Joy of Birdwatching

I just saw my first owl in the wild yesterday.  I don't use my binoculars very often but I had them with me. I was sitting under a tree on a bench overlooking hillside grassland on edge of forested area.  A hummingbird was making a commotion in the tree so I looked up and saw a smallish bird high up in the tree sitting very still. I looked through my binoculars and the owl turned and looked at me with his penetrating yellow/ black eyes.  I used my guide when I got home to figure out it's a northern Pygmy- Owl.  Maybe I'll become a real birder yet! My favorite bird around the neighborhood are the blue birds.  We don't have many of them so it's treat when I see a pair.  Such a pretty bright blue.

Long standing favorite is probably the Black Capped Chickadee.  It is so friendly and brave and small.  I hear they warn others of trouble in the neighborhood and they are the first to return to feeders after trouble has past.  There is a place in a park near by where the chickadees are so used to visitors, you can feed them from your hand!  In reality, I love them all, especially the first time I see a new bird.  I'm training my husband to get excited as I do and he is great to have along now.  I don't always find them in the trees very well so having extra eyes is nice too.  I recently got the app: BirdNET to help me identify bird songs.  It is a favorite of mine now.  (I hear Merlin has something like it now.) I helps to know what you are looking for!

I saw a grey fantail for the first time in my courtyard at home in Victoria, Australia. This is one of my favourite birds as the fly so beautifully and often don't mind coming close to humans. I've also seen them in Tasmania and in New Zealand where they are known as NZ fantails. I would love to see a rufous fantail, hopefully I can add that to my life list this coming summer! Fantails are songbirds, also know as Passeriformes. I think fantails may also be classified as a flycatcher, but I'm not certain as I'm pretty new to classifying birds! What do others think?

Activity 1:  Favorites on Bird Wall:  Atlantic Puffins because they are so cute & Przevalski's Rosefinch because of the beautiful plumage color. Activity 2: European Starling (saw in my neighborhood). Semipalmated Sandpiper & Great Egret (saw both in DeKorte Park, Lyndhurst, NJ). Activity 3: House Sparrows because of their persistence in building a nest in the eaves of our house this year, and for successfully raising their young, even though they were quite noisy neighbors throughout the process! They are gone now but won't be forgotten.

These are three images that I took recently.  The first one is the Great Crested Grebe (waterfowl).  The second is an image of storks  (wading birds) who are migrating.  The last one is a Great Spotted Woodpecker (woodpecker).

So looking forward to learning more about birds!  I've been a "bird feeder bird watcher" for many years, and have tried to identify all of the birds I see around our property, located in a riparian area in Oregon's Willamette Valley . . . but there is one that has really stumped me.  I've only seen them in the early morning--by 8:00 or 8:30 at the very latest, they're all gone.  I've never gotten a good look at them because I don't have binoculars (yet!) and they are too far away to see well; but what I have seen is:  about the size of a robin (maybe a bit smaller); with a pale (possibly yellow or chartreuse?) breast, mottled dark brown or black and white back/wings/tail.  Their most distinctive trait is their behavior:  they make short, diving/swooping flights over the river, apparently scooping up the hordes of small insects that hover in clouds over the water, and finish each flight by perching briefly on a tree limb or downed trunk, usually quite a bit higher than the river surface.  Quite a few will be feeding (?) like this at a time, but they don't hunt cooperatively:  it's every bird for him/herself!  After reading this lesson I wonder if it's some type of flycatcher?  I haven't been able to detect any song or characteristic call.  Any ideas?  I just downloaded Merlin, but I can't get close enough for a photo and ditto for bird calls.

My husband has built a fabulous haven for birds with feeders and bird baths nestled in and around shrubs and flowers.  The birds love it, and there is nothing more relaxing for me than sitting on our deck and watching the birds come and go and observing their behavior.   I have gone from “that’s a pretty bird” to really wanting to know all about birds.  Everyday we get to see many types of birds,and every now and then we see one we haven’t seen before - that’s very exciting.  I have even come to appreciate the grackles and mourning doves, which were not exciting to me at first.  The more I learn about birds, the more I realize how much more there is to know!

A few months back there were seven white pelicans thermalling over my neighborhood street.  It took me a bet to figure out what they were, until they started banking and the sun caught their brilliant white with black wing tips.  I just gazed in awe at them for as long as I could see them. Saw a single turkey vulture thermalling over a nature center about two weeks ago. Today, it was a red tailed hawk doing likewise. What must it feel like?  Magnificent!!!

Activity 2: The bird groups that I have around me are the songbirds like the House Sparrows and American Robins where many times I would see sparrows come up to my feeders and the Robins exploring in the suburbs. I would see raptors in the sky while I am driving around such as the Red Tailed Hawk and also Turkey Vultures. Once in awhile I would see a Bald Eagle sitting up high in the tree. And the third bird group I see are the Doves, specifically Mourning Doves. Many times a pair of Mourning Doves would hangout and sit by my feeders from access seeds that fall onto the ground and the doves at dawn would be on top of my roof making their vocal sounds.

Activity 3: my favorite bird is a tough question. So many. The painted bunting for its colors, hummingbirds because they are so small and fast, spoonbills and avocets for their interesting bills, ospreys and hawks in general for their power and strength, forked tail kite for their signature tail. And thats just off the top of my head.

Activity 2: outside in my area i can find 1) shorebirds like the sanderling; 2) ducks like mallards, moscovy, and wood; 3) songbirds like cardinals and warblers; 4) wading birds like herons and egrets.

activity 1: I really liked reading about the extinct elephant bird on the wall of birds. Its a real shame people caused its extinction like so many other animals. To see a bird that large would make the ostrich seem small. And who knows what we could be doing with a giant docile bird like that.

I really love red-winged blackbirds.  I once saw one at the salt marsh struggling to fly back and forth between two trees for no apparent reason in very, very strong wind.  I thought, "He's such a New Yorker."

One of my favorite all time birds is the Green Heron. I have seen them often on a trail in Wisconsin. They have such beautiful colors.

Our family was recently in SC/GA area and spotted a family of wood storks.  They're prehistoric and awesome to watch.  This one was sitting in a tree near a path we were traveling on.  Son and I were quite excited! :)

The cedar waxwing is one of my favorite birds. One, because it was the first bird that I ever identified.  And two, because I think it is just a stunningly beautiful bird.  

I live in Massachusetts near the ocean and saw a Bald Eagle flying over the Merrimack River. It was much closer than I have ever been to a wild Bald Eagle, and it was truly amazing. One of my other favorites is the Brown Pelican. I was recently on vacation in South Carolina and learned that Pelicans skim the water in groups to herd fish closer to the shallow water. I thought that was a fun fact. My 11 year old son is taking this class with me, and he loved seeing the Little Blue Heron and Anhingas in South Carolina. The picture is an Anhinga.

Near where I teach, there is a field where these little burrowing owls live. One actually flew into my room one day! Recently they’ve attracted some attention as a parade of photographers with impressive gear took turns setting up their equipment to capture their images throughout the day. I love these little guys, it is remarkable to have these birds living among us and being able to observe them nearly every day.

• One of my favorite birds is the Blue Heron.  I often see them on the water hazards of my golf course.  This Heron was fishing in Swift Creek at Ritter Park.  My dog was quite interested in the large creature in the water!

Wandering albatross, Diomedea Exulans, and the Yellow-billed Magpie, Pica Nuttali, are two of my favorites within the Wall of Birds. I live in California’s Central Valley and have encountered several family members of the Yellow-billed Magpie. My favorite is the Jay, specifically the California Scrub Jay. What makes this bird my favorite is when I am in my backyard. While hearing and observing them each individual bird shows its own personality unlike other bird species.   Image. California Scrub Jay. National Audubon Society.

I live near a river and at the edge of walnut orchards so I get to see a lot of wild life. This is a shot of one ospreys that have a nest that I have been observing while on walks. I watched them last year every day while we were in lock down as well as when they returned this spring.

On my first bird walk I saw two birds from the Finches group, an American Goldfinch and a Northern Cardinal; a Red-winged Blackbird from the Blackbird group; several Barn Swallows and two Tree Swallows and a mating pair of Orchard Orioles. I am not sure at this point in the course what group the Swallows and Orioles are in but my best guess is Other? I think all of the birds mentioned above are my favorite at the moment because I am so delighted by being able to ID them. I can’t wait to return to the wetland where I observed them and watch more of their behavior.

I have been enjoying my backyard bird feeder and one thing that I notice is the Male Northern Cardinal seems to feed the Female. I have heard that this is very common. It seems that the Male feeds the Female as a way to attract her.  

I recently was on a field trip to Deland Florida and was able to capture many photographs of the Swallowed-Tailed Kite. It is one amazing bird that swoops down on the water to take a quick drink. We had they "kettle" above us in large groups and circle down to our location. It was an amazing experience to see them!

I like redwing blackbirds, common grackles, and cowbirds. During late spring and early summer I love to watch robin hatchlings grow up.

This is a royal spoonbill I saw in a pond not far from my house - I live in New South Wales, Australia. I just love the shape of his bill and his yellow-red eyes!  

I watched this little guy digging in my mulch looking for bugs.  I believe this this is a Northern Flicker.  He has a red spot under his chin/beak area.  He didn't make a sound (too bad because he has a nice call).

I hear this bird singing every morning in front of my neighbor’s house.  Out of curiosity, I used the sound ID trying to identify what kind of bird it is.  The result was an White-crowned sparrow.  But I am sure if it is the bird.

Just started but have identified 15 birds so far. I live in an urban area and most are at the feeders in the front yard (I love my Downy Woodpecker).  There is a nature preserve near  me with a lake. Saw a Great Blue Herron and. Barred owl.

Activity 1: Living in Malaysia, I couldn't avoid voting for the Hornbill! Their behaviour during breeding is incredible (the female remains enclosed in a natural cavity while the male provides food for her and the chicks). The Rhinoceros hornbill actually figures on the coat of arms of the state of Sarawak (on which the upturned curved "casque" on the hornbill's bill is somewhat exagerated!). I wanted to share the image here, but wasn't confident re copyright status.

I have recently become fascinated with birds. As a retiree, I now have the time to pursue varied interests, and birds are definitely one of them. My wife has always had bird and hummingbird feeders, but we recently installed an advanced pole system in our backyard. As our subdivision is heavily wooded, we are drawing quite the traffic! I really enjoy sitting in the backyard and watching the feeder with my Merlin Bird ID app always ready to snap a picture. Thus far, I have twelve birds on my list. My favorite is the Pileated Woodpecker. We also draw quite the traffic in Downy Woodpeckers. The picture that I have included is from the five acre lake in our subdivision. This is the second year in a row that a family of geese have taken up residence. They started out with five goslings and it looks like three are going to make it to adulthood.

Just Amazing. I was in Cornell last week . Found this online course . Great and thankful

I just moved into a new house that is a little less urban than where I was living.  I had been noticing a female Baltimore Oriole and so I put up a feeder with jelly.  I now have a male that visits the feeder every day!  They are gorgeous.  I like the Wall of Birds to show my 7th and 8th grade science students.

• I live in a farm and we always have birds in the backyard or by the ponds.  We have feeders in the backyard  year round because my husband has been serious birder for a few years and I’m learning a little from him.  Unfortunately, my vision only catches the bright colored birds.  With the pandemic this year, I got interested in bird photography hence the photos.  The 1st photo is a Short-eared Owl that came to stay with us from November to March.  One day, I was determined to get a photo inching my way to where it was perched by the fence and it allowed to me to get as close as maybe 4 feet in front on it.  There were w of them and they usually came out to hunt around 4 PM.
• The 2nd photo is a Ruby Throated Hummingbird.  They are mostly the ones that come our way.  I love the way they buzz when they come to the feeder, they have their drink, look around then go perched somewhere then they come back and do the same thing.
• ‘The 3rd photo is my all time favorite bird- Painted Bunting.  Like I said earlier, colors attract my eyes and this bird has all the colors I love.  We have been fortunate to have a few, nests at home so they are here from spring to about August.  I usually hear one singing in the backyard.

