1. The Mourning Dove by the rounded head and belly and the Blue Jay by the crest.

2. The Downy Woodpecker, the Red-bellied Woodpecker, and the Northern Flicker. All have red and black. The Downy has the black and white on its wings like the Red Belly but has a small red spot more towards the top of its head while the Red Belly has more of a red cap. The Flicker has a red spot behind its head with the black as a collar in the front of its neck with black spots on its wings and chest.

3. The House Finches sit in the feeder and eat. The Titmouse takes its seed to a branch to crack it. The Mourning Dove is strictly a ground feeder.

4. The Ruby Throated Hummingbird is a real joy to observe! Of course by size you can mistake them for a large bug. Their green backs, white bellies, and red patches at the throat are iridescent and actually flash and sparkle in the sun. The female is larger than the male with no red markings.  They come to my feeders from late April until they migrate south sometime in late September or early October. They feed at either flowers, a feeder, or both. When they are at the feeder they flit around it feeding, sometimes taking a rest on a tree branch then either darting off or resuming feeding. Occasionally you can hear the hum if they fly by close. I have actually had them hover by me and observe me! Despite their tiny size the males are very territorial and I have seen them do battle with other males. They can hit each other with a surprisingly strong thump that you can actually hear.

Activity 1: I love this silhouette photo of a bird that landed on the boat tour in downtown Chicago. Merlin knew the shape! But I also saw his red epaulettes.



I was happy with the quizzing on beak size to distinguish Hairy and Downy woodpecker. I feel like I have a good handle on that now.



Activity 2: The three birds picture all have a spot of red, but in different places. I had never seen / noticed a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak before - that was a great find at my new feeder.



Activity 3: I watched a sandpiper sp. picking at the shore, a woodpecker (downy) at the suet feeder, and a heron waiting for a fish.

Activity 4: Living where I do, the Carolina Wren is common. It sings a very loud tweedle-tweedle-tweedle that I now hear everywhere. It was one of the first songs I learned to recognize, and it is pretty unmistakable. It is a smallish bird with attractive markings, including its signature white eyebrow, which is usually easy to see in its darker brown top. It has a slightly curved beak, and likes my seed feeder.

The Carolina Chickidee was small, bold black chin triangle, fast quick head bobs and tilts. Loves sunflower seeds and feeds in vertical feeder.

Red tailed hawk: Probably female was incubating her eggs or chicks in a nest made on a street adverttizment. She was constantly looking to her right and left for other hawks or predators.

Mourning dove in NY: Flywd to horizontal feeder and feeds maimly on sillit and small yellow seed. More slow actions. Small down curved bills.

Activity 1: White Ibis vs Egret - the Ibis is distinguished by its curled beak, while the Egret by the length of its neck and straight beak.

Activity 2: Brown headed cowbird, red wing blackbird, common grackle - all black (males) but with the color differences that their name suggests.

Activity 3: I watched an Anhinga come up out of the water with a fish in its mouth, immediately harassed by a Great Blue Heron and a Tri-Color Heron for its catch.

Activity 1:  On a bird cam, I observed mourning doves and cardinals.  They both have very distinct shapes.  Mourning doves have rounded heads and large rounded breasts.  Female cardinals are a similar color but have a prominent crest on their heads, orange beaks, and are smaller.

Activity 4:  My favorite bird is the great blue heron.  It can be identified by its huge size, its blue and grey color pattern, and its behavior of wading to look for food.   I think part of why I love it so much is that it is so easy to identify, and it is plentiful in my neighborhood right next to a river.

Activity 1: American Crow and Common Raven. Though they’re both black corvids, the crow has a fan shaped tail while the raven has a diamond shaped one. The raven also has a thicker bill than the crow’s and is a larger bird overall.

Activity 2: Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, and Tufted Titmouse. These birds all have black, but the cardinal has a black mask, the chickadee has a black cap and bib, and the titmouse has a black patch above its beak.

