Wild Birds

[Karen]

We put out seed for the wild birds all winter, and all year round. I love seeing them, the little juncos hopping about, we have a growing group of mourning doves, and cardinals, bluejays and nuthatches.

What wild birds do you see near you?

[Vette]

Winter birds i see often here in Washington are bald eagles. ravens. turkeys. sometimes chickadees an red an blue cardinals.
we used to put a cup or two of dog food out for the cardinals but they dont really show up anymore so we havent done that in a long time.

[Alysser]

We see tons of birds all year around, but typical winter birds include Dark-Eyed Juncos, Chickadees, Titmice, Eastern Goldfinch, Fox Sparrows, House Finch, Purple Finch, Song Sparrows, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Blue birds, Cedar Waxwings, Cooper's Hawks, and quite a few Bald Eagles! At the park I work at we also get many waterfowl species including Common Mergansers, Grebes, American Coots and my favorite, Common Loons!

At school in the Adirondacks we see tons of Bald Eagles and lots of Kinglets!

[pomtzu]

About the same here - what Alysser said.

I especially love the cardinals - males to be more specific. They look absolutely striking against a new fallen snow.

[Karen]

I can't believe I forgot to list the sparrows! Plenty of those as well!

[Taz_Zoee]

We have a lot of birds that I don't know. But the ones I do know are here at work we get scrub jays and mocking birds. Other little birds too. I have also seen some falcons hanging out looking for food in the large field near us.
At home we have our hummingbirds and lots of little birds and sometimes big black birds.
Also around my work area there are wild turkeys.

Other animals I see at work are cottontail rabbits and jack rabbits, coyotes, foxes and squirrels. I will be sad when we have to move our office close to the mall. :(

[Karen]

We have a lot of birds that I don't know. But the ones I do know are here at work we get scrub jays and mocking birds. Other little birds too. I have also seen some falcons hanging out looking for food in the large field near us.
At home we have our hummingbirds and lots of little birds and sometimes big black birds.
Also around my work area there are wild turkeys.

Other animals I see at work are cottontail rabbits and jack rabbits, coyotes, foxes and squirrels. I will be sad when we have to move our office close to the mall. :(

Hopefully you will be surprised, and still see at least the birds, particularly the falcons!

[mon]

We have a lot of crows, starlings, chickadees, stellar jays(very loud ones) hawks, eagles, owls, hummingbirds and bushtits. There are some I cannot identify. We're in the lower mainland, B.C. Canada.

[mon]

There's lotsa woodpeckers too.

[mon]

Oops, I forgot the seagulls! They are every where.

[mon]

Ducks, grouse, quail and geese too! Okay I'll quit, there's way to many to remember:)

[Karen]

Ducks, grouse, quail and geese too! Okay I'll quit, there's way to many to remember:)

If I drive a bit, I can see ducks and geese, but not in my back yard! They are in the reservoir, the river, the lake ... any body of water is more exciting to them than my humble back yard!

[Freckles]

When we see seagulls here in Portland, we know it's storming on the coast.

[Karen]

When we see seagulls here in Portland, we know it's storming on the coast.

When I was a kid growing up an hour west of here, when we saw a seagull, we know someone was just plain lost! I am only 12 or so miles from the coast here!

[mon]

I have never seen a cardinal before. They sure are beautiful, would love to see one. We have loons too and apparently there have been quite a few golden eagle sightings recently. The older I get the more appealing bird watching becomes. Found a pheasant in the back yard once, I think it must have been someones pet that flew off. Maybe got scared around dinner time :eek:

[Freedom]

I fed the birds every winter for the past 14 years. this year I have yet to get the feeders out and filled. And I have the seed, from last year!

[mon]

Forgive me, forgot about the pigeons! I think I really like this thread, thanks!

[mon]

Yes, sometimes it is hard to keep up with cleaning them and filling them. I got 10 lbs. of seed this year, the squirrels eat all the sunflower seeds out of it but the birds don't seem to mind. Have to make hummingbird nectar and clean the feeder every 3 to 5 days. It's SO worth it for me and the cat loves watching them ;)

[Karen]

Yes, sometimes it is hard to keep up with cleaning them and filling them. I got 10 lbs. of seed this year, the squirrels eat all the sunflower seeds out of it but the birds don't seem to mind. Have to make hummingbird nectar and clean the feeder every 3 to 5 days. It's SO worth it for me and the cat loves watching them ;)

Do you have hummers year round there? I know some of BC is far more temperate than we are!

[Alysser]

I was never able to get Hummingbirds to the backyard but we get plenty of the Ruby-Throated hummingbirds at work. I live in a very suburban neighborhood currently, so that might be why.

[Karen]

One thing I have noticed during these last cold weeks is there is very little squabbling between the squirrels or between the birds or anything! Everyone is just so intent on getting enough to eat they leave each other alone!

[mon]

Yes, we have humming birds here all year 'round. I first noticed them at Harrison Hot Springs resort Hotel near Chilliwack. We stay there sometimes in the winter. They have about 7 or eight feeders outside in front of the lobby windows all year long. They were there in the middle of winter when there was snow on the ground. Everyone thoroughly enjoys them. I set out my feeder here in Surrey for at least a year before they actually came 'round. Hope springs eternal :D Now they are regulars, yipppeeee

[mon]

Sorry, forgot to say that it is very temperate here in Surrey. Very mild winter this year, snowed lightly for 1 hr. so far.

[Miss Z]

I see a far greater quantity of birdlife back at my family home than I do in my student home, which is surprising as it's far more rural in my current location! Down south, we get visits from a greater spotted woodpecker, and I see red kites over the farmland relatively often. Jackdaws prevail here! My favourite visitors are amongst the mammals - muntjac deer and the local foxes.

Back in Lancs, I've seen at least three species of owl in the past year's worth of visits - tawny, barn, and I think a short-eared owl passing through.

[Karen]

Back in Lancs, I've seen at least three species of owl in the past year's worth of visits - tawny, barn, and I think a short-eared owl passing through.

Wow, fun! Growing up we heard owls and saw their castings far more frequently than we saw the owls themselves! There are apparently a bunch of Snow Owls at Boston's Logan Airport, someday I will make that drive over to see if I can see them!

[Bonny]

We found a seed block for birds at our local farmers coop & it works great for the ground feeding birds. The block is the size of a salt block used in feeding livestock. I am amazed at all the birds that take advantage of the block & fly down from the branches of the tree above the block. We put out suet block feeders in the crab apple tree & have attracted the red headed, downy, red bellied, & hairy woodpeckers. Then on the deck we put peanuts out every morning & the blue jays come flying in along with some of the woodpeckers. There are plenty of sparrows too that help themselves.

In our area the Decorah Eagles have been working on their nest. Yesterday, I walked a good mile north to a local eagle nest & saw 5 eagles. Two pair were flying around & landed in a tree. It is that time of year for them to be picking mates. When I got to the eagle nest it had been built up & one of the eagles was perched in a tree next to the nest. Gotta love this time of year. By the end of February the eagles should be laying their eggs.

[Karen]

Aww, that sounds really cool! The eagles here are usually out by Quabbin Reservoir, we get hawks above the highways, though!

From today's observations:

Sparrows wheel and spin
Graceful ballet as they dine
Elegant feasting

Papa cardinal
Scarlet breast proudly on show
Ignores the hubbub

What small price birdseed
Costs compared to the theater
Outside my back door