I picked two of my favs of recently. The Barred Owl is my favorite bird so far. When I found him it was in the woods and he was watching me before I was watching him. When the bins landed on him it was a jump for me as I did not know an owl was there. I thought it was a vulture lol. The Eastern Phoebe was a small, fun, cute bird near a lily pond and he posed for me for a bit and let me practice with my camera, which was awesome, as I am new to birding and wildlife photography.

In this not so clear picture, is a Phainopepla! My favorite bird that I've seen in my neighborhood. When I first got my field guide and saw this bird, I thought I would never get to see such a cool bird where I live. Then to my surprise one day, I look up at one fly catching from this tree! I have never seen this bird in my life, and it was right there. It's large crest, red eyes, and black body are really cool to look at and that is why it is my favorite bird.

For the last year or so in the PNW, I kept seeing 'Blue Jays' and didn't realize that they were in fact Steller's Jays. When I see them there is usually a group of 2 or 4 that hang out together making noise. I enjoy watching them play (if that is what they are doing) and like their boldness.

Here in the Pacific NW, the first visitor to our new feeder was the  Chestnut - Backed Chickadee.  Being new to birding, it was SO exciting to see a few of them gathered at the feeder at one time.  I didn’t realize how messy our new feeder would be but, by the next few days, found quail scurrying around the feeder base as well.  Enjoy those seeds, y’all.

Hi, we have whippoorwills at our house in the mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania. (I'm listening to one right now as I type!) I had never seen or heard them before moving here about 7 years ago. I moved from near a lake in a valley about 30 miles away, but despite being relatively close, I still never heard one. They instantly became my new favorite bird, and still are due to their unique call, their litheness, and their cuteness! Amazing how such a little bird can create such a big sound! They're tough to get a picture of since they only come out at dusk and dawn. But, a couple times, when standing in our front yard in the evening, I've spotted one, and have had one or two swoop past me, around me, and do what appeared to be mid-air somersaults! I'm looking forward to learning more about them. I'm guessing they're in the songbird group? I look forward to hearing them late springtime every year!

Yvonne Activity 1.  We needed to pick a bird and expand on it:  I've chosen the songbird,  Red Cardinal.  It has a beautiful song and sits on my porch railing and serenades me in the mornings.  There are several different bird feeders on my deck with various bird feed in them.  The Red Cardinal seems to enjoy eating out of more than one.   I didn't know it liked cracked corn until I read about it.  It really does like it and seems to visit it often.  Of course it is a beautiful red color with distinct black markings.  Really brightens up my day.        

This is a photo I took of a Eurasian Green-winged Teal at a nearby park. Waterfowl are my favorite birds; the common merganser is my 'spark bird'; the one that inspired my passion for birding.  I was on vacation at a lakeside house on the Oregon coast one chilly November and noticed that there were a lot of ducks. Then I looked a bit closer and said 'hey...those look like different kinds of ducks.' And there was a pair of binoculars and a Sibley's guide on a table by the picture window that opened onto the lake...and that was that.

Reminder: For those doing Activity 2 and exploring birds online our Bird Cams are always hopping. Besides the live footage there is also plenty of fascinating archived footage.   Some interesting recent videos:

• Dazzling Variety of Birds Visit Panama Fruit Feeder Cam
• Western Tanager Feeding Frenzy in West Texas with Scott's Orioles, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and an Acorn Woodpecker 
• Family Time at the California Condor Nest 

An interesting video that teaches you the common species found at the Panama Fruit Feeder Cam   We hope you all keep enjoying birds!

This is a dark eyed junco nest that a mom made in a wreath that I have hanging on my front door! I have just recently moved back into my rebuilt home that was burned down to the ground in the 2017 CA fire. There were no birds here when we first moved back, but as I have put up bird feeders, baths and landscaping has come back, so have the birds. I think of this as my baby bird miracle. The only problem is we can't use our front door, LOL, but so worth it.

Hi All, I really loved looking through the Wall of Birds and also through your posts. The Common Loon call reminds me of my childhood at the cottage and is still one of my favourite birds. It was nice to hear it again! Yesterday at a local park and pond I saw several Wood Ducks (Waterfowl), a White-breasted Nuthatch (Songbird) and two Downy Woodpeckers (Woodpecker).  I had planned to just go for a little bit, but four hours later I told myself I better go home and take a break. Anyone else find that time just flies (pun intended..haha) when birding? About a month ago I set up a bird feeder on the window of my work-from-home office.  After a few weeks, I was starting to get discouraged and wondered if I'd ever get any visitors. Last week some American Goldfinches discovered the feeder and they've been keeping me company ever since. I love watching how they arrive in little groups, each taking a turn at the feeder and looking for it when it's been knocked over by a squirrel.

The Wall of Birds is amazing! I very much enjoyed clicking on all different sizes of birds and reading about them, even those that are extinct. I particularly like the Cassowary and the Shoebill. Their appearance is fascinating! I saw many birds today from the different groups in this lesson. Three that I saw are red tailed hawks, house finches, and Anna's hummingbirds. I just love watching birds, and listening to their sounds as well! It's hard to pick a favorite bird but I have to choose a bird I saw for the first time yesterday at my feeder, a black-headed grosbeak. I was so excited to see a new bird at the feeder! There was a male and female and they came back to the feeder today as well. They are beautiful and have such big beaks! I also want to mention how much I enjoyed reading the posts from other bird lovers out there. It's awesome knowing there are so many people who get excited about birds.

Hi, I am Karcsi. I am 12. I love the local white breasted nuthatches that come to my feeder.

Our feeders and our neighbor's feeders bring in lots of birds. One of my favorites is a pair of Carolina Wrens. They actually nested in one of our deck side flower boxes last year. Before that, I had never even heard of them, let alone seen one. I am hoping they do the same this year. (Songbirds) Another favorite is Downy Woodpeckers. We have a male and a female that visit both our tube and suet feeders daily. I also had not heard of or seen a Downy Woodpecker before I started watching the feeders. (Woodpeckers) And lastly, I have always enjoyed Mourning Doves. We have between one and four that visit each day, picking up seed from beneath the tube feeder. They look elegant and make a wonderful cooing sound. (Pigeons and Doves)   Carolina Wren almost ready to fledge last spring.

I have found birds mostly in my yard.  The first is a songbird. I have a LOT of sparrows in my yard that I have come to learn are white-crowned sparrows. Another bird I saw while on a bike ride was a wild turkey-from the chicken-like group.  There was even a big Tom Turkey showing off his feathers.  My favorite part was his blue head. Another bird I saw in my yard was from the Hummingbird group.  It was an Anna's Hummingbird.  I was surprised to see it here in the late winter, but learned they hang around my area year-round.

I enjoyed exploring the Wall of Birds and spent time reading about many of the birds families represented on it.  I hope to have the opportunity to see it in-person one day.

Last year I monitored Bluebird Boxes for our county parks. I found tree swallows instead of bluebirds. I enjoyed observing and learning about their habits.  They were full of energy. This activity prompted me to take this course to learn more about other birds.

My name is Nori. I am 10 years old.  My favorite bird from the Wall of Birds is the American White Pelican.  Pelicans eat fish. The white pelican scoops fish out of the water. My mom helped me with this.

Hi I'm Henry. I live in Merriam KS. I am 8 years old and I recently looked at the wall of birds and my favorite was the osprey

I live in Berkeley, CA and have been enjoying identifying many new birds, but my favorite is the Bushtit. Though not very distinctive in color, they are adorable and rich in personality, tiny butterballs of pure energy. I love how they blow through the yard in berserk little flocks, peeping away and flitting about from shrub to tree for a minute or two before cruising on to new destinations. I don't have a good pic of my own, so I borrowed this one from the web.

Activity 3: Ever since I was a little child I have always celebrated the arrival of spring. My mother says she doesn’t know how I developed my fascination with the first day of spring! Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, it’s not even that big of a transition out of winter! But now I have lived in Wisconsin for almost 40 years. The end of winter is a huge thing for me!! So every March I begin my American Robin watch. I make note in my calendar the first time I see a robin in my city, and again when I see one in my yard. It’s my own little victory celebration for surviving another winter.

Activity 2: my husband and I are brand new to birding. We are loving the Merlin app! Of course we have always been able to identify familiar birds in our neighborhood: songbirds such as robins, swimmers such as mallard ducks and Canadian geese, and woodpeckers. But we were excited to identify a common grackle, a blackbird, in our visit to a nearby state park yesterday. This is going to be a fun post-retirement hobby!

My favorite bird changes from day to day.   Actually, I have two favorites, very similar.  They are the Red-breasted Nuthatch and the White-breasted Nuthatch.   The first is the color.  Not many local birds have a lot of blue, so it makes them easy to identify.  I love the intensity of the blue in both varieties.  I like it that they are not shy.   I can get relatively close and watch for more than a few seconds before they fly away.  But most of all I like their climbing behavior.   They are as comfortable upside-down as upside-up.   While most backyard birds are active and persistent, the nuthatches seem so curious and thorough, looking at every crack from every possible angle.

My favorite bird this year has been a mating pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers that have been regular daily feeders in my front yard.

Curious to find out about the "beautifully colored bird" that my daughter spied while in Mexico, I research it and we both agreed that it probably was a turquoise browed motmot.  Finding it on the Wall of Birds, I learned that it has a really long forked tail that it swings back and forth like a pendulum while perching in trees watching for food.  Fascinating!

as a new homeowner in southern Maryland ( grew up in Massachusetts). i have been seeing a lot of the same birds from childhood me and my mother loved identifying. I've focused a lot of time and energy to see what feeders work for who and during the colder months been making sure my juncos are well fed but i must say i love my wrens! something funny about a little brown golf ball flying through the wind . A lot of new birds have caught my eye and the most distinct are my pine siskins! for the longest time i had no idea who they were and of course had to make a phone call to ole mom who apparently knows all. I've utilized a lot of my deck space, hangers, garden space in the front yard and many of dollars spent at wild birds unlimited but I cant get enough. the kids get excited to see a bird now and we all watch and identify and do our best to get pictures! happy hunting!

Activity 2 and 3: We saw surf scoters today! Along with Brandt’s Cormorants, and the ubiquitous (and my favorites) Buffleheads. Buffleheads-my favorite because of their up-then-down diving behavior- they are so cute! Greater and lesser scaups, redheads, and mersangers, bluebirds, Savannah and Song sparrows, ravens, red tailed hawks, white tailed kites, Anna’s hummingbirds. It was a lovely day for birding.

I'm very new to birding, and my current favourite bird is the ruby-crowned kinglet (zoom into the middle of the photo; my partner managed to get this with her phone). I also love the golden-crowned kinglet, but I love the cartoony eyes on the ruby-crowned. They are tiny and adorable and constantly moving, so incredibly hard to photograph, but I can usually count on seeing them at a park not too far from my house.

Activity 2.  I have been a long time bird lover, but very poorly educated, particularly with US birds, so the pandemic has given me time and opportunity to learn more about the birds I see.  I have been keeping a track of the birds that I see on my feeders and on my property and there is a much greater variety than I expected. In fact I have seen 18 different species since I started taking note and I can confirm that the Merlin app is very good!  Most exciting to me was three different species of sparrow, House Sparrow, Song Sparrow and White Throated Sparrow.  In the UK we only had one type.

Activity 1. I picked three birds, the White Throated Dipper, who was a favorite of mine as a child growing up in the UK, he was very polite and curtseyed to us as we walked by.  The other two are the Vulture Guineafowl and the King Vulture.  I love vultures, I think they're fascinating and they provide such a very necessary service to our environment, I learned a couple of years ago that some of them can even safely ingest Anthrax, so powerful are their digestive juices.

Activities 2 and 3: I have bird feeders for the first time and we have been really enjoying seeing all of the birds. So far we have titmice, white-breasted nuthatch, house finches, house sparrows, blue jays, black-capped chickadees, Carolina wrens, mourning doves, red-bellied woodpeckers, and I think a Hairy woodpecker.  I also feed crows sometimes that hang out in the neighborhood. So, multiple categories. Picking a favorite is really hard. Either the red-bellied woodpecker just because of its sheer beauty or the black-capped chickadees for their spunk and flight pattern.

