A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2004 BIRD WATCHING???

Hi!

I'm an avid bird watcher and have 10 different feeders in my yard. Right now I have a Chick-a-dee family in one of my bird houses. They have been fascinating to watch and hear. The babies are now sticking there little heads out of the hole, they sit there in the hole with their beaks open waiting for mom and dad to drop off their next meal{almost like my kids at the drive thru}
We have many different birds in our area, here is a partial list of the ones Ive seen

pileated woodpeckers
red bellied woodpeckers
downy woodpeckers
tree swallows
whip-poor-will
ruby throated hummingbird
mourning doves
red tailed hawk
great crested flycatchers
blue jays
titmouse
carolina wrens{they have actually gone into my house and looked around}
eastern bluebirds
robins
cedar waxwings
myrtle warblers
rufous sided towhees
pine warbler
cowbirds
goldfinches
chipping sparrow

I am in the process now of learning to identify the birds by their calls.


"A bird in flight is a soul set free"

karen

How wonderful...bird watching/hosting is my newest hobby. I have yet to learn what types of birds are visiting my yard & making it home. I try to snap photos when I can get them & then do a search online or post here to find out what I have:) Birds are so beautiful & fascinating. I would love to have the large variety of birds in my yard that you do. So far I have identified:

mourning doves
chickadees
wrens
bluebirds
bluejays
robins
sparrows
cow birds
seagulls (I live in the 101 lake district of my county. We have 101 lakes within my area, so we get a lot of gulls looking for food...they don't mess with my feeders, but they love bacon grease & kitchen scraps...I often find them eating out of my compost pile)

Hi Chrissy,

I have a book that has been invaluable to me in identifying the birds around here. It's put out by Readers Digest. It's called North American Wildlife. I dont know if its still in publication, I found mine at a flea market for $2.00. You might check your local library also.


Karen

Thanks for the tip Karen...I will check into finding that book...if not at the library, maybe ebay!! Thanks so much

I've been considering buying an oriole feeder. The one I like the best has nectar reservoirs, spikes for chunks of oranges and depressions for grape jam!
Has anybody tried any of these feeders?

I haven't been on here much in the last week and was trying to catch up a little, reading the posts. I was reading back through this one again, and angelia's robin story reminded me of my little brother (well, he's 41 years old, but still my little brother!). Year before last he made friends with a robin. He was walking in town and saw some kids trying to catch it, because it couldn't fly. It had an injured wing. He scooped it up and took it home, and in a few days it was well enough to fly. He lived in the boonies on my mom's farm, so he figured he'd just turn it loose outside (woods). It wouldn't fly away, and every time his door was open, it would fly inside. It spent more time inside than out, roosting on a shelf at night in his bedroom. In the mornings, it would wake him up by sitting on his chest pulling his chest hairs!

gardenmom... I bought Lola one of those nice clocks from the Audobon Society that has actual recordings of bird calls on it. That's how I learned my bird calls! We have so many different kinds of birds out here all the time, so it was hard to tell which one was making a certain noise, and that clock really did the trick! Lola's newest call is the crow. I have an almost tame crow outside that starts calling as soon as he sees me filling the feeders in the morning. He gets something special every morning just for him, and he knows it! He's right outside in the front bird garden several times a day, and every time Lola sees him she starts her "cawww cawww cawww" right in my ear! (For those who don't know, Lola is a parrot that is permanently attached to my left shoulder.)

Yep...that's it...a tufted titmouse...thanks!! I guess I need to go and buy a book so I can identify the birds, huh? I don't know why they are here this year. This is the first time I've seen them! We normally just have the cardinals, sparrows, wrens, mockingbirds, bluebirds, mourning doves, woodpeckers, blue jays, crows and the one robin. Perhaps they're just passing through.
Their visit has sparked quite a conversation at the breakfast table, though. My monsterboys have been watching them avidly for the past several weeks with their new binoculars (bought expressly for the purpose of birdwatching ) and have offerred several ummmm creative(??)opinions as to their existance. My personal favorite was my youngest son's explanation. He came home from school one day all excited because he "knew" what happened to the cardinals (he insists they are cardinals because of the topknot). He decided that they had "mixed" with an Ostrich (don't ask...I don't know why...lol) and would eventually be big enough to chase him around the yard. He was seriously worried that they would peck him eventually and took to wearing a Bob the Builder hard hat around in the yard. He was certain of it. .
Finally his much "wiser" older brother convinced him that they were mutant ant-eating birds and would do well in our yard becase of the many fireant beds we have. He even went so far as to suggest that they would be firebreathing dragons at the finish of their mutation...which was for some reason "cool" to my youngest, and they began to map the evolution those birds have gone through, and will go through to reach the ultimate back yard bird.

I think I'll wait to tell them what they really are, though. They're having so much fun with this, and they'll eventually reach the right conclusion...and be able to "teach Mom"...

