right through the middle of the intersection (I'm on a corner.) There are kookaburras along the creek, which is about two blocks from my place, so we can hear them when they're in a laughing mood. Sometimes there are Willy Wagtails on the nature strip of the house opposite mine, but they never seem to come over to my side of the road. He mows more often, perhaps that's why.

There's also a koel bird that shows up every year. Last year he spent weeks beginning his mornings, before dawn, in a tree in my backyard. That was unpleasant and I was glad when he moved further off, but we can all hear the bugger no matter where he is in town. Apparently this town is a lousy place to pick up if you're a koel bird. He's dark coloured and sits high up in trees, so no one ever sees him.

[HomeAgain]

I live in Thorton Burgess' backyard, so you can imagine the variety I get here.  I love it.  The other day we were woken by a very excited owl perched in the pine tree.  Sometimes I get a murder of crows swooping in for a family reunion.  The tiny cardinals and sparrows have found homes in the cone shaped decorative trees outside the living room window. The woodpecker likes to play rhythm games with the neighborhood kids.  He matches the pattern they tap out on the trunk next to his favorite dead tree.  My favorites are the turkeys.  Bold little creatures who know exactly which neighbors offer treats (not us) and which yards are not treated with pesticides (that would be ours). They're pretty laid back for birds, or they're just pretty dumb.  I'm not sure which.  I only ever have an issue with them when they exercise their authority over the road.  It's not uncommon to see one wander back and forth a few steps, blocking traffic, until they decide to pick a side.  Even then it's not a guarantee they won't wander right back to the middle again.

[MEmama]

3 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

Throughout the year there'll be lots of bloody sparrows, magpies, crested pigeons, bloody Indian mynahs (next door won't fix his eaves so they nest in his roof,) a pair of bloody blackbirds, currawongs, crimson and Eastern rosellas, blue wrens, silvereyes, New Holland honeyeaters, red wattlebirds, king parrots and sulphur crested cockatoos.

Down one end of the street we get galahs, but they almost never come up to my place. At the other end of the street, plovers, but they almost never come up to my place either although I got home the other day to find one walking right through the middle of the intersection (I'm on a corner.) There are kookaburras along the creek, which is about two blocks from my place, so we can hear them when they're in a laughing mood. Sometimes there are Willy Wagtails on the nature strip of the house opposite mine, but they never seem to come over to my side of the road. He mows more often, perhaps that's why.

There's also a koel bird that shows up every year. Last year he spent weeks beginning his mornings, before dawn, in a tree in my backyard. That was unpleasant and I was glad when he moved further off, but we can all hear the bugger no matter where he is in town. Apparently this town is a lousy place to pick up if you're a koel bird. He's dark coloured and sits high up in trees, so no one ever sees him.

Once again the Aussies win for most creative and fun sounding names! 

[Laura Corin]

3 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

Throughout the year there'll be lots of bloody sparrows, magpies, crested pigeons, bloody Indian mynahs (next door won't fix his eaves so they nest in his roof,) a pair of bloody blackbirds, currawongs, crimson and Eastern rosellas, blue wrens, silvereyes, New Holland honeyeaters, red wattlebirds, king parrots and sulphur crested cockatoos.

Down one end of the street we get galahs, but they almost never come up to my place. At the other end of the street, plovers, but they almost never come up to my place either although I got home the other day to find one walking right through the middle of the intersection (I'm on a corner.) There are kookaburras along the creek, which is about two blocks from my place, so we can hear them when they're in a laughing mood. Sometimes there are Willy Wagtails on the nature strip of the house opposite mine, but they never seem to come over to my side of the road. He mows more often, perhaps that's why.

There's also a koel bird that shows up every year. Last year he spent weeks beginning his mornings, before dawn, in a tree in my backyard. That was unpleasant and I was glad when he moved further off, but we can all hear the bugger no matter where he is in town. Apparently this town is a lousy place to pick up if you're a koel bird. He's dark coloured and sits high up in trees, so no one ever sees him.

I had to look up what a galah was when I was listening to one of Jane  Harper's books.

[KungFuPanda]

45 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Once again the Aussies win for most creative and fun sounding names! 