Activity two. I recently signed up for a local birdwatching class and we have traveled to some state parks and beaches in the area of Sarasota, Florida. For me the waders are fairly easy to identify. The spoonbill is one of my favorite. The raptors are plentiful here, and I have been able to observe ospreys a bald eagles. The group that I have the most difficulty with observing is the song birds. Yes Cardinals and Blue Jays are easy to spot, but I am finding it very difficult to identify the different types of warblers. Even with binoculars they are tough to identify. I’m hoping this course will help me look for ways to identify them. Activity three. I am very fortunate to live on a small pond in Sarasota, FL  There are some beautiful birds right in my backyard, which is one of the reasons why I became interested in birdwatching. The Woodstork  is one of my favorites  They are extremely friendly and fun to watch.  

Activity one.  I thoroughly enjoyed the interactive bird wall. After exploring it for awhile, I found three birds that I would really like to see in the wild. The first one is the Shoebill, located in Africa. The second bird I would love to see is the Atlantic puffin. And the third bird I would love to see in the wild is the flamingo. Living in Florida for several years, I have only seen them in zoos and jungle gardens.  Recently retired, once pandemic is over, I would like to travel and do some extreme birdwatching!

I completed all 3 activities.

• Activity 1: The Wall of Birds is really cool! I definitely want to go see it in person. It was interesting to see the size of some of the extinct birds - I can't imagine seeing something with a 20-foot wingspan overhead - but my favorite was the splendid fairywren for these reasons:
  • I love the whimsical name.
  • I love its color (bright blue).
  • My nickname is Wren, so I feel a personal connection. :-)
• Activity 2: Knowing that most birds you see are songbirds really helps narrow down the groups. I used the opportunity to learn more about a bird I've heard several people mention lately - the junco. I looked it up in the Merlin app and immediately realized that I have been seeing them in my own backyard without ever realizing what they were.
• Activity 3: I am not sure it's my  bird, but seeing a cardinal in the snow is a treat.

I live on the salt marsh along the coast of South Carolina. From my backyard, I can observe birds from most of the bird families (except chicken-like birds and parrots). This past week I’ve seen a pair of Hooded Mergansers, White Egrets, Ibis, Great Blue Herons, Bluebirds, Robins, Sparrows (not sure what type), Downy Woodpeckers and Red-Winged Blackbirds. My favorite bird is the Bluebird.  I have a Bluebird box and most years I watch the babies hatch and fledge. It’s so much fun observing them.  At times it can be scary because a Hawk will come into the yard and go after them.

This pictures is of the first Varied Thrush I've seen and it happened on my back deck during the Backyard Count. 

Activity #3: I don't have a good bird photography camera so I don't have any great photos. And I find it hard to narrow down to just one favorite. There are so many that I like to watch. I really like Hummingbirds and Woodpeckers. But pictured I have a group of baby Carolina wrens, from some parents that like to nest on our porch. I like the Carolina wrens cause I think they are adorable, parents and babies. How they hop around and are so vocal too. I enjoy listening to them sing and chitter away. The other picture is a Barn swallow parent that nested on our porch at work. They were all fun to watch over the course of their nesting period. The parents were very protective. They would fly at us when we went to check the mail to try and shoo us away. Even standing at the window they were very aware of us; as you can see this parent turning their head to look at us. I loved their coloring too. As for any bird; it was awesome to watch them raise their babies from hatchlings to juveniles leaving the nest. They had 5 of them so we had a group of 7 barn swallows hanging around the porch for a little bit. :)

I particularly liked the Wall of Birds activity. I began looking for what is around where I live, then at places I've visited like Peru and Costa Rica, then where my in-laws live (in TX), and so on.  The diversity of birds blows me away. Those flycatchers are amazing-looking. And the cardinal outside my window is just as stunning in his own particular way. Thanks for the opportunity to widen my view.

3 Birds I have looked at this week in 3 different groups. 1.     This winter in an effort to identify my different sparrows I made a great discovery! The white throated (white-striped) sparrow. They are the most adorable little song birds. He/she both look similar. Easy to spot them with their noticeable beautiful white throat, bright yellow spot kind of above/between each eye (lore). Strips alternate black and white on the top of their heads; also their chest are solid gray (differing from other sparrows).  For such a little bird they have a loud might song of “Old Sam Peabody Peabody Peabody” or “Oh Canada Canada Canada”. Simply a great find for me. 2.     Brown Thrasher. How I love to watch these birds. Very easy to identify with their colors on their backs a rusty brown (rufous) and striped chest. Their yellow eyes are always looking around as they forage for food. Their heads flip back in forth searching for just the right tasty nugget or bug.  They sing the most beautiful repeating notes like, “No Fear No Fear, Yes Yes, Who’s This Who’s This, or many other calls as they may know 1,100 song types. 3.     Crow. I have a family of 6 that visit my feeders every day. 5 American crows and one fish crow. I have trained them to come when I put out food. Last year I rang a bell and this year I just knock on my stainless steel bowl. They may have some alpha thing going on as a crow will come, call to the others, when more come they will eat.  They have a vivacious appetite and love many foods.  This year I make them, what I call peanut butter sandwiches. I break up bread in a large bowl then pour heated peanut butter over it & stir well.  Yum! They come & fill their beaks so full they overflow all around. So cute. They take their breakfast somewhere else to finish eating.  Not gone long, they always come back for more. My favorite bird that comes to my woodland yard is the Pileated Woodpecker.  He is big, beautiful, and I love how they circle my trees looking for food.

I am requesting some clarification in the Activity suggestion #2:  "Find birds...from three different groups that you learned about in this lesson."  In reviewing the lesson, I do see more than 3 groupings. Which 3 groups of birds is this activity referring to?  Thanks in advance for your reply.

I am picking birding back up after a long hiatus while I raised my daughter. Now I'm nearing retirement and wanting to renew my old interest. My favorite birds depends on the season, in Summer it is the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds that come by the dozens to my feeders. Winter it's the Cardinals in their beautiful red. But how can you narrow it down?? So many beautiful birds to see and discover. I also moved further out in the country and am surrounded by acres of National Forest so attracting them to my yard with native plantings is my goal. Three favorite groups are Woodpeckers, TreeCreepers especially nuthatches, and Buntings especially the Indigo Bunting.

So far our favorite is the purple finch - so beautiful!

In the past week I have seen over a dozen buzzards roosting in trees and circling overhead waiting for their turn at a fresh racoon carcus, and the flocks of blackbirds chattering and the lifting off in mass flightand the seeing and hearing the distinctive pelated woodpecker.  Great to see all these birds surviving with all the snow on the ground in Northern New Jersey.

I have a beautiful Scrub Jay visiting my backyard It just dropped in for an afternoon bath, so fun to watch it shaking its feathers and dunking in the water. Then it flew up to a chair top to dry off and shake more. I can easily see the birds from my bedroom window and find it so enjoyable to watch them. I also have many hummingbirds coming to two feeders I have out for them, what a joy to watch these happy, speedy birds and listen to their chatter. I feel very fortunate to be able to watch these sweet birds during this challenging sheltering time. A few moments of sanity just watching them!!

I am a new bird watcher.  I have always enjoyed them but didn’t become excited about them until I met someone else that was crazy about birds.  He’s the kind of guy that doesn’t just hem and haw over a flutter.  His dramatic gasps and hysterical commentary about the birds made it such an adventure.  He always looked like he rolled out from under a bar stool of some tropical island and into the brush, which of course added to his flair.  He only ever carried his binoculars and a hat to hold in his Brillo pad hair (his words, not mine).  Can you describe a person that got you excited about bird watching?  What was he/she like?  What did they do that made you curious for more knowledge? What tools were used? Thanks

Everyone takes such great pictures! I'm in central Georgia near Atlanta, and as we come out of the cold snap of the past couple of days, I'm struck by how many goldfinches are in the area; I've been watching for a couple of years but hadn't seen so many until now. My favorite area birds are the towhee, which I actually rarely see but I like hearing the call and knowing one's around. The red-bellied woodpeckers can be bullies but they're always around and I enjoy seeing them. My favorite bird on the Wall of Birds is the osprey; I started watching some nests on webcams and that's what got me into birdwatching. They're phenomenal birds - migrating thousands of miles twice a year; always returning home to the same nest and same wintering area. Birds from three different groups in this lesson in my area: Cardinals (finch family), Starlings (blackbird family), Canada goose (waterfowl family Anitidae).

We moved in late August from a very busy neighborhood to a quiet country road. We have many of the same bird species we used to enjoy at our previous house. One of my favorites is the red-bellied woodpecker seen on our feeder. One the ground is a dark-eyed junco. We enjoy seeing these 2 feathered friends every day. It's interesting to note that we no longer see cardinals in our yard. Our old house is less than 10 miles away but our yard is much more open with fewer trees and shrubs. I'm wondering if that is why...

I live along the coast in southern Maine just outside the state’s biggest city. Since working from home for almost the last year, I’ve been impressed by the diversity of birds especially along my neighborhood walk that hugs a small coastal bay. I’ve seen hummingbirds, woodpeckers, a snowy egret, and most recently a bald eagle (not uncommon in Maine). It’s inspired me to take up birdwatching! There are many ducks, sea gulls, and Canada geese on the water’s edge. Lately a small black and white duck bobbing in the water has caught my eye. I’ve seen them in groups of 6 or 8 away from the other birds. I’m thinking it’s a bufflehead or a goldeneye based on the online Audubon guide and a new bird book. Any tips on solving this mystery? I’ll try to snap a picture soon!

This is so dang fun, I can’t stand it!  Steller jays coming to my cracked corn. It is such a  BEAUTIFUL  bird.

• I vote CardinalCardinals frequent my feeder and on this particular day I was in awe by how beautiful they looked against the white snow. 

Activity 1: I voted for the Carolina Wren from the Wall of Birds because we have really cute couple that lives in the backyard in NW Ohio. They have been frequenting our suet feeder in the cold weather. Activity 2: We chose 3 birds- the Peregrine Falcon, the Common Raven, and the Clark's Grebe. In order, the Peregrine Falcon's are raptors, the Common Raven it doesn't fit into any of the simple groups described, but would be most similar to the crow that is grouped with song birds, and the Clark's Grebe is water fowl. Activity 3: This is photo of a goldfinch. I recently purchased a finch feeder and within 1 week a small group of gold finches were visiting daily. It is winter, so their feathers are not as vibrant as during breeding season.

Back in September, we moved to a 5-acre mountain property in the foothills outside Denver.  The birds were here to greet us and we have watched the changing populations of songbirds, ducks, owls, and hawks that share this land with us. I'm eager to learn as much as I can.  We watched a hilarious exchange of a Clark's Nutcracker snitching pinecones from a very irate Pine Squirrel.  Heard the crows making a racket one afternoon and finally went to investigate. A Great Horned Owl was calmly watching them all, and us, from his roost in a huge, old Ponderosa Pine tree.  We have hawks, Red  Tail and Harris, that hunt in the elk meadow and we've dubbed one tree as 'hawk tree' that we frequently see them scanning the area from.  Our 2 feeders bring round the little chickadees, juncos, and nuthatches with the Steller and Gray jays getting in on it also.  The Gray Jays (Camp Robbers) wait on our deck railing for us to lay out some blueberries for them.  We are told they will bring their babies with them to visit in the Spring. The whole property is alive with activity all the time. As spring arrives, we'll be watching for the return of the mallards to our pond and hummingbirds.  I've got a lot to learn!

As part of the Great Backyard Bird Count, I was able to identify a Downy Woodpecker and Hairy Woodpecker.  I have an affinity for woodpeckers.  I see Downy Woodpeckers often at my feeders.  Today I saw both a Hairy and Downy at the same time.  This allowed me to really compare the two species.  I am now much more confident in distinguishing these two birds.

More pics from the Great Weekend Bird Count...

My favorite part about the Wall of Birds was listening to the artist describe how she paints each bird.  What a talent!  Found 14 different birds during this weekend’s Great Backyard Bird Count which definitely covered Activity 2.  Probably my favorite bird so far is the Whitebreasted Nuthatch-fascinating to watch it feed upside down, and it seems to be the friendliest of the backyard birds-they don’t always fly away when you are nearby and often will land close by when attending the feeders.

Some birds groups found in my neighborhood: Downy woodpecker - doing his best impersonation of a hummingbird - group woodpeckers, I believe the next photo was a great horned owl but unsure - group Owls, Lastly a Ruby throated hummingbird - group hummingbirds.