Activity 3: In the woods, I saw a Downy Woodpecker tapping on a tree to eat the bugs within. Over at my feeders, Tufted Titmice grabbed sunflower seeds and quickly flew away to eat them while a Northern Cardinal ate her meal perched at the feeder.

Activity 4: My favorite bird is the chicken. They’re large, plump, ground-dwelling birds with red faces, wattles, and combs. Chickens come in a variety of breeds and colors, males being flashier and with longer feathers than females who have duller, rounded feathers. They live all over the world on farms and in backyards and are kept for eggs, meat, and even as pets. They communicate through clucks and squawks and live in groups.

Activity 3:

I watched nuthatches, sparrows, and sapsuckers look for did today. The sparrows scratched and pecked at the ground, while the nuthatches and sapsuckers climbed trees and poked them with their beaks.

Activity 1

Used Cornell Lab Birdfeeder Live Stream from Sapsucker Woods.  I noticed a male cardinal and could identify by using color. I know the males are vibrant red. The females only have a bit of orange coloring. A female visited the lower feeder stand later in the watch. The second bird that came to feed was a pair of mourning doves. I used their bobbing head motion and cooing call to help me identify.

You are right about Merlin. I've been using the app for several years and now I rely on it less and less and can use my knowledge to successfully identify many common birds.

Activity 4:

The Cape Wagtail is a rather small bird with a short neck and medium-length tail. It's larger than a Cape Sparrow, but smaller than an Olive Thrush. It has grey-brown upper parts and white underparts with a dark breast band. I see it a lot in urban areas in gardens and on rooftops. I've also seen it on the beach. It is an active bird and frequently wags its tail up and down. They feed on small insects that they catch on foot on the ground or in the air.

Activity 3:



This Cape Bulbul was jumping around, picking berries from the branches of this bush.



This Cape Robin-Chat was foraging for food on the ground by pushing aside leaf-litter with its bill.



This Common Greenshank was wading around in the water near the mouth of a river. It would walk around, inspecting the water, and dip its bill to search for food.

Activity 2:



The House Sparrow, Cape Sparrow and Cape Bunting are all similar in colour (brown, black, grey and white), but can be distinguished through the markings on their bodies. The following are some of the most notable differences.

• The House Sparrow has a white cheek, the Cape Sparrow has a black cheek, and the Cape Bunting has black and white facial stripes.


• The House Sparrow has a grey crown, the Cape Sparrow has dark greyish brown colouring on top of its head that goes down to its nape, and the Cape Bunting has a brown striped pattern on top of its head that connects with the pattern on its back.


• Both the House Sparrow and the Cape Bunting have brown and black striping on their backs, while the Cape Sparrow's back is chestnut brown.


• Both the House Sparrow and the Cape Sparrow have black chest patches, while the Cape Bunting does not.

Activity 1: I saw two birds with very recognisable shapes in this area. The first was the Cape Spurfowl. The Cape Spurfowl is a chicken-like bird with a large, round body and smaller head. The second was the Cape Sugarbird, which is a songbird with a completely different body shape. The most distinctive parts are its long, curved beak and the long tail feathers of the breeding male.

Cape Spurfowl:



Cape Sugarbird:



 

 

Activity 1: Robin (Erithacus rubecula) and Blue T (Cyanistes caeruleus)

Activity 2: Eurasian Bullfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, European Goldfinch. They all have rich red markings, respectively the chest/belly, a patch on the nape/lower belly, and and a red mask/face extending behind the eyes.

Activity 1 and 4. During my home morning bird-watch, I was able to see two very different birds by shape. The common Raven and the Black Phoebe. Size was also a factor, I love looking at the pair of Black Phoebe's near our pool daily. They are very predictable and I know they are around by sound and where they will perch near the pool and grass to get insects. The Phoebe's tail twitch was present. The Ravens large shape and call are very recognizable. I was also able to see the ravens flight pattern to distinguish it from a crow. The Raven will also get food from the feeder and also any other source, a very opportunistic bird. Of the two birds the Black Phoebe is my favorite.