I couldn’t tell if those were the names or if Rosie was mad at half of them 🤣

[Innisfree]

Just now, KungFuPanda said:

I couldn’t tell if those were the names or if Rosie was mad at half of them 🤣

Same 

[Lady Florida.]

OMG a bird thread! I love birds but didn't always appreciate them or have the ability to identify them. That started when our very first (pre) homeschool activity was identifying the birds at our feeder and in our yard. Ds now 26 was 4. It gave all of us a lifelong interest in birds.

 

I miss the songbirds we saw daily at our old house in the city where I grew up. We regularly saw cardinals, woodpeckers, blue jays, catbirds, yellow-rumped warblers, tufted titmouse, and so many more. In winter we saw migrating birds. Twice a year we had robins visit our yard on their way further south and then back north. We also had many mockingbirds, mourning doves, blackbirds, and crows. Each year we had migrating red winged black birds too. We often had white ibis on our lawn looking for bugs (natural pest control since they love to eat grubs). 

Four years ago we moved just 40 miles south and in the same county but the land is so different. There's more wetlands here and therefore fewer forest type trees. I've been learning to appreciate the differences. I see more wading birds. We get ducks and sandhill cranes walking through the back yard. (Also, not out my window but it's common to have to stop when driving somewhere to let the cranes cross the road). I see wood storks, roseate spoonbills, both snowy and great, anhingas, and several types of herons. We do have mockingbirds and loggerhead shrikes, Carolina wrens, and some sort of sparrow I haven't been able to identify but hear it chipping often. We hear but rarely see barred owls and will see the occasional red shouldered hawk. Again not outside my window but driving around we often see osprey nests atop light poles. It's fun to see little baby osprey head popping up looking for mom or dad. This time of year we see bald eagles sometimes on a neighbor's rooftop. Once in a while I get lucky and see the elusive brown thrasher hiding under a hedge.

I live in a birder's heaven. We have several local wildlife refuges where one can see wintering birds. We have a sanctuary where you can walk around and see endangered scrub jays. I see birds outside my window but I also can't go anywhere, even to the grocery store without seeing a bunch of cool birds - herons, egrets, and sandhill cranes by the side of the road and ospreys flying around or sitting on a light pole.

[Rosie_0801]

4 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

I couldn’t tell if those were the names or if Rosie was mad at half of them 🤣

I am mad at half of them.

[YaelAldrich]

Wild turkeys. Mean, ornery, nearsighted birds. We can't touch them by Massachusetts law. So they terrorize people, animals, and even cars! 

[KungFuPanda]

30 minutes ago, Rosie_0801 said:

I am mad at half of them.

🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂 🕊️🦅🦆🦜🐓🦉🦃

[bookbard]

8 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

There's also a koel bird that shows up every year. Last year he spent weeks beginning his mornings, before dawn, in a tree in my backyard.

Deep sympathy for you. We call it 'the alarm bird'. We had one for a while too, fortunately not now. They're so mournful and persistent. The other bird like that is the Wonga-Wonga pigeon. I love them, but whenever they're apart, it sounds like the world's ending for them. 

[MEmama]

47 minutes ago, YaelAldrich said:

Wild turkeys. Mean, ornery, nearsighted birds. We can't touch them by Massachusetts law. So they terrorize people, animals, and even cars! 

I think worst is in the fall when turkey hunters walk along the roads and in fields casually holding scary looking rifles; then we have to worry about turkeys being flushed out AND armed people aiming at them. Ugh.

[Lady Florida.]

We see wild turkeys off the side of the road in some undeveloped areas. Usually it's on our way to the Orlando area.

[Rosie_0801]

45 minutes ago, bookbard said:

Deep sympathy for you. We call it 'the alarm bird'. We had one for a while too, fortunately not now. They're so mournful and persistent. The other bird like that is the Wonga-Wonga pigeon. I love them, but whenever they're apart, it sounds like the world's ending for them. 

I am so sad now. 😭

[Melissa in Australia]

We get Koel's as well, but like the sound. they are only here for a few months

[stephanier.1765]

19 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

We see wild turkeys off the side of the road in some undeveloped areas. Usually it's on our way to the Orlando area.

Us too. It's usually the only time I see deer too, even though I see the occasional deer sign in our area. The only time I see alligators on the side of the road is on our way to Tampa, even though we have plenty of those around.