Activity 1: So hard to pick favorites there are so many great birds. I really like the Marvelous Spatuletail. It is so unique with it's long tail feathers and the dance it does with them.

Activity 2: I was able to narrow down several birds in my back yard. Carolina Wren is a songbird. Downy Woodpecker- seems that Woodpeckers have a group all their own! They stab at wood with their little face-knives, but they are adorable. Inca Doves- beautiful little doves in the Pigeons/Doves category. The White-wing Doves are somewhat bully-like, but the Incas just look like elegant little old ladies twittering about the local gossip before settling in for a nap.

Activity 1: The Wall of Birds is fascinating. I didn't do a lot of exploring individual birds as much as I did comparing sizes and shapes. I do enjoy the Southern Cassowary. I may have to take a trip down under to see if I can find one in the wild!

Activity 3: I can't seem to get any of my pictures to upload, but I've learned so much about birds in the last 2 years that I'm fairly excited. I've managed to identify 65 species in my back yard and now I'll learn a bit more about them. I have to say, though, if I had to choose favorites so far, I would choose the Tufted Titmouse because it's so adorable and cheeky! I love the softness of its colors. I would choose the Carolina Wren because no bird that small should have lungs so big! And finally, I would choose the Cedar Waxwing. I don't know why, but every time I see one, I'm just entranced. The name truly does it justice. It really looks like a wax figure with such beautiful coloration. The tan body looks like a wax figure. The black mask could have been drawn by an expert artist. The dash of yellow on the tail and the dot of red on the wings seem like fantasy colors a sculptor would have added. I love that bird.

One of my favorite birds is the barn swallow from the swallow family. They are so agile and their arrival signals that spring has finally arrived.

My favourite neighborhood bird is the Northern Cardinal but one year on December 26 we had a Parakeet visit our feeder. We saw him again a week later. We live just outside of Toronto. It was cold out!

Activity #2 Chicken like birds - wild turkey. We often see them near the side of the road near the cottage or, in small groups, in the middle of a field closer to home Woodpeckers; this past summer we had a Downy woodpecker as a regular visitor to our backyard and feeder Songbirds - Nuthatches. We’ve had a popular feeder for years but this winter both red and white breasted nuthatches started to visit it regularly.

There are so many interesting birds in The Wall of Birds! You could lose track of time poking around there.

Activity 1: Hard to choose a favorite--so many fascinating birds in our beautiful world!!  A few that I'm extremely fond of would have to be the Emperor Penguin and any of the hummingbirds!  Activity 3: I've shared a few pictures from my backyard--for some reason, the chickadees will sometimes run into our back door and they will stun themselves.  This little fella in the first picture was out cold.  I picked him up and held him to keep him safe until he was able to fly away.  In the second picture is our friend Chuck the Duck, a Muscovy Duck.  We raised him from a duckling--he was abandoned as a baby.  His favorite treat is blueberries and he will come to our door to let us know when he's hungry! :) 

Image of a hawk in my backyard. I believe it is a young Goshawk eating a bird. I did see a pair them in a tree but did not get a picture. I live in Maryland and wondered if there are other hawks that this bird might be. I have seen a red-tailed hawk in the same area but it looks very different.

Why does the summer tanager is in the Cardinalidae family and not in the Thraupidae family?  

There is one bird that always catches my eye, the burrowing owl. I like it because it builds its nest underground. Though I had never seen it I like it. Another two of my birds are te American redstart( Setophaga Ruticilla) and the kingfisher.

I constantly see these little guys in the forest behind are house and at the feeders we have up. And they Make amazing calls. I found out they where tufted titmice.

Activity One: Puffin Activity Two: I saw a waterfowl during Christmas break known as Brandts and I see cardinal more this year which are in the finches/buntings category. Activity Three: I love mourning doves, but also love cardinals, bluejays, and red tail hawks which are seen more and more common around here.

Red-breasted nuthatches, from tree creeper group have been at my feeders this winter. They are tiny but feisty when challenging the chickadees for feeder space!

My favorite bird is the pelican. I live near the beach and  have seen the brown pelican ,and the American oyster catcher . I enjoy them both

We live in NYS, two hours north of NYC. My husband took these images of the lovely cardinal couple that visits our feeders and plays in the snow.

Which group is a house crow in? It seemed like it was in songbirds, but that didn't make too much sense to me.

Activity 1: My favorite birds from the Wall of Birds are the Wood Duck, Blue-footed Booby and Shoebill.   Activity 2: In my backyard I often found Sparrows, Hummingbirds and White-winged Doves, sometimes Blackbirds that I’m not able to identify yet. I live in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.   Activity 3: Hummingbirds, they are my favorite because of their pretty shades of green and the way they fly around.

Activity 3:  I live in a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia, and one of my favourite backyard visitors is the pileated woodpecker.   I've learned this guy is a male -- you can tell by his red moustache. Activity 2:   I've been taking long walks along an urban lake and have been working on identifying all the different water birds.   My favourite there was a Canada Goose, not because it was a Canada Goose but because it did "summersaults" in the water.  It would suddenly pitch its head forward into the water and flip completely upside down, then did some crazy kicks to complete the roll and bring its head back up, swam a bit, and then did it all over again.

I've often encountered a Black-crowned Night Heron through binoculars on the far side of a pond.  But this time, one just sidled up to me in an outdoor restaurant in Mission Bay, San Diego, CA.

Three birds that frequent my garden feeders here in Colorado are: House Finches- which are a type of finch, they will spend a long time sitting on the feeder sorting through seeds and other bits. Dark eyed juncos- which are a type of sparrow, they go on the ground under the feeder while the other birds feed clearing up the fallen rejected seeds and nuts. Chickadee- I'm not sure what type a chickadee is... but it seems to fit the behaviour of a flycatcher as it darts back and forth from feeder to branch, but it feeds on nuts and seeds rather than insects from what I can see soooo......?

• On cold winter days I find myself looking through my photos from last summer. I had a blast watching this American Goldfinch feeding her young. I can’t wait till spring!! Another highlight was the family of 5 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Hope to see them all soon!!

This beautiful bird sits in the trees in our backyard every evening.

Activity 2: The feeders in my Kansas City area patio attract several varieties that I see regularly.  Doves often come in flocks of 4 to 10.  The cute Carolina Wrens (songbirds) in singles or sometimes twos -- look the same, not sure of male/female.  And for woodpeckers, the Downy, Northern Flicker, and the Red Breasted.  I even got one photo through the kitchen blinds showing both a Flicker and Red Breasted on the same suet feeder -- that was cool.

On our bird walk this morning, my 4yo and I spotted two blue jays, a few european starlings, and a ton of house sparrows. My daughter love spotting the birds with me and often sees ones I miss. I'm currently using Merlin Bird ID and sometimes do some more online research if I'm not quite sure it fits what the app finds.  I am looking into a book guide to supplement and have on hand.

Birds bring me so much joy and there are so many just outside my window. I would like to improve my bird identification. This raptor is an immature Bald Eagle I think. I use the Merlin app and my bird book. It is the "transitional" birds due to the changes with age and season that really challenge me

Here's my first scarlet tanager I spotted last summer in Newbury, MA. He was on the lowest tree branch and stayed nice and still for photos! Being bright red in New England made identification faster (I have mostly been using the Audubon app).

This is a red-golden pheasant in a local park in New Orleans. I was using the Audubon app for identification, but it wasn't in there. The reason being that this bird is not endemic to Louisiana! He was most likely abandoned or escaped from a coop. He's been in the park for years though and has become a bit of a legend!

I am looking forward to completing this course and another that my daughter bought for me for Christmas. Living in TN, I am very fortunate to be able to see from my kitchen window many different songbirds at my feeders; geese, ducks and cranes in my neighbors lake and a Coopers Hawk that roams the area. Now I need to buy a guide to take with me for my walks in the woods.

Used Merlin app to identify Hairy Woodpecker and dark eyed Junco on my feeder

Activity 1 - Favorite bird from the wall of birds is a Great Grey Owl.  I was fortunate to see one of these with my father, who is a much more accomplished birder than I, when I was in my teens.  Just the massive size of this bird is incredible.  The second striking feature are its eyes.  Unlike many owls, they are quite adapted to hunting in the daytime.  Despite the one we saw being hundred yards away, when seen through even basic binoculars it felt like it was staring into your soul.  Runner up has to be the Kakapo, or flightless parrot of New Zealand.  Their incredible camouflage blends in so well to the moss covered grounds of the rainforest like locations where they live. Activity 2 - The first bird, which will also be my photo bird is the Black-capped chickadee, one of the very common feeder/backyard birds in our area.  For a bird smaller even than a sparrow they have the bravery of a lion.  The often will scold the owner of the feeder should they let the feeder become empty, waiting directly nearby as you fill it.  They remind me of a smaller version of a banty rooster.  They are in the family Songbids.  Another common feeder bird here is the Hairy Woodpecker, which is in the woodpecker family.  The third is the Eastern wild turkey, which is the chicken like bird group.

unfortunately through my screen but i was very pleasantly surprised by this pileated woodpecker at my suet feeder

Activity 2: i regularly see white and red breasted nuthatches, mourning doves & various woodpeckers and many many more types Activity 3: I just love chickadees!

Activity 1 : The secretary bird will always catch my eye after its introduction to me in the movie, Kung Fu Panda. It's an elegant, powerful, and beautiful bird. This bird can make snakes it lunch with its fatal kicks. That's one of the main reasons it catched my eye. Activity 2: 3 different groups of birds. I was able to identify a mocking bird ( usually present in my front yard), a red-bellied woodpecker ( always a beautiful sight), and a dark moth raptor (!! I saw a fast-flying bird swoop into a tree in a round-about and sneaked up on it; I noticed it had a sharp hooked beak and got excited). These are my three species. They have given me a lot of joy and I hope I keep discovering more neighborhood friends. Activity 3:  Recalling back to Activity 2, the dark morph raptor has come into my life with so much mystery and "carnivore-y" that I want to be able to spot it again. Its sharp beak and proud posture created such an image in my mind. I took a picture of this mystery but it was on my low pixel android phone. Wish me luck on my journey to identify this bird!

This is the Clark's Nutcracker.  He loves and brutalizes our suet, dumping all of our seed from feeders onto the ground.  I guess they are ground feeders or are they just too big to stably feed from the feeders?  We do know they like the seeds from pinecones. Our online field guide says they like to make cache's of seed and can become accustomed to humans.  They are certainly comfortable around our feeders and dominate the scene along with the blue & gray jays and woodpeckers.  The Nutcracker will call others to come to feed! The little  birds wait for the nutcracker to fly off before they come back to feed. We live in the Colorado Rockies.

This morning I looked out my front door just in time to see one of my favorites, the Red-Bellied Woodpecker.

I have tried to identify birds with the Merlin app, but the app has not worked for me. In my experience the app cycles through the same few birds, or suggests birds that are very out of place, such as wading birds when I am looking at birds in a field. I'm taking this course so that I can more intelligently use the Merlin app and printed bird guides. Like others here I became focused on birding while walking during this pandemic. I noticed subtle colors and varieties on birds that I hadn't seen before. I live in northern California.

I enjoy watching birds in my backyard. I started feeding them and noticed that not every bird is a sparrow! One feeder lead to another and now I have a squirrel proof pole system with multiple feeders to attract a variety of birds. At this time I am seeing gold finches, house finches, chickadees, northern cardinals, titmouse, white breasted nuthatches, Carolina wrens, sparrows, downy woodpeckers, and red bellied woodpeckers. My most recent new sighting was a flock of Pine siskins that we saw for about a week. Occasionally we have hawks visit - I believe Cooper Hawks. I was lucky enough to visit Bar Harbor, Maine and Acadia National Park (spring of 2019) and attended a birding event. I was amazed with the experience.  I loved seeing warblers and the ocean birds - especially the Puffins. Now that we are not traveling; I hope doing these activities will help me increase my bird knowledge and give me a distraction from the crazy times we are experiencing.

