Actividad 1 Las aves que encontre y pude distinguir por su forma fueron: Carpintero Andino (Colaptes Rupicola), y el Vencejo Andino (Aeronautes Andecolus), Actividad 2 Los tres pájaros que encontré que tiene el mismo color en diferentes partes del cuerpo son: Jilguero Vientre Amarillo (Spinus xanthogastrus) que tiene Capucha oscura, pecho amarillo, y alas con parches amarillos Jilguero (Spinus Atratus) que tiene pecho y capucha oscuro, alas oscuras con parches amarillos, cola interna amarilla Jilguero Lomo amarillo (Spinus Uropygialis)  que tiene capucha oscura, pecho amarillo alas oscuras con amarillo Actividad 3 Los tres pájaros que encontré buscando comida son: Pichitanka (Zonotrichia Capensis), que busca su comida en el suelo ya que como granos Picaflor Verde (Colibri Curuscans), que busca su comida en las flores tubulares ya que se alimenta del néctar de las mismas Vencejo Andino (Aeronautes Andecolus) que busca su comida volando ya que se alimenta de pequeños insectos. Actividad 4 Picaflor Cometa (Sappho Sparganura), Tamaño y forma:  de tamaño pequeño, tiene la cola mucho mas grande que los demás picaflores y el pico es más pequeño que el del Picaflor Verde (Colibri Curuscans) Patrón de color y marcas: Mascara oscura, pecho verde, cola larga con color tornazolado naranja, rojo y puntas de las plumas de la cola oscura Comportamiento:  Volando cerca a flores tubulares y posándose en los arboles cercanos a estas flores para cuidar su territorio, generalmente percha y se alimenta solo. Se alimenta del néctar de las flores, aleteo rápido.

Activity 1:  Definitely a Robin has a different size shape from a Blue Jay. Activity 2:  I saw three different woodpeckers at my feeder-the red headed woodpecker, the red bellied woodpecker and the downy woodpecker.  And I thought a woodpecker was a woodpecker! Activity 3: Most of the birds I am watching--cardinals, finches, sparrows, blue jays, woodpeckers, wrens and thrashers-- are eating from my feeder--eating me out of house and home!  But robins definitely like the worms in the yard and the little humming bird is enjoying my hummingbird feeder. Activity 4:  I think my favorite bird is the robin because I had the opportunity to watch the couple build their next on our gutter downspouts, take turns caring for their nest and feeding their babies--they definitely were a team!  Unfortunately something got to the nest before the babies could fly. :-( But I've learned they will rebuild their nests and try again!  My second favorite is the cardinal because it is so beautiful--red is my favorite color--and they have a nice sound.

Activity 1: On the Cornell FeederWatch Cam, I identified a Red-winged Blackbird and a Mourning Dove, which are easily distinguishable because of their different shapes. The Red-winged Blackbird has a short neck, a slender body, short legs, and a medium beak that is straight. The Mourning Dove has a short neck, short legs, and a medium beak; however, it has a rather chunky body and it’s beak curves slightly downward. Activity 2: Three birds I have seen that have black as a part of their colour pattern are the Black-capped Chickadee, the Bluejay, and the Northern Cardinal (all males). The Black-capped Chickadee has a black crown, a black throat, a black beak, and some black in the primary feathers of the wings. The Bluejay has a black beak, a black necklace, a black eyeline, and black wing-bars. The Northern Cardinal has a black circle surrounding its beak and extending to the throat slightly. It also has a hint of black in its wing feathers. Activity 3: On the Cornell FeederWatch Cam, I observed three different birds eating from the feeders. The Common Grackle stood on the edge of the feeding trough, horizontally, and swiftly dipped its beak down to retrieve some seed, repeatedly. The Red-bellied Woodpecker also ate from the trough. It kept its beak close to the surface of the trough, pecking at the food with its beak several times before lifting its head. The Mourning Dove sat in the trough and rapidly swivelled its head up and down as it ate. Activity 4: My favourite bird lately is the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I am trying to attract one to my backyard with a hummingbird feeder I bought, but so far I have had no such luck. It is a very small bird; smaller than a finch. It has a long, thin beak that is about twice the width of its head. Its legs are so short that they can hardly be seen. It has a ruby red throat, a green cap, and a white chest. According to my Birds of Ontario field guide, it is present in my area as a breeder from May to August and as a migrant from mid-August to mid-September.