Activity 1: Mallard and Bufflehead. I remember noticing the Buffleheads for the first time last winter (I’ve only lived along this river for a few years) and their proportionately bigger and rounder heads would make them clearly different even if I couldn’t spot the difference in colors. I’ve known Mallards my whole life, Merlin says the Buffleheads can be found in bays, estuaries, reservoirs and lakes in the winter; I live along a major river which I guess is close enough.

Activity 2:
House Finch (red on it’s head), Red-Breasted Nuthatch (self explanatory, and I love these guys), and Red Tailed Hawk (also self explanatory). I ID’d my frist House Finch this past fall using Merlin, I actually took a photo of it and used that to ID it because I felt like somebody would question my having seen such a brightly colored bird in the woods half an hour from where I live. All the pictures in the entry looked right, and the call sounded right, so I learned something new!
I ID’d a Red-Breasted Nuthatch on vacation 500 miles from home, and consulted Merlin to make sure they really did hang out where I was, and that I hadn’t mistaken some other bird for a species I always enjoy seeing.
Finally on Tuesday I was in a large urban park and saw a back-lit raptor in flight. I pulled up Merlin without lowering my eyes completely away from the bird… and it’s tail shone clearly red just before it landed. I grew up watching these things participate in the circle of life in my backyard, so of course I knew what it was, but I double checked that there wasn’t anything else like it around.

Activity 3:
Today I saw, and then didn’t see, and then saw again, Buffleheads looking for food in the river next to where I live. When I first started noticing them about a year ago I would think “I swore I saw a bird there, but nothing flew away.” Since then I’ve had the opportunity to watch them dive quite a bit.
There were a lot of Dark-Eyed Juncos on the ground pecking in the snow in one of the more wooded areas along the river. The snow isn’t deep, so they may not be pecking very far, but I also noticed they kept close to bushes and I wondered if seeds had fallen off the bushes and into the snow, especially because some of the bushes still have berries on them.
While I’ve obviously seen Mallards before I don’t think I had ever really watched them with the intent to witness a specific behavior before, and was prepared for them to go butt-up. To my surprise, they were far more interested in walking along the ice at the edge of the river and pecking at it! I’m guessing it was in their interest to weaken the ice, or maybe eat bits of food trapped along the top of it, but it was neat to see something new about an animal I’ve known about my whole life!

Activity 4:
Barely smaller than a sparrow, and more streamlined in profile. Orange belly, black crown and mask, blue-gray wings and back. Climbing upside-down along a tree branch towards the trunk.
It’s interesting that they’re called ‘Red-Breasted' Nuthatches when their bellies really do look orange.

Activity 1: Andigena nigritrostris (tucan) and Ara Ararauna (guacamaya)

Activity 2: Melanerpes cruentatus, Thamnophilus doliatus, Myrmotherula cherriei. They all have black and white stripes, but they have different body shapes and totally different life habits.

Activity 3: I have a palm tree, it is in fruit just now, it attracts the Yellow Oriole, and Common Tody-Flycatcher, also have a lot of Saffron finch in the grass, they look for the grass seeds.

1. American Gold Finch & American Crow

2. Downy woodpecker, Red grosbeak & Cardinal red markings.

3. American gold finch on thistle, white breasted nuthatcher on a tree trunk, Dark eyed junco on the ground.

4. It would be hard to pick a favorite but I do particularly love Ravens for their antics & personality. Solid glossy black, medium size larger than crows, very social birds playing & seemingly speaking to one another with their interesting variety of clucking croaking calls & sounds. I've seen them mostly in wooded areas near lakes scavengering fish & clams. I resort I go to in Northern Minnesota had one as a pet for several years that would land on our heads or should, very friendly.

What are "chirps"?