Activity 1: A few of my favorite birds from the Wall of Birds are the Yellow-Billed Magpie, Shoebill, and Great Gray Owl. The reason I like each of these birds is due to their unique physical attributes. Activity 2: A few birds that I observed outside which I was able to narrow down to one group are: Mourning Doves belonging to the pigeons and doves, Black Phoebes belonging to the songbird subcategory of flycatchers, and Red-tailed Hawks belonging to the raptors. Activity 3: One of my favorite birds in my neighborhood is the Northern Mockingbird. It is a medium-sized grey songbird with white on its wings, thin black legs, light-colored yellowish eyes, and a very impressive long tail! The reason it is one my favorite local birds is due to an experience I had with this particular species when I first moved into my current home. It had been late last winter and I had just laid down in bed after a tiring day of shuffling boxes. As I started to close my eyes, a loud intriguing noise struck my ears. Was that a car alarm I heard? No, that’s not it. As the song continued, I realized it was taking on different tunes. At one moment it sounded like a typical songbird, another a harsh almost mechanical sound. However, what surprised me most was the noise kept on going and going. I was very confused but fascinated at the same time. Whatever was making these sounds sure had stamina. My curiosity in the end got the better of me and coaxed me out of bed to go rummaging for a local bird guide I had safely tucked away in a thankfully clearly labeled box. With the help of my trusty guide, I discovered this singing prodigy was no other than the Northern Mockingbird and that during nesting season they can sing throughout the night! With the satisfaction of successfully identifying this lovelorn avian, I went back to bed and let its quirky song put me to sleep like a lullaby. Now whenever I hear a Northern Mockingbird it makes me reminisce about that night.

My husband and I were gifted this course for Christmas, along with a bird feeder for our yard in RI. I have always loved cardinals and was really excited when we had a cardinal visit our feeder right away. We are noticing so many great birds in our yard and neighborhood now!

I have been interested in birding for some time but had not been as intentional with it until last year--with the help of some helpful resources and gifts from my partner, sister, and colleague. I love seeing peregrine falcons and condors / vultures in CA (which I did not see really in Boston), and hummingbirds.

Hello. I'm working through this course, and this is my first post. So we will see how it goes. I live in Mount Airy, MD -- near Baltimore. Went out in the backyard yesterday (31-Dec) evening and the first birds I saw were a Junco, then a Chickadee, and a Carolina Wren that came out of a hydrangea and sang to me. Those are all in the Songbird group, I think. There was a Downy Woodpecker that was eating our suet -- that's group 2. And then there is a small pond along our walk that has Mergansers on it in the winter. I'll count that as group 3. My favorite bird in my neighborhood is the Indigo Bunting. I attached a picture that I took a couple summers ago at Audrey Carroll Sanctuary near my house.  At this time of year, I also really enjoy the Nuthatches. I like the staccato song they sing while they climb down the tree trunks. Thanks for reading! I'm really enjoying the class, and have learned quite a bit!

Hello, Seems like there will be a lot of new birders now that we are home and taking time to see what is around us! I too got this course as a gift, although I have been a sort of bird watcher for a while. Looking forward to sharing experiences along the way!

Like others, I got this course as a gift since I have been birding during the pandemic as a new fun hobby since I discovered the Audubon app in late spring. I recently came to Florida from my home in Philadelphia and I am having such fun watching birds on the beach. This is a photo of my favorites: Royal Terns. I like how their wintertime black heads look like Groucho Marx eyebrows. In the photo you can also see a ruddy turnstone, which took me forever to identify. It is hard learning to bird while social distancing since it is less easy to talk with experienced birders. Even so, I am proud to have identified more than 70 birds! I wish I had a better camera to get some closeup shots. Some of you have some amazing photo skills!

I got this for Christmas along with other birding gifts, having become a nascent birdwatcher during the pandemic. My (adult) children are humoring my obsession quite gracefully.  So at my backyard suet feeder in Central Virginia I have one bird that visits occasionally that I am having trouble identifying- my best guess is least flycatcher but not sure he should be here this time of year.  Smaller than a sparrow, white eye-ring, two white bars on wings, and from back his black wings with white bard touch to make distinct V below grey back.  Advice appreciated!

I recently moved to the Finger Lakes Region of New York State and can't believe the birds in my backyard. We have seen  Cardinals, Blue Jays, Heron, Mallard ducks and a woodpecker that I haven't been able to identify yet, I think  it could be either a Downy or Acorn woodpecker. This class is a wonderful gift from my daughter and I am exciting about identifying the different groups of birds in my area and hope to join a bird watching group soon.

We mostly have songbirds in my area (there aren't a lot of waterfowl or shorebirds in the area).  I helped out on the Christmas bird count in 2019 and I am particularly fond of the Say's phoebe as that was the first bird I managed to identify by myself. I've also always liked the Great Blue Herons, although I haven't seen them here.

Activity 2 I saw this white juvenile snow goose eating along side some Canadian Geese in the Nisqually Estuary Trail in Billy Frank Jr. Wildlife Refuge  near Olympia,WA.

I’ve recently moved to a lake outside of Memphis TN. I live on a small lake and have enjoyed discovering all of wildlife that living in the area. I have particularly enjoyed the Great Blue Herons and the Green Herons.

My daughter gave me this course for Christmas.  How do I choose just one favorite bird lol?  I love the Northern Flickers that visit my suet feeders (the bird on the right in the photo).  I have a male and female and built a nest box for them that they already seem to have claimed even though it is December.  I packed  it full of aspen shavings animal bedding and they "carved" out the cavity just like you see in YouTube videos.  I also like the Ladder-backed Woodpecker (left in the photo), 2 females and 2 males have been in my yard at the same time.  I participate in FeederWatch and have done 2 counts so far.  This has been a great hobby to begin during the pandemic.

We went on a nature walk in the back bay and saw ducks, shorebirds, songbirds, and a raptor.

I liked the loon from the wall of birds best because of the audio of its song.

We enjoy the hummingbirds that feed and nest in our front yard.

Hi- I got this for Christmas. I am 11. I lost my newpaper carrier job in May and started making bird treats for my family and neighbors. I like learning about birds in my backyard. I live in a city. I like the pictures here from places hat do not look like where I live. I am learning about birds so I can help my customers. I have a lot of customers now. My yard has a lot of birds now. I hung a finch sack and the finches now found it and eat at it. Here is a picture. I used Merlin and think I have juvinile american finches. But it is hard to tell because the app tells me the finches change color in the winter. I also have a woodpecker in my yard. I think it is a hairy woodpecker. I have a lot of sparrows and wonder if they are all house sparrows or differnt kinds of sparrows. From Elliott

Absolutely loving this course!  I'm lucky enough to live near a place called Pajaro Dunes (pajaro = bird) near Watsonville, CA.  I'm just beginning to identify all of the birds there, of which there are many.  It's a freshwater river mouth that meats the Pacific Ocean.  There are many Brown Pelicans here, but there are also fresh water White Pelicans (which are huge!).

I am just starting this introductory birding course & liking it.  I want to share in this section Activity 2:  My Field Guide, which I really like, is "Birds of Ontario" by Andy Bezener.  My wife and I are fortunate to live in the Bay of Quinte area where we get to see lots of birds.  Along the Belleville Waterfront Trail where we walk there are lots of Geese, many even winter over here.  Also in the last few years Swans have come to live here.  Using my field guide I believe they are Mute Swans due to their orange bills (thanks field guide).  I am including a pic of a Swan in this post.  Lastly lots of ducks are to be seen all year round.  Mallards are common, although other species are also seen.  I intend to try to identify as many waterfowl species as I can.  Cheers.

Hello! I live in NW Wyoming. At this time of year we see black-capped chickadees a lot as well as ravens and magpies. We also have trumpeter swans and bald eagles who over-winter here.

I think my favorite is the Common Grackle, when I first saw him in my backyard and snapped this photo, he was one of the first bird photos that I got to turn out not completely blurry!  Hahaha, because of that he's got a special place in my heart!  I starting birding in March due to quarantine, which is weird because all my adult life I have been afraid of birds.  I had a phobia and would literally cross the street if a pigeon was in front of me (sound silly now). My family finds it hilarious that now I'm crazy about birding. In fact this course is a present from one of my best friends!  As a new birder every "first" time I see (id) a new-to-me bird, that's my favorite until the next one!

We love our Rose Breasted Grosbeaks. They return every year and raise new families on our land. My husband jokes thar we should call our place “Grosbeak Farm.”

<p style="text-align: left;">Activity 2:  one bird described for each of three groups</p>   <p style="text-align: right;">Woodpeckers—Northern Flicker.  I used Merlin and “All About Birds” to obtain information about this species.  Our lesson lists the following characteristics for the woodpecker group:</p> <p style="text-align: left;">“Climb along trunks and whack at wood; distinctive group.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Cling to tree trunks and sides of branches Hammer on wood and peck holes Small to medium-sized Medium-sized, pointed bill Short neck Moderate to short tail Very short legs”</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Unlike most of its fellow woodpeckers, this is a moderately large bird, being in size between a robin and a crow. It is brown with black markings; the eastern variant has yellow on its wings and tail, whereas the western has red.  Its bill is medium-sized and slightly curved.  It has a white rump that may be seen in flight.  These birds hammer on the ground where they search for insects (beetles and ants), but will live in holes in trees at least 6’ above the ground surface, where they build their nests.  They like to capture flying insects with their tongues.  They also eat berries and seeds.  They are found in ecotonal areas, where they can access sparse tree cover in open areas, as well as access forested areas.</p>   <p style="text-align: right;">Wading Birds—Roseate Spoonbill.  I used Merlin, “All About Birds” and the Audubon Society website to obtain information about this species.  Again, our lesson provides the following list of characteristics for the Wading Birds group:</p> “Large, long-legged birds often wading in water; includes herons, egrets, ibis, storks, and cranes. Wade in water, sometimes fields Large to very large Very long neck Long bill, may be curved Very long legs Short tail” The Roseate Spoonbill is a large bird with a pink body and long pink legs, a white head, red eyes, and a very distinctive bill that is flat, like a spoon, and used for capturing prey in shallow water.  These birds wade in shallow (5”) fresh or salt water areas and use their bills to sift muddy water for fish, aquatic invertebrates like crustaceans, and other small aquatic life. Their color comes from carotenoids found in the food they eat.  These birds are social and are often found in mixed flocks with other similar birds, like Ibises, Herons, Cranes, and Storks.  In the United States, they are found in states along the Gulf Coast and on Florida’s southern Atlantic Coast. They occur along the coasts of Mexico, and throughout South America.   The distinctive bill shapes are somewhat famous in North American archaeology, as they show up as decorative elements on pottery found in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri between 200 BCE to 400 CE.  These are areas far outside of the geographic distribution of these birds.  Such art-work helped support the concept of a far flung interaction amongst prehistoric peoples throughout Eastern North America.  People traded copper from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; catlinite, or Pipe Stone, from Minnesota; conch shells from the Gulf Coast; spike freshwater mussels from Eastern Georgia, used for personal adornment, such as necklaces; and had knowledge of fauna and flora from other parts of the continent, like the Spoon Bill.  Pottery in Illinois was made from local materials using decorative motifs of birds from another part of the continent.  How did ancient Illinoisans know what these birds looked like?  We have examples of skeletal remains of these birds found buried with humans from the time.   <p style="text-align: right;">Parrots—Scarlet Macaw.  I used information from the Rainforest Alliance to obtain information on this species.  Our class provides the following information:</p> “Parrots have a heavily curved, short, strong bill; distinctive group. Large head Short neck Short, strong bill with upper mandible curving over the lower one Short legs Many with brilliant colors on parts of body; mainly green” Scarlet Macaws are large birds and represent the largest of the parrots in the world; they can be up to 33” long from tail tip to the tip of the beak. Their faces are almost featherless and white.  The dominant color is red on wings, tails, and body.  The wings also have yellow and blue feathers. The large curved beak helps the bird eat the hard nuts found in the rainforests of Mexico and throughout South America. It is not uncommon to find hundreds of these birds clinging to clay cliffs along a river, as the clay helps neutralize poisons they ingest when eating certain toxic fruits that would kill other animals.  They live in large gregarious groups in tall deciduous trees near rivers.  They like to nest in holes found in dead trees and they mate for life.  Adults love to preen one another, as well as their offspring, which helps form strong social bonds.  These magnificent birds are sometimes stolen from their nests as juveniles to be sold in the United States for as much as $4,000.