Activity #1.  I don't have a comparison by shape, but I've been noticing shapes of Phoebes and Sparrows in my yard.  I watch the Phoebe's tail for "wagging " when it lights, which it often does on the lamp post or a branch.  The round little Sparrow hops around on my driveway.  It's either a Song or Chipping, not sure which.  I can't see it all that well. Activity #2.  I compared the Sparrows and the House Wren, both mostly brown.  I've only seen the wren once, though I've heard it quite a few times.  The Sparrows have black and white stripes on their heads and wings, and I noticed a bright almost orange cap on the head (chipping?).  The wren is brown all over. Activity #3.  Within the last few days I've seen the Robin walking around on the driveway pecking at this and that.  The Sparrow hops and does quick pecks.  the Phoebe flies around and I don't know how it gets it's food.  It's a flycatcher, so there you go. Activity #4.  Today my favorite is the Red Eyed Vireo.  I was hiking, and I kept hearing its cheery song above me.  I've been hearing it a lot on my hikes.  I finally spotted one without binoculars.  It was 20-30 feet up in the understory of hardwood trees, occasionally hopping from branch to branch.  It's a bit smaller than a Robin.  It seemed cheerful, and it moved around quite a bit.   It was white below with some yellow on the sides of the belly.  It had a grey cap and a black eye stripe bisecting white stripes.  The back is yellow mixed with gray.   (I didn't see all that without binoculars!). Red-eyed vireos winter in South America, and spend the breeding season much of th eastern US and some of Canada.

I have found paying attention to shape to be helpful to distinguish between white-breasted nuthatches and mountain chickadees in my backyard. While there are definitely distinct differences in markings and behavior, the coloring is similar enough and the birds in my backyard seem to be moving all the time making it harder to catch those differences! One thing I noticed that was really helpful to distinguish between them quickly, even in movement, was the shape of their bill. The chickadees have a much smaller bill than the nuthatches. It has really helped with split second identification!

4. A favorite bird, perhaps partly because we can see it easily in this season in southeast Michigan, is the Tree Swallow. It has an extensive summer range in North America but migrates south for the winter. The Tree Swallow seems to be mainly an aerial forager, and it flies (with a glide) over meadows and fields to catch insects. It has very distinctive color markings, including a blue iridescent back and a clean white front and a black mask around its eyes. This bird (a male) is atop a nesting box at about 9 am, June 7, at Matthaei Botanical Gardens (University of Michigan).    

Activity 1: We've had a lot of European Starlings, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Grackles around here. From a distance they just look black, so I go by the overall shape, specifically tail length compared to body. Activity 3: Recently I've seen the feeding habits of American Robins, Northern Flickers and White-breasted Nuthatches. The first two were ground feeders, while the nuthatch did its feeding on a tree. As an aside, several weeks ago I saw a Belted Kingfisher at a nearby pond doing it's thing. Not the quietest at the buffet line. Activity 4: White-Breasted Nuthatch: Small (and I always find a bit rotund), distinctive band across the head (not quite a full cap), and a distinctive tree climbing behavior.

I looked around my house and was able to take photos of and ID a Northern Cardinal and American Robin.  I used my camera because I don't have binoculars yet––and I learned how much of a challenge bird photography is!  I'd love to get better at it.  I used the Merlin app to identify them by color (both have red and black) but I think the app distinguished them based on behavior.  The robin was on the ground while the cardinal was on a branch.

i used Merlin yesterday to identify a bird i had never seen in my yard before.  It was a ground feeder , black and gray and i identified it as a gray catbird.  exciting

I googled live bird cams in my area. Who knew??  The live eagle cam captured an anhinga (water fowl) in the water below the nest.

Activity #1: I'm not very good  identifying birds by shape, but even I can tell a Northern Cardinal from a Robin based on shape! Activity #2: For the colour activity, I chose three birds that we see in our backyard that each have some red on them. Male Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers have red on their forehead and throat. Female Northern Cardinals have red on their beak, crest, wings and tail. And male Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks have red on their throat and neck. Activity #3: Today I watched a Nuthatch feed by going headfirst down a trunk. A Goldfinch ate seed from our feeder. And a Robin pulled a worm from the ground. Activity #4: I took a walk this morning through a large town-owned field that has nesting boxes for Tree Swallows. These beautiful birds are about the size of a sparrow. They have stunning iridescent blue backs, while their underparts are white and their wings look black. They are very fast and agile flyers, swooping to feed on flying insects. To me, their song is a very high-pitched chirp that reminds of a piccolo.