That is so cute Your boys sound adorable. I just love the way kids come up with their little stories. My daughter does that too, so did my older kids when they were young. My 7 yr. old's new theory is that because rubbing dandilions on her skin causes her skin to turn yellow it means that she is "part" lion lol I didn't have the heart to tell her differntly either...she is having a ball with it:)

I saw my first hummingbird of the year on Sunday, so Monday night I bought my first ever hummingbird feeder. I hung it outside my dining room window and it only took a few hours for a hummingbird to find it

That's awesome Terry, they are so fun to watch...I hope they start showing up here soon...I can't wait:)

angelia !

oh and pass the tissues!! I LOVED your story.

Loved both your stories. Do you write? Because you have such rich material and they would make wonderful stories! ni

LOL!

I was so enchanted by angelia's story, I forgot what I was going to post!?

Here on my little corner of the lake there is a large flock of white pelicans. They are the most amazing birds! I saw many brown pelicans when I lived at Muir beach. Bit I had never seen white ones.

They are amazing to see in flight, very different from any bird I have seen. What I thought wewre flocks of 13 to 20 birds, I have discovered are about 150 birds. I am so excited by them and I am afraid they are only here for a few more weeks. I cannot find a way to get near enough to take some pictures and I soooo want to.

Birds are a passion of mine. A flock of Albatross camped next to me on the beach in Kauai one summer, while they taught the kids to fly. That was an unbelievable experience.

Does anybody know about White Pelicans?

~de~ni

Hey de~ni...I found this online & I thought you might want to take a look: The White Pelican

Chrissy~

Thanks!

I had no idea they had pelicans at the Ft. Worth Zoo. Although only 3. They must be lonesome. cause these guys are very group oriented!

But I bet I can call the zoo and they will tell me, when they migrate away from here.

I am going to Oshman's this weekend and look at little inflatable boats. Then I can get close enough to watch them better. I want to take some pics, but my LOL camera is an old nikon F3 and I'll prolly drop it in the water!

de ni

You're welcome de~ni My son & husband got a great little inflatable boat for 200 bucks at the bass pro shop online a few years ago. They of course used it for fishing in the swamps & creeks around here, but I loved it to go out on the lakes & get a closer look at the loons:)

I was so excited tonight.....I filled all of my 3 birdfeeders, and birdbath and sat and watched as 2 blue birds appeard, and a woodpecker!!! I called my hubby and said what the heck is that....when he told me a woodpecker I couldn't believe it......we have lots around here, but I've never saw one feed in my yard before....plus I don't usually get blue birds......I get a few red ones, but mostly just sparrows......

This evening I saw an indigo bunting at my tower sunflower feeder. I've had them before on the ground, but don't remember seeing them at the feeder. It was a gorgeous sight what with the other 5 feeding ports filled with goldfinches!

Maybe that's what I saw at one of my feeders the other day. Very small, and the most beautiful iridescent blue! You think so?
I wish my bird ID book wasn't packed up. There was another bird out there yesterday that I had NEVER seen before. It was a medium size bird, with snow white on the underside and head, and jet black on top, with red on it's throat.

Yup, sounds like indigo bunting . The ones I have are a deeper blue than this. The other bird you mentioned is a rose-breasted grosbeak . I don't have any, but my mom has been seeing some at her feeders.

You were right on both!
Thank you!
It's hard to describe a bird on "google"!
I need to unpack my bird books!
Hope I see them again. Now that they know the MotherLoad of bird food is at my house, maybe they'll come and bring the rest of the clan (Kentucky word for "family"!!!).

I thought I'd also share my joy about seeing an indigo bunting when I came home this afternoon. I've never seen one before, and didn't even know they came here. What a gorgeous color!

Unfortunately, the feeder he was on is broken and he was finishing up the seeds on the bottom.
Guess I'll have to run out and get a new feeder soon!

I have been experiencing the unfortunate situation of a robin REPEATEDLY hours at a time slamming into my windows all accross the front of my house. When I told my mom about it, they had the same problem once too and it did it untill it was bloody and half dead. Well my first thought was that it was trying to get inside the house, not understanding that theres glass between us. But then I called my son "the bird expert" and said it was seeing its own reflection and is a male and is defending its territory. He said to try and cover the windows,,,,,,,,,?????? Or put
alot of stuff around to scare him off and hopefully he'll forget or leave. It is just sooo sad to watch!!!!!! He does it constantly all morning and I keep scareing him away, has anyone else ever witnessed this?

O.K., here's where the knowledge of being the neighborhood's "Crazy Bird Lady" comes in!

Your window, to a bird, is like a mirror. It reflects everything OUTSIDE, so it just seems like an extension to the outdoors to them.
Here's a good place to start finding out what you can do about it.
Window Crashing

(After you read this you will know why I don't keep my windows very clean!!!)

Thanks Cindy for more info. But I just can't believe the bird thinks my windows are clean .
And all the windows on the front of the house face a high traffic street. The neighbors will be certain I'm losing it.........again

Hey, I'm the only entertainment my neighbors have!