I just signed up for the course as well and find it extremely interesting.  I guess I always liked watching and listening to birds, but I never took the time to really learn much about them.  Since this course I venture out in the backyard and around the local waterways and I see lots of amazing flying neighbors!! The  Eastern Bluebird above is probably one of my favorites because they come and visit with me on the porch, sit on the back of my lawn chairs, and well, just make themselves right at home.  I also think they're cute as well :-) I hope to do more bird watching in my area when Covid is under control, but in the meantime my backyard is showing me amazing things!!!!  Y'all have fun.............................................

I have just signed up for the course.  I used to be into bird watching but I guess I let life and career get in the way.  I have forgotten more than I remember.  It seems some feral cats have invaded my neighbor and the birds seem to have disappeared a couple of weeks ago.  I ordered a live trap, and I am going to try to catch them and take them to the humane society.  The squirrels also vanished at the same time, and normally the yard is full of them.

Activity 3, my favorite neighborhood bird is the Phoebe... literally my neighbor as it nests in the eaves of the barn as well as my fixed back door awning. Seeing (and hearing) them return each year means I’m in for the ultimate treat of watching their fascinating and adorable behaviors, listening to their songs, and observing another season of creation as they raise a family. It’s a giddy feeling when I know they’re back!

I just signed up for this class last week as something fun for my friend and I to do together. We have become birding buddies this year. We are in Chicago, so we don't have a ton of diversity in our urban neighborhoods, but we've started to venture out to some of the forest preserves. In our own backyards, we both really love the Downy Woodpecker. We see them here a lot. I only used my phone camera, so the photo is not so great.

Like many people I’ve gotten into birding since being home all the time during Covid, and starting to notice the natural world in my backyard. I have hung up bird feeders and am identifying birds I’ve never seen before because I never stopped and really looked at them. One of my favorites is the White-Breasted Nuthatch because it’s so lively and dances around on the tree trunks like a little sprite. I have a wonderful Hairy Woodpecker who has discovered my suet feeder, as well as some Ladder Backed Woodpeckers and a female Williamson’s Sapsucker who seems to live on one particular tree in my yard. The Sandhill Cranes picture is from a recent visit to Bosque Del Apache, which is basically bird heaven here in beautiful New Mexico. These birds have given me so much joy in these difficult times.

I saw these beauties while watching the sunrise off Pompano Beach in South Florida. Unfortunately, the Merlin Bird ID app did not help me identify them right away.  So I dug into other references, finding hits in All About Birds, Audubon, and Birds of Southwest Florida. They are Black Skimmers. It was incredible watching them soaring back and forth across the beach, the entire flock moving as one, finally settling a few yards from where I was standing. The pigeon landed in the foreground just as I was taking the picture.

I recently put a bird feeder in a tree next to our patio and this has become my primary bird watching experience as we are rather homebound during the pandemic.  Over the last week, I've been able to identify three perching bird species: (1) Black-capped chickadee, (2) black-eyed junco, and (3) spotted towhee.  We also have a hummingbird feeder and have a steady line-up of Anna's.  When we first put up the hummingbird feeder, I wasn't able to distinguish the family, they just looked like a tiny metallic green bird.  It was when one turned his head toward the sunshine that I first saw the flash of crimson head and throat.  I identified the chickadees using an old National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds.  I was already familiar with the juncos, but the spotted towhee is new to me, I hadn't seen it before we installed the seed feeder.  While cleaning my patio this afternoon and getting ready for winter, I spent about two hours sweeping, moving flower pots, and cleaning all the while the chickadees didn't seem to mind, they continued to feed.  At one point, I stood still just a couple of feet from the tree and just observed the feeding activity.  They took from the feeder and flew off to another branch to work at their food.  They are the most delightful birds, very active and surprisingly tolerant of other birds.

I was finally able to identify my favorite bird today! I've read about the ruby-crowned kinglet and how they can survive the bitterly-cold winters even though they are so small. I think they are more common in western Oregon now that it is late fall and today I saw one outside my window in my front yard. It reminded me of a wren at first, then I saw the black and white lines on the wings and white eye ring. The bird hopped around on a brush pile then, suddenly, it flashed the red crown feathers! It was near another kinglet who also flashed back - two males. What a treat! It was my first time recognizing this truly great little bird in the wild. I wish I had taken a photo, but I was too excited!

This Great Horned owl stays all day hidden in the depths of the tree behind our house, then takes off each night just about sunset.  He puts on quite a show for us and our neighbors because he scoots out onto a branch about a half hour before flight and just hangs around.  Take off is amazing, such huge wings!

The first bird I was able to identify from my feeder last year, using my new guide book, was the Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco, I loved watching it flick food out of the feeder then jumping down to the ground to eat it, thankfully I am seeing them again around my apartment, sadly I had to take down the feeder this summer as I was also attracting a large family of rats underneath  my feeder and my landlord was not happy:( Every time I see a Junco, now, I smile and think of the start of my becoming a birder:)

I chose the Belted Kingfisher. I met a few kingfishers this summer-fall while kayaking on the Hudson River. They come across as quite the characters: chatty and bossy, but so fun to watch. At first, I had mistaken them for blue jays since it seemed--from a distance--in flight they have similar markings on their wings.  In researching them for this activity, I discovered that what I thought was a male is actually a female. This is one of the few species where the female is more brightly colored than the male. She has a rust band or belt, whereas the male does not. They burrow into fairly deep holes. I also looked up the red-breasted nuthatch since I have two who have been spending a lot of time at our feeder since October. They are often around chickadees and titmice, and I wasn't sure if that was just our two, or a coincidence. But apparently this is common behavior. I really love watching them hop up and down the tree, then dive in for a quick grab at the feeder. My source of information: Cornell Lab, All About Birds.

Tufted Titmouse I don't have a very good picture that anyone could use for identification.  But, since the pandemic and our lock-down in March (I live in Central Illinois), I had not bought bird seed for my multiple bird feeders until October. Our pergola, from which all feeders had been hung, has been taken down due to rot and the danger that posed. I bought a shepherd's hook and hung a tube feeder from that and a suet feeder from a tree. Then I waited, and waited, and finally a Tufted Titmouse darted into the yard during the second week of November. The bird landed in a Red Bud tree. It then flew to the tube feeder to eat, then it went back to the tree. It chirped several times, then a second Tufted Titmouse joined the first one. They collected food at the feeder, then flew to the tree. This species grabs food, then goes to a more protected location, like a nearby tree. There the bird uses its feet to process seeds, according to the Cornell course "Feeder Birds, Identification and Behavior." Also, in the winter, this species provides safety to other birds found in flocks with mixed species composition that include chickadees, woodpeckers, and others (Contreras, T.A. And K. E. Sieving, 2011. Leadership of Winter Mixed-Species Flocks by Tufted Titmice. International Journal of Zoology, pg1-11. DOI: 10.1155/2011/670548). Tufted Titmice are vocal in the group and help provide information to others about predators. As a newly minted amateur birder, I find this species to be a very cute bird, full of personality, pleasant to watch, and fairly bold. I am pleased to learn so much about it. I like it because it was the first species to re-inhabit my back-yard feeders.

Activity 2. I recently purchased a telephoto lens.  Now I can take a photo and use the iNaturalist app Seek to ID the bird from the photo(s) on my desktop screen.

I found the Three Wattled Bellbird on the Wall of Birds. I had a chance to see him last year and to hear his strange singing in my country, Costa Rica. These days I can see many birds in my backyard, some species I had not seen before, like Cowbirds.

I have been marveling at the variety of visible birds from my front porch, here in Taos, New Mexico. I see multiple types of woodpeckers, all the varieties of Dark-Eyed Juncos, Magpies, Crows, Calcons, Harriers, and Finches. Did I mention Blue Jays, Stellar's Jays,Western and Mountain Bluebirds, as well as Nuthatches, Titmouses, and, as of yet, unidentified flycatchers. I started this course to help me learn how to quickly identify them, as I am fascinated by them. We also had a sweet, little Caliope Hummingbird that came every day for weeks. Those little gems are greatly missed. When I moved here in August, we had all these amazing birds (many different from those mentioned above). One day, I came out and everything was quiet. It lasted for days. We barely saw any birds. I thought the nearby fires might have had something to do with it. We had a cold snap, in Sept, as well, and many birds were found dead that week. But over the course of the next two weeks, I became aware of new songs. Before I knew it, our birds had gone south, and an entire new group of birds had appeared. I'm 45, and had never witnessed the migration in that way before. Amazing!

I have purchased small bird resting boxes for winter.  Where is the best place to hang them?  They are made of grass on the outside but look like cardboard on the inside.  Should I put something in them?

Right now  my favorite bird that I see around my neighborhood is the Downy Woodpecker. They're a lot of fun to watch when they come up to my feeder and I really like their coloring.

I had an amazing experience in Costa Rica with a potoo. They have a song that sounds like Pauuulll. I recorded it and at night I saw with my night lights a potoo in a tree close to my house. I reproduced his song using a speaker and he came flying on top of my head, was one of the best moments of my life. He kept coming I believe he was curious about me or wanted to attack me. I will try to insert here the recording I did. I couldn’t insert the recording

In trying to identify this "duck", I learned about a new bird family the Coots, Gallinules, and Rails.  This is an American Coot I saw at White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas 10/11/20. I plan to spend more time watching the diverse bird population in this area. There is also a wonderful flock of Monk Parakeets in that area!

Visiting the Chesapeake Bay. Great place to birdwatch! Today we saw two bald eagles and plenty of great blue herons. It’s also migration season: so may Canadian geese & mallards! Around the yard I’ve identified mockingbirds and I believe a grey catbird. Lots of smaller very chatty birds perching at the top of tall trees which tend to fly in groups, but haven’t been able to identify them. KD

I enjoy the diversity of the birds in the Pacific NW including the Bald Eagle, the winter visitor Townsend Warbler and the calls of the Barred Owl in the forest by my house.

Just wanted to share three birds that I find unforgettable: the common loon, the pileated woodpecker and the osprey. I have vivid memories of them surprising me--demanding to be noticed, so to speak. Now I go out of my way to see them again to receive their message from the wild side. Honorable mention to every hummingbird I'ver ever seen and the elusive cedar waxwing.

I love the Northern Cardinal. It stands out among the rest of nature, and that's what I love best about it.

In the last 2 days, I have had 3 immature rose breasted grosbeaks visit my feeder. When I saw the first one, I thought it looked like a grosbeak but the coloring was all wrong. I looked through manuals and Merlin and found out they were immature birds! That was fun.

Hello, I live in the Upstate South Carolina area. By using the Merlin app, I identified a barred owl who wakes me up late at night!

We are lucky to have amazing bird life here in Cape Town. My favourites are the Sunbirds and Mousebirds that frequent my garden, although the latter like to wreack havok in my garden, especially with the granadilla. They are such characters! :) I found them on the wall represented by the Sugarbird and Red-Faced Mousebird in Southern Africa. Yesterday I was super lucky to capture a Double Collared Sunbird with my camera finally - and in front of Table Mountain as well!

Each morning my son and I walk about 1.5 miles around where we live. It is very common for us to see Blue Jays and my favorite the Northern Cardinal. I love to see them and listen to their songs.

My favourite bird from the Wall of Birds is the Pintail Wydah. I spotted one from my yard here in Ghana and took a not-bad photo; he was a male with the distinctive tail. I listened to the call on the Wall of Birds and it's quite pretty. But what I didn't realise is that these are Indigobirds (I am also a fan of the Wilson's Indigobird, which I've seen around a bit) and they are parasites! Who knew?! Not me. Very intriguing! I have no field guide to Ghanaian birds so the more I can find out about the ones I spot, the better. In terms of different types of birds, I've spotted plenty of raptors, particularly kestrels, but the other day I saw a little African Scops Owl and last night I saw what appears to be a Lizard Buzzard. I saw my first parrot the other day: a Senegal Parrot. I've been in Ghana a year and I come from regional Australia, where there are parrots everywhere, so it was nice to see this one, and I saw another last night. The third kind of bird I've seen, and one of my favourites, is a Turaco: the Grey Plantain Eater. They remind me of cockatoos in Australia with their little crests and highly social personalities — they're very easy to anthropomorphise! My favourite bird that I've seen in my neighbourhood (and my yard) is the splendid sunbird. I've included a photo of the male on a rainy day, and his brilliant colours are a bit subdued, but these are beautiful birds, very small, and he and his mate (pictured below him) come around the house to see if they can find small bugs on our fence wall and around outdoor lights.