Activity 4: Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) - Smaller than a Mallard but larger than a Bufflehead - Diving duck -  Both male and female have a small white dot well behind the eye as well as a large white spot that extends down were the eye is until the base of the bill - Males are mottled with orange, blue, and white -Females are mainly a dull light brown 

Activity 1: birds I can ID by their shape.  Mourning doves have a distinctive shape especially when compared to the many finches and sparrows commonly seen in my neighborhood; their long tails and small heads are their most recognizable features.  On the other hand, a robin is much more proportionate; its tail is neither long nor stumpy, and its head looks like the right size for its body. Activity 4: describing a favorite bird using mulitple strategies.  A red-winged blackbird looks like what it's called: solid glossy black overall, with a squarish patch of red on its "shoulder" or the top of its wing.  I always think of it as an epaulet.  :)  It's around the size of a robin.  I see and hear them in areas where different habitats come together, for instance on the edges of a field or meadow that's bordered by trees, or in the tall grass in and around ponds or wetlands.  The males are often out and about while the females stay undercover.  It took me forever to figure out that the small brown birds darting through the high grass around the pond in a favorite local park are not sparrows but female redwinged blackbirds.  Their song is somehow both shrill and guttural, and I've seen it phoneticized in field guides as "kon-ka-REE," but recently I realized it also sounds uncomfortably like "quart-an-TINE," lol.  My favorite thing about their song is when I can hear multiple birds calling and responding to one another, for instance when I'm walking down a long straight path and I can hear them "telegraphing" to one another up and down the path.

Activity 4.  My favorite bird.  Probably the cardinal!  Size smaller than robin but larger than a sparrow, red and black markings, wonderful whistle calls, to name one, and suburban habitat..

.  Activity #1.  Telling two birds apart by shape. Woodpecker... downy vs hairy... a brief visit at the feeder today included a slightly larger woodpecker... Definitely a male hairy. His size was considerably smaller than a downy but nowhere near pileated or red bellied.  We’ve had downys off and on, but this gentleman was larger.   activity 2. Food finding behaviors. Watched the male goldfinches vie for a rug on the feeder.  So interesting to watch them push each other away.  A couple of females behaved similarly...waiting on top of the feeder pole for one to leave the wrung hummingbird passed by the nectar feeder for a go at a pink and red potted plant!   crows... are there grubs in the lawn?

For activity #1, I decided on the California Scrub Jay and the Black Phoebe.  I could tell them apart because the Scrub Jay had a long body and a thick, long bill, and the Phoebe had a small body and short bill.  For activity #2 I chose the House Finch, Acorn Woodpecker, and the Spotted Towhee.  The House Finch has red on its breast, and sometimes on its head.  The Acorn Woodpecker has red on its cap, and the Spotted Towhee has red on its wings.  The Spotted Towhee's coloring is more orange than red, but I will still include it in my list.  For activity #3 I chose the Oak Titmouse, the Mourning Dove, and the Common Raven.  The Oak Titmouse will peck at wood with an uneven tapping, the Mourning Dove will peck at the ground for food, and the Common Raven will hunt for food.  For activity #4 I chose the Oak Titmouse.  The Oak Titmouse pecks for food on tree branches, is small and has a brownish-gray crest, and is brown, gray, and white.  These tools have helped me so much on my birding journey and I notice them more and more every time I see a bird.  Thank you for this course!

The Joy of birdwatching!! I just connected with the Sapsucker Woods birdcam for the first time, and have immediately become addicted... :) When we see birds, it is usually flying overhead, or flitting through tree branches, or landing on the ground and taking off again. Seeing groups of them do this, and repeatedly.... is wonderful and very helpful in identification and behaviour observation. So I also did it.... repeatedly.... about five minutes per observation. And most of the birds were the same every time, but very varied: starlings, grackles, red-winged blacbirds, a blue jay, a mourning dove and various types of woodpeckers. I thought my biggest identification difficulties were with sparrows (I'd just about given up...) but now I realize how many similar but different types of woodpeckers there are. I think I saw three types: a hairy(?) and-or a downy(?), and possibly a red-bellied.  The other thing that surprised me was how civilly they got on together when there were many different species, and how argumentative they became when it was just the blackbirds. I wonder whether that is because they are aware that they are similar species (are they?) and see each other as rivals, but know that a mourning dove or a woodpecker is not. I took a screen shot and will try to append it... Now back to the webcam live.... :)

American Robins have a pretty distinctive silhouette, as do Northern Cardinals. Two very similar birds I see often in my yard are European Starlings and Grackles. Both are medium-sized birds with irridescent black feathers. However, Starlings have yellow beaks and legs, while Grackles are dark all over.

Since it is pouring out my feeders and yard are really quiet, so I checked out the BirdCams. Ironically the feeder cam at Cornell was empty also despite their diverse food offerings, but it looked a bit stormy there too. So I went to a hummingbird feeder in west texas that was swarming with what appeared to be all one species hummingbirds. Using Merlin Bird ID the black-chinned hummingbird came right to the top of the list and was obviously the correct match. MAGIC! If anyone likes to offer advise, I could use help with some frustrating experiences trying to ID bird. For instance, yesterday in urban Seattle I got a long, clear look at a bird and heard it sing its song repeatedly but could not for the life of me find a match using Merlin or any of my 5 field guides. Granted it was a really nondescript bird: a bit smaller than a sparrow, fine-bodied like a warbler with a straight, medium-length tail and a fine bill. No wing bars or other distinctive markings other than a faint-line above the eye. Was perched in a dead tree about 20' up singing a 4-note, minor-key song with rhythmic spaces between. The bird that physically matched most closely was a warbling vireo, but the call was not even remotely close to that recorded for the WV. I've had these experiences a few times and get a bit frustrated. Mind you I could really use a better pair of binoculars and maybe a camera other that my iPhone 5 :  )