ACTIVITY 1: ID 2 Birds by Shape. /////  BIRD 1: Mourning Dove.  GROUP: Pigeons and Doves. SIZE: As big as an American Robin  SHAPE: Neck: longish/thin;  Head: Small in proportion to body;  Bill: thin, de-curved;  Body: chunky, large; Legs: short;  Tail: longish, pointed, thin.  /////   BIRD 2: House Sparrow.  GROUP: Songbirds/Sparrows.  SHAPE: Neck almost none at all; Head: Large; Bill: stout; Body: stocky with head, neck and body very compact; Legs: short; Tail: short. /////

ACTIVITY 2: ID 3 Birds with same Color but on different parts of body. Color: Red ///// BIRD 1: Downy Woodpecker.  GROUP: Woodpeckers.  BODY PART with COLOR: Nape has a Patch of red. Rest of body is black and white. Only the male has the red patch.  Females have NO red patch and body is black and white.  /////  BIRD 2: House Finch GROUP: Songbirds/Finches and Buntings.  BODY PART with COLOR: Face, Upper chest is splashed with Orange-Red. Rest of body is brown, gray, and off-white. Only the male has this coloring. Females have NO red-orange coloring. Body color is the same brown, gray, and off-white.  ///// BIRD 3: Northern Cardinal   GROUP: Songbirds/Finches and Buntings.  BODY PART with COLOR: Bright red over entire body, including a red bill. Only the male is brilliant red. Females are muted orangish-brown and buff. /////

ACTIVITY 3: ID 3 birds  Searching for food. ///// Bird 1: Blue Jay GROUP: Songbird/Crows and Jays. Jumps from branch to branch of an Oak tree searching for acorns and/or insects. Will stop to thoroughly search before moving on to another part of the tree. /////  Bird 2: White-breasted Nuthatch: GROUP: Songbirds/Tree Creepers. Searching for insects on trunk of mature hardwood tree. Climbs downward, head first.  /////  Bird 3: Great Blue Heron. GROUP:  Wading Birds. Slow walk/Stalking in shallow fresh water pond. Stops and remains still for long periods of time, while scanning the water for fish, amphibians, etc.

ACTIVITY 4: Favorite Bird: Song Sparrow. (Melospiza melodia)  GROUP: Songbirds/Sparrows.  ///// Size and Shape: Sparrow-sized, small. Barrel shape overall with chunky body, large head, and short neck. Tail is long. Bill is thick and stout. Legs are long.  /////  Color Pattern and Markings:  Dominant colors include browns, grays on chest, back and wings. There are touches of black, white, and copper-reds on back and wings. Depth of colors can vary with time of year as well as among individual birds.  Markings: Thick, bold streaks of brown on gray-white upper chest, sides and flanks.  Large dark brown spot in center of upper chest. Face from cap to throat is complex series of brown/copper-red and gray-white stripes, with throat whitish framed in dark brown.  /////  Behavior: Perches on thickets and sings. Forages on the ground near thicket edge and will retreat to the thickets if danger is perceived. Can be seen foraging with other species of sparrows such as House Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow.  ///// Habitat and Range: Can be seen anywhere in North America.  Likes being near water such such as ponds, lakes, coves, and beaches. Likes bushes,  thickets, hedgerows – anything with thick cover.   /////  Sounds: complex sound of chirps, tweets, trills and buzzes. Likes to sing from perch.  /////

Fun Facts: There are 25 subspecies with 52 names (Birds of the World).  When identifying Song Sparrows are most easily confused with Savannah and Lincoln’s Sparrow. Song Sparrows are found from northern Alaska to Mexico.  Where I live, the subspecies I see most often is the Atlantic Song Sparrow. In North America, the largest Song Sparrow subspecies is the Aleutian Song Sparrow. The Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia maxima lives in Aleutian Islands. Research shows that sparrows get bigger as latitudes get higher (Heisman, 2025; Carbeck 2023). Leonard (2023) cites the Bergman’s Rule that organisms that regulate their own heat, natural selection in colder climates leads to larger bodies; in warmer climates, natural selection leads to smaller bodies which allow the organism to stay cooler. Sparrows that live in the Aleutian Islands can be as much as three times larger than those living in coastal San Francisco (Leonard, 2023). Song Sparrows take on so many forms across the continent because Song Sparrows adapt easily to local conditions (in high latitudes they are bigger; in deserts they are lighter in coloring and markings, etc.) (Heisman 2025).

References:  Guide to Sibley Birds 2nd ed.; Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America; Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of North America;  “The Secret to Song Sparrows’ Extraordinary Success in their Genome” Heisman, R. 2025; “Local Adaption May Buffer Some Birds Against Climate Change” Leonard, P. 2023.

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Why I Chose the Song Sparrow as my Favorite Bird:  My husband and I bird at the same State Park weekly. For the past 2 years, I have seen the same Song Sparrow perched on a thicket near a briny cove, singing away. I am always happy to see him.  Photo of this little guy taken by my husband June 6, 2025.

1. I often spot Starlings and Spotted Flycatchers sitting on the electrical wires outside just based on their shape, even when they are silhouetted by the sun, and I can't make out any other details. 2. TBD 3. Yesterday I was in a wooded field, and I saw dozens of European Goldfinches (ID'd using my binoculars and the Merlin app). They were sitting atop these swaying reeds, hunting or foraging. Later, in the car, I saw some birds from a distance doing the same thing, and I was able to identify them as the same kind of goldfinch based on the flash of color I saw, but mostly their behavior and habitat. 4. My favorite bird in my region is the Eurasian Blue Tit. It's a small bird, smaller than the Great Tit, and has a vivid blue color. Whenever I've seen one, it has been on a tree branch. Its song alternates long, piercing notes and a fluttery trill.

1. We have a few feeders in the yard and the house finch is probably the most common, but we also have the smaller black-capped chickadee that we love to see. 2. Over the last few weeks I've been able to identify the crow, raven and the starling which are all black birds. 3. Have not been able to see birds searching for food other than the hummingbird flying around the front looking for flowers. 4. As mentioned the black-capped chickadee is my current favorite bird. It's a small bird with white and black markings. It flies in quickly to the feeder to grab a seed and then flies away. It's sound is pretty clear too.

1.  Frequent visitors to our feeder are cardinals (male and female) and house finches.  The distinctive shape of the cardinals heads make them very easy to identify.

 

2.  The cardinals and house finches that visit our feeder and the red winged blackbirds that live at a nearby pond are easily identified by the red that appears on different parts of their bodies.

 

3.

 

4.  I don't have a favorite, but I am very fond of the killdeer.  It is about robin sized, has two very distinctive black bands around its neck and upper chest.  Its overall coloration is light brown and buff or white.  I usually encounter them at a pond nearby or at a large marsh.

Buenos días ,estoy siguiendo este curso desde España.Lo disfruto mucho.

Cuando era joven atrapaba busardos ratoneros  ( si, atrapaba) para jugar a ser biólogo.Lo alimentaba a base de ratones en el desván de mi casa,lo pesaba ,lo fotografiaba y al tercer día lo liberaba.

Mi amor por las aves se creó en esa época,pero sigo sin poder distinguir en vuelo un milano (Milvus migraña) de un ratonero (Buteo buteo) y  un águila  real ( Aquila chrysaetos) de una imperial ( Aquila adalberti)

Con este curso ,tengo claves para lograrlo.

Dos aves muy parecidas y frecuentes en mi zona son: Mirlo acuático europeo ( Cinclus cinclus) y el mirlo común ( Turdus merula).Mientras el primero lo encontraremos cerca de los cursos altos y medios de los ríos ( incluso  zambulléndose) el común lo encontraremos en zonas habitadas,jardines,campos y arboledas.

Tambien se distinguen  el mirlo acuático por su canto ,un suave “tik,tik,tik,tsrrttt” siendo en el común un “chac,chac “ y un “ tsiiii” agudo.

Vivo en una zona costera atlántica,actualmente debido a un problema de   botulismo paralizante nuestra población de gaviota patiamarilla (Laurus michahellis) ha descendido un 70%!!

En honor a ellas mi pájaro favorito hoy es la gaviota patiamarilla