Activity 1: I like the Osprey. Once while I was fishing for trout in a high altitude lake in Central Utah I watched an Osprey as it circled overhead and then plunged (more like belly flopped) into the water to catch its own fish. It failed a few times, but then it succeeded in grabbing a fish in its talons. That was pretty cool to watch. Activity 2: I went for a walk along a trail near my house and spotted some Canada Geese, Mallard Ducks, and Mourning Doves. The plumage of some of the Mallards was different. Rather than having a green head with blue wing bars, some had dark heads with white chests and black bodies, including black wing bars. Activity 3: One of my favorite birds is the Black-chinned hummingbird. One day while I was in my back yard, a Black-chinned hummingbird was performing some aerial stunts. It kept flying back and forth right over my head as it did barrel rolls. Must have been some sort of courting display.

I live in the desert Southwest and have seen a number of adult Cooper's hawk from the Raptor category.  Onc particularly likes to spend time in our large Mesquite tree but it is striking to watch it fly across the yard with its long, striped tail.  It makes a kind of dorky squealing sound which was unexpected.  We also get solitary Roadrunners crossing the yard which I think might fall into the "Other" category.  Just once we watched one glide from the top of a high rock which was quite a sight.  Normally they cautiously traverse the open spaces with their tail and neck making a V-shape until they feel threatened and rotate their body almost parallel with the ground and speed away. Yesterday I was excited to see two Green Tailed Towhees from the Songbird/Sparrow category scratching under some Mesquite trees.  They were so beautiful with rufous caps and bright green along their wings and tail and a very clearly marked white patch on their throats.  I think they are uncommon in the area because the Merlin Bird ID app would not let me ID them.   So far I think the Green Tailed Towhees are my favorite bird that I've seen but I also enjoy the variety of hummingbird's the visit the feeder outside the window.

The Wandering Albatross on the Wall of Birds is the first bird that catches my eye; how could it not!? I love that the birds songs are also included. Listening to the Wandering Albatross is incredible. The duck and diver groups captivate me. I first got into birding after spotting a Loon on a pond near my home. I dove into a great, big research tunnel after seeing him. Incredible! There are so many other ducks near me that I cannot wait to be able to identify. After my first encounter with the Loon, it definitely has to be my favourite. After all, he lead me here. :) -Erin / Pennsylvania

Activity 1 : shoebill , tawny frogmouth , kakapo Activity 2 : songbirds group one I have purple finch waterfowl : Pekin ducks in back yard raptors : red tail hawks activity 3 : some owl I hear at night not sure what kind yet

My favorites from the Wall of Birds are the Blue-Footed Booby and the Wandering Albatross.  I just love the silly sounding name of the Blue-Footed Booby and their demeanor.  I read a book called the Eye of the Albatross years ago and have been fascinated by albatross eve since then.  They are elegant birds.   Outside, at my feeders, I have identified a White-breasted Nuthatch which is from the Tree Creeper family; a Mourning Dove which is from the Dove/Pigeon family; and a Chipping Sparrow which is from the sparrow family. Also, I have shared a picture of the classic northern cardinal that is always a frequent flyer at my feeders.  

I living in Lake Monticello, a private gated community, is a census-designated place in Fluvanna County, Virginia, United States. By coincidence,  One day I go to golfing at Keswick, I found a Blue Grosbeak looking for food in the grass. And I have the camera in my hand, allows me to take pictures of him. And of course he is in my interest and hopefully wishes to see him again.

Ruby-throated hummingbird is my favorite bird for a reason: 1. They are the smallest migrating bird. They don’t migrate in flocks like other species, and they typically travel alone for up to 500 miles at a time. 2. The name, hummingbird, comes from the humming noise their wings make as they beat so fast. 3. Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards.

                  Since March 2020, I became interested and wanted to get to know the birds surrounding my house. I was inspired by a lover of Red-headed Woodpeckers, they came to make a nest on the tree in front of my house I saw them fly to feeder and birdbath that I prepare for them in my back yard. And flew back to the nest for a long time until July 5, 2020 so I had the opportunity to see them juvenlie.           I watched their juvenlie grow into adulthood. And expect him to leave me soon.

I have spent a great deal of time this summer learning more about my backyard birds - this is one of my favorite pictures.  The look on the little one's face is just precious.  Having the American Goldfinch visit this year has been such a joy.  (in addition to the Blue Jay, Cardinal, House Finch, Sparrow, Mourning Dove, Chickadee and many more - including a red-tailed hawk, which made the others scatter!) 

Hi, these are my favorite birds around home. They have really bright orange and yellow colors and they like to be around yellowish flowers that we have at home.

Hello! I am from NYC Brooklyn to be specific, and I just recently discovered birding. I have been going out almost every day and I was able to see and identify birds for the first time. In prospect park I saw a yellow warbler, a black-and- white warbler, lots of robins and european starlings. Today I also saw a hummingbird, a brown-thrasher and a green heron. I have also identified 3 different kinds of woodpeckers it just one area! Red- bellied, downy and northern flicker. I am looking forward to identify more birds as I get more knowledgeable.

This is keanu he is a White-breasted nuthatch(Sitta Carolinensis) other wise known as a tree creeper. One day I was walking the dogs and a blue flash of feathers caught my eye, so I leashed my dogs to a tree and went over to investigate. What I found was a young bird struggling to set flight. So I picked him up, held him close, got the dogs and went home. The first thing I did was call my neighbor because she has looked after many small animals in need. She gave me a big box some birdseed and more things for the bird to survive. That night I took him out and let him explore my bed then, he fell asleep while I watched some YouTube videos. The next morning I took him out and he started climbing on me like I was a tree. After school my neighbor brought me to a sanctuary for all kinds of birds, but when we got there the a lady took him away without letting me say goodbye. Just today I found out that Nuthatches climb trees up and down and cant fall off trees easily. Every now and then I think of Keanu with a teary eye and think how his life must have been or still is today. This is my story on Keanu he didn't act normal like wild birds but he was special to me and will always hold a place in my heart. Thanks for listening to my story!  :)

Hi I'm a long time bird lover but in recent years find myself more and more interested in bird watching.  Mobile apps are mostly to blame and cornell has two that are fabulous.  I live in Southeastern Pennsylvania but spend a lot of the summer in OCNJ.  I love hawks, eagles and ospreys and consider myself fortunate to see them often.  When I was a child it was unheard of to see an Osprey locally or certainly a bald eagle.  In recent years I've seen bald eagles in my neighborhood in the Philly suburbs and Osprey are everywhere at the Jersey shore.  I would like to think conservation efforts take credit for that or maybe banning of DDT. My favorite bird over the years has been the Goldfinch.  We had a nesting pair at my first house that obliterated our sunflowers but it was worth it.  Last year the Carolina Chickadee may have replaced the goldfinch due to what I felt was an amazing experience.  I used a mobile app to identify one and then played the recorded song on the app.  Must have been a mating call because a male flew to the branch 3 or 4 feet from me.  He flew away and I called him right back with the soundbite.  We played at this for a few minutes until I finally released the little romeo. We have large oaks and poplars in our suburban yard and I'm privileged to see and hear woodpeckers, wren, pewee, grey catbird, cooper's hawk, redtail hawk, chickadee, sparrows and the occasional goldfinch or owl (mostly hear them).  I've even had a hummingbird in my back yard.

Hello! Happy to join in with everybody here. I've had to relocate from my urban home in NYC to a much more rural area in NJ. I am amazed at how many birds I see and hear out here! Taking this course has certainly enriched my exploration of my new environment, in a sonic sense in particular (I find bird sounds very inspiring). From the Wall Of Birds I've chosen the Common Loon. Not native around these parts but their calls are one of my favorites- for me it's an ancient sound. They are clumsy on land but so powerful and graceful in their element, water. I find that relatable. I didn't know that they can also remain underwater for up to 15 minutes! As for the locals, I've been enjoying the Pileated Woodpecker very much. They are elusive, I usually catch a glimpse of them flying if anything but I hear their call and drum patterns often. I wish I had a photo to share. I've also been really into the Turkey Vulture. I see them everywhere and find them fascinating. Not the prettiest bird but I like that they are a bit eerie and they are not scared of anything! I came across a gathering one morning and was absolutely awed and intimidated! I wish I had been a bit braver for a better shot but below you can get an idea of the size of the group I tiptoed past..

I'm Aagney from Karnataka, India. I've always loved birding both as a hobby and as a science. From the wall of birds i would pick the red whiskered bulbul( Pycnonotus jocosus ). In my neighborhood not a day goes by when I don't see this bird. I've closely watched it's rather clever antics and I always feel mesmerized by it. To this date I've seen about 53 species of birds in my neighborhood and about 9 of them visit my make-shift birdbath in my backyard. These include greattits, red whiskered and red vented bulbuls, white eyes, tailor birds, magpie robins and ashy prinias.

Good morning! I'm glad to be here! Activity 1 - I really like the King Vulture, I saw it sometimes and it is a very beautiful bird. The vulture family attracts me a lot, as the indigenous people of my country say: life comes from death. But there is another bird that I love, the Long-billed Woodcreeper, I saw it once and was fascinated! Activity 2 - From my windonw, right now, I can see parrots, songbirds and vultures. Activity 3 - Almost every day a little bird comes to my windown, it is a songbird and I forgot his name. And every time he knocks on my windown and seems to say: "Hi guy! Forget this computer, let's go out now!". My little new friend... he doesn't know the corona virus.

A "shout out" to the Atlantic Puffin.  The coloring of a penguin and the bill like a parrot.  Excellent swimmers and fast flyers. Perhaps not so coordinated when on land but it does not stay on land much except when it is time to breed.  The Atlantic Puffin numbers have been decreasing and it is currently listed as Vulnerable.  The inspiring "Project Puffin" story about bringing breeding colonies back to Maine reflects the dedication and persistence of individuals to help restore this unique bird to the US.

Lots to learn, but enjoying the time to learn it. I have feeders in my yard that seem to be "standing room only" most days. The second activity, finding three birds from three different groups sounded hard until I looked out there. I saw a hummingbird, a lesser finch and several doves. I never thought of them in these different groups. So interesting.

I used to go birding all the time, then kids and work, etc.  I actually worked on a Northern Spotted Owl survey many years ago.  Since this pandemic I've been trying to find ways to get outside.  Birding is the perfect excuse, so I'm kinda starting over again with my girlfriend and some other friends.  Found a great new place to hang out in Omaha (a beautifully preserved wetland).  Wood Ducks, Mallards, and a Great Blue Heron today.

I think I saw a Western Screech Owl in my backyard at dusk. I flew near me and the sound of it's flight startled me a little. I live near the foothills south of Salt Lake City.

These are picture of western reef Heron that I clicked during the process of saving this young bird. Yes. It was struck in the well as it could not fly. With help of my hands I helped it reach my home first and then its home, the lake near my house that you see in the above pictures. For the first time I noticed this bird and with the help of Merlin bird app i found its name. Thanks to the Merlin. I am fond of three other birds : two I spotted in my neighborhood and One online : Owl, Small sparrow( Neighborhood)  and Flamingo  (Online). For some reasons I find the face of the owl interesting and at times scary too.  I would like to explore more about it. I am sad that there was a bird called Ornimegalonyx and it is no more now. It is an owl too.  I wish to do my part to coexist with exiting birds. Sparrow are cute when they fly and they build their home in our house. I always observe them when I get chance.  Flamingo is a bird I was introduced through a documentary. But I went on to learn that journey to Indian locations such as Mumbai and Chennai. Amazing! their birth and migration stories are.

On the Wall of Birds I chose the Montezuma Quail.  I enjoyed hearing their song.  I now know it belongs to the chicken like birds.  I had fun comparing the Montezuma quail to the obervations descibed in our lesson. It was hard to just pick one bird.  There are so many interesting birds to choose from.  Really enjoyed the first lesson.  I just purchased a new pair of binoculers and I am very happy with them.  They are 8x32 and are light weight.  I have observed turkey vulture in the raptor group, morning dove in the pigeons and doves group, and the northern cardinal in the songbird group.  These three birds I have know a long time but with my binoculars I am able to see so much detail.  I have been looking at the peaks, trying to understand size and shape, observing tail length,etc.  What fun. Hard to choose a favorite bird but I am very fond of hummingbirds.  I am an avid gardener and I am always happy when I see one hovering around my tube shaped red flowers.  I have seen the ruby throated hummingbird in my backyard.  I love being outside in nature and bird watching just adds a whole new way to see our wonderful environment.  Thanks¡

I have enjoyed bird watching for years. This covid spring and summer my two boys (ages 12 & 9), along with my wife have now really gotten into bird watching. We have been camping in Smoky Mountain National Park, visited multiple bird reserves, refuges and parks along with a trip to the NC coast to see some migratory birds as well. What a joy for me to see my family take to it. My oldest son is quite the researcher, now seemingly having memorized a couple field guides (he can tell me what page various birds are on and he is unbelievable in remembering details of size and marking etc.) My younger son is the artist, taking pictures and then drawing the birds...its also mesmerizing to me. Having studied under an ornithologist for a semester in the Rockies during my college days to now many years later having my family get into birding is a thrill for me. While at Smoky Mtn National Park we encountered a family of Pileated woodpeckers near the ranger station and we followed them around a bit enjoying the show. Just yesterday, at our home, we had a surprise visit from a couple Yellow billed Cuckoos....to date, since March, we have identified a little over 50 species in our yard (piedmont of NC, USA). To date, since March, we have identified almost 160 species from the mountains to the coast and all in between.

I've been bird watching for awhile, and went on a nice long bird watch walk with other birds today. I'm pretty sure I saw a Great Crested Flycatcher, and another birder agrees. But a third birder thought maybe just a mockingbird. What would you mark down?

Activity 3: My favorite neighborhood bird is a Cooper's Hawk that I see pretty often. I live in the city of Rochester and I think the bird feeders people put out help feed this hawk. One day this past winter when out walking my dog, I saw the hawk pursuing a House Sparrow. The sparrow attempted to escape by landing in  someone's front yard. Nope. That didn't work, as the hawk darted over, grabbed the sparrow, flew across the street to alight in a tree, and started to consume its breakfast.

I've really been enjoying the intro to bird watching class. All the information is so helpful. So far, I've been able to identify several birds that have been coming to my feeders for quite some time now. It's nice to be able to look out the window and see who's really there, not just see "birds" in general.

<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I live in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin and I </span>get a lot of American Goldifinches on my feeder along with sparrows and house finches.  Occasionally we will see a cardinal and there are a pair of mourning doves that will eat the seeds the other birds spill on the ground. This white bird appears to be a sparrow of some sort but it is all white. Is it possible that it is an albino sparrow?

Hi all, Very much enjoying this little intro course to birds.  I've been relatively successful in IDing the species around me and have found the BIRDNet tool really helpful. The other day, I came across this feather (see image) by my bird feeder.  The 'owner' was not observed and haven't seen any other like it since.  Any ideas??  I live in the Hamilton region of Southern Ontario.  I'd love to hear your thoughts!  

I live in San Diego and there are a few Anna’s Hummingbirds, I believe, (thanks Merlin App) that come by my front porch every day to peep the flower scene. I typically only see one at a time, but for a short while in -maybe- late May or early June there were upwards of six at a time! It was at that point I really began to enjoy their movements, sounds (namely the ‘buzzing’ of their wings), and those colors! A flash of green in the sunshine is really magnificent and is almost always cause for a pause. I haven’t completely figured out how to stay with their movements while using binoculars, but I am eager to start catching them up close.

I live in the Great Basin High Desert area.  While it is best to get out and take a walk up in the hills, or along the river, my backyard serves as my bird watching area during these unpredictable times.  I'm trying to plant flowers that attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.  Birds are attracted to the protective trees.  While it is not a large yard, I can easily find birds from three groups, (question 2.).   Mourning Doves flew in to explore.  Two Hummingbirds came to explore the Silvia and Penstemon.  However, I think some large Carpenter Bees rob them of some of the nectar. Rounding out the list are the songbirds Robins and my fave Scrub Jays and their youngsters. They are here all year and provide much entertainment.

I explored the Wall of Birds and immediately found one of my backyard favorites, the northern cardinal. Over 45 years ago I noticed a flock of male cardinals around a crabapple tree in my backyard as I watched from my kitchen window. Next day I placed hung a bird feeder from a branch of that tree and filled it with sunflower seeds. The cardinals found it and became regular visitors. I saw as many as 40 at a time in the late afternoon. That event made me become a birdwatcher. Over the years I have known many cardinal couples who have come to my feeders. I have noticed that if the female is around there is usually a male guarding her and discouraging other males from approaching. Several years ago I witnessed a sad event in my yard. In the late afternoon a female cardinal hit a picture window (despite the reflectors that hang from the inside of that window). Sadly she was dead instantly. He partner came looking for her and stayed with her, chirping and hopping around her body until the there was almost no light left. My husband and I were so sad to see his distress. It may seem silly but next morning we buried her in one of our flower beds.

One of the birds I picked in the Wall of Birds was the Oilbird. Where I come from,Venezuela, they are called Guácharo and are an important part of our nature culture (there is even a Guácharo monument!)  The Guácharo Cave, considered the largest in Venezuela, is located in the Guácharo National Park. It was explored by Alexander von Humboldt in 1799. I am attaching a picture of the cave's entrance and of the monument.   I now live in Lima, Peru, another great place to watch birds, however this is my first ever experience in bird watching. I took a stroll in a park near where I live in Lima and saw three birds that I managed to identify (I think) with the help of the Melin App: a group of Saffron Finches, two Long-Tailed Mockingbird, and a Vermilion Flycatcher. The Vermilion Flycatcher and the Blue-grey Tanager are my favorite birds. Although, I haven't seen Blue-grey Tanagers lately.

(1) Growing up in TN, my parents always fed the birds. Hands down I had to vote for the number one Cardinal as that bird is the first one I remember as a child and is still a number one beauty decades later. (2) A move to OH, and a home that backs up to a land trust area, we enjoy various groups of birds from songbirds, raptors, owls, woodpeckers, and doves...lots of doves. This year we were blessed with a barred owl family, Carolina wrens, a red tailed hawk family for the 4th year and most varieties of woodpeckers. (3) A bird that deserves a shout out is the Purple Martin. This is my 5th year as a PUMA colony landlord at our township garden. Who can’t love a bird that flies back and forth to South America each year to lay eggs, hatch their young and fly back? They are tough, personable, have a lovely chirp/chatter and don’t mind people hanging out with them. This year the colony has fledged 104 to send back to South America and some of them will return to our colony next year...we hope.

Paradise Tanager I find that the Paradise Tanager is my favorite, being colorful, beautiful, and, I LOVE TANAGERS!!! My second favorite is the Galapagos Penguin, beacause: 1: It's endangered 2: It's beautiful (like all birds are, if you look at them in the right way) 3: It is the only penguin that lives above AND near the Equater Galapagos Penguin NightwingMoonwatcher

I spend the summers right near the beach of Lake Michigan. This summer I really appreciated gulls at the beach. Most people find them annoying and chase them away, but I began to watch them. They are entertaining in the way they watch the beach looking for spilled crackers or cookies. I noticed that they read people trying to get a sense of who might share a snack and who will chase them away. I also love great blue herons and ruby-throated hummingbirds. They are so different and by watching them feed, I really get to know them. There are the slow, strategic movements of the heron and the quick fluttering of the hummingbirds. Because I feed the hummingbirds on my deck, I feel like I have a special relationship with them. They often hover right in front of my face and I wonder if they are thanking me for the nectar or asking me to refill the feeder.

Activity 1: I like the Osprey best because on the Wall of Birds it lives at the same place as I do, but also because there is a Osprey nest where I live and it it's so cool to watch the Ospreys fly around the nest and carry fish and other stuff to the young ones. Activity 2: On one of my walks through the park by my house, I saw Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals and Northern Mockingbirds, group: Songbirds. By a pond I saw Muscovy Ducks with a lot of ducklings and a Anhinga, grouped as Waterfowl. There was also a Great Blue Heron, some White Ibis, some Wood Storks and a Limpkin, group: Wading birds. Activity 3: It is really hard to pick a favorite, for there are about 10000 bird species in the whole world and I am supposed to narrow it down to one species?! I really like the Nanday Parrots with their loud calls and so cute relationships. Great Blue Herons are also really cool, as well as Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. But, if I have to pick a absolute favorite, it would be the Northern Mockingbird, because I always watch them in my yard, sometimes feeding young ones or fighting. And every time I come back to my house after a hike, two Northern Mockingbirds sit on the power lines, at the same spot every day. 

These are some of the birds in the neighborhoods, I have walked in. The Canada Goose, with one foot, was hopping and surviving. Foraging. Poor Thing.   And the SeaGulls are at the beach, drinking the water, and 'in a mingle.' I never knew they drank water like that, it looks interesting.

Activity 1. The Wall of Birds is gorgeous! I fell in love with the Lilac-Breasted Roller found in East Africa. Lilac is my favorite color so that had something do with my choice. What I also love is the male Roller during breeding season will do aerobatic dives and rolls. It brought to mind the numerous Blue Angel airshows I have attended in which the pilots with their planes were doing what the Rollers do. Activity 2. This year I monitored a pair of Red Shouldered Hawks from The Raptors group for a couple of biological scientists doing a survey. I followed the hawks from nest building to the eventual hatching and fledging of 2 baby hawks. It was amazing! There is a Wildlife Refuge near me and there I recently observed a Downey Woodpecker, hard at work and from the Waterfowl Group, a beautiful Cinnamon Teal Duck. Activity 3. My favorite bird is the Western Tanager. It migrates through my neighborhood. I first noticed them due to the loud chatter coming from the tree tops near me. I think quarantine and the quietness around me made me more aware this year. The males are absolutely gorgeous with a red head, yellow body and black wing bars. They stay mainly in tree tops and when they are around there is a flutter of  movement in the tree tops and flashes of yellow. I first thought that someone's pet bird escaped until I learned more about them. Such a beautiful bird!

One day when I was walking in a field beside a creek, a place I could let my dogs off the leash when we were out for a walk, I saw, at close range, a great blue heron (ardea herodias) rise up suddenly out of the creek bed. I didn't immediately know what it was--I'd seen them only from a distance before. I actually had the feeling of my heart rising in my chest. Since that day 15-20 years ago I've felt connected to these wonderful wading birds. I've seen them on the seashore, as in St. George Island, FL (below). This is a favorite photo of the great blue heron. I actually photographed several members of a group standing close to some people surf fishing. Herons are usually solitary fishers, but will take what human fishers by the water don't use. A close relative of this heron is the great egret (ardea alba), a beautiful white wading bird. I live within a 2-hour drive of a place called Reelfoot Lake in northwest Tennessee, which is teeming with birds, from terns to bald eagles. Below, an egret. In recent decades, Reelfoot has become known for eagle-watching. A few bald eagles were wintering at the lake in the 60s and 70s. Now, there's an abundance of nesting pairs. Ospreys, too. Plenty of fish for both raptors and waders. I live near Memphis, on the edge of the urban area, in a neighborhood with a lot of mature native trees. Plenty of deer, and a lot of birds I hear in my back yard, where the trees are dense around an intermittent creek that drains the area. It's hard to see them this time of year. But cardinals are abundant and their plumage make them easy to spot. I've been surprised 3-4 times in the 15 years I've lived here by hearing the calls of barred/hoot owls outside. I've immediately gone to sit on the back porch and listen to the back-and-for calls of one nearby and one distant owl. In fact there's a lot of bird music right here, and one of my goals is to acquire a much greater ability to identify birds by their songs and calls. Jays, Red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks, sparrows, wrens, vireos, eastern bluebirds (often seen in pairs) are a few. There's a small lake in a park nearby where I ride around a half-mile track a few times in the course of a longer bicycle ride. I often see my beloved great blue herons, always solitary. And green herons make appearances there too, along with bluebirds. All of them are sources of delight to me.  There must be at least a hundred species I have no idea of, so I have the joy of learning some of them to look forward to.

Activity 1.  I really enjoyed the Wall of Birds, but there are so many birds I decided to start with South America and just check out every bird. So far I especially like the marvelous Spatuletail Hummingbird because of color