Activity 1: I'm pretty sure we're getting both downy and hairy woodpeckers at our suet feeder. I'm basing this on size (hairy woodpeckers are larger than downys,) and the shape of the beak (hairy woodpeckers have a beak about as long as their heads, while downys have a shorter beak.) My Merline bird ID app helped me with this, although it says hairy woodpeckers are uncommon in my area (a semi-rural setting in Northern Virginia.) Downys are common here (habitat). I've also noticed some interesting behavior with the downy woodpeckers. A male and female have been coming to the suet feeder, and the male feeds the female. Does anyone know why they would do this?

Activity #1  I looked at the Pileated Woodpecker cam. Saw both male and female feeding. Never saw them that closely before but now I see the red on the male's cheek clearly. Also saw what I think is probably a male Brewer's Blackbird flitting in and out. Pale yellow eye, iridescent plumage and rounded tail often diamond shaped. I've only seen them in winter plumage before with less iridescence.  Flocks of them used to land on my lawn in Powell River, BC, Canada mixed in with Red-winged and a lot of Starlings.  They came around Christmas Bird count time so we used to go looking for them to add to our count.  This year, I've seen lots of Starling flocks but very few Brewers with them and no Red-wings.  I wonder if both the Red-winged and Brewers numbers are down and why?

Activity#1 - in our backyard I saw a robin and a hummingbird -  easy to tell apart. activity #2 - I saw 3 black birds outside - a grackle, a starling and a cowbird. Grackle has an iridescent hood, cowbird has a brown hood and the starling has speckles of yellow throughout its body. activity # 3 - mourning doves search on the ground for food; hummingbirds feed at the nectar feeder; yellow finch feeds at seed feeder. Activity #4 - the goldfinch is a small bird, about the size of a sparrow. The male is bright yellow with black markings on its wings. When flying it dips and swoops, intermittently flapping its wings. phew! I think I covered all the activities!    

I am enjoying these activities, as they have helped me think about identification strategies I'm not prone to using. For reference, I'm located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, near a river and small wooded areas, so most of my sightings and activities have been regarding birds typical of this area. Activity 1: Two birds I can easily tell apart by shape are blue jays and mourning doves. Activity 2: Three birds that share the same color on different parts of their bodies are cardinals, red-wing blackbirds, and red-bellied woodpeckers. Activity 3: Behaviors of 3 birds searching for food: white-breasted nuthatch climbing down a tree, robins grazing on the ground, and eastern peewee flying out and back from a branch. Activity 4: I saw a cedar waxwing this weekend and here's how I identified it: First, I noticed it was perched high in a treetop in a grove of old-growth trees (behavior, habitat), its yellow belly visible from below. I initially considered it may be a type of warbler, but it was roughly the size of a robin (size), and in particular the yellow tip of the tail gave it away (markings). The crest and black mask only served to confirm my ID. Later that day, I recognized the high-pitched whine (sound) while outside my house and saw that three cedar waxwings decided to visit a large oak in my yard!

Activities 1-3:  During a walk last week, I noted around 4 grey-colored birds.  2 of them were mourning doves - which seem to be quite prevalent this Spring.  I already knew the shape/appearance of the morning dove.  But the other birds were very beautiful and I hadn't really noticed this type before (at least not close up).  Using the Merlin app, I discovered they were cat birds.  This was quite a surprise.  I didn't realize they were so beautiful. Regarding food foraging, on the same walk (if I recall correctly) I saw some robins in their typical worm retrieving behavior.  And I noticed quite a few house sparrows flittering in the grass and others just hanging out.  There were a mix of males and females - and although sparrows are quite common by my complex, the black bibs on these really stood out.  I went back to my field guide and identified them as house sparrows - which made me feel good because sparrow identification is definitely not my strong point (yet).  I realized I have much to learn about sparrow identification.   Recently, I was awoken by a very loud drumming of a woodpecker.     Although I did not see the bird, I imagined that perhaps this was the same pileated woodpecker who visited a month or so ago, just based on the loudness of the drilling.  But that is probably not alot to go on, as drilling even from a smaller one can be louder than expected.  We get alot of them in the trees by my apartment.

Apparently the system does not like the association of "e-r-e-c-t" and "stance" together that were used to describe the fact that the nuthatch does not have the same posture as other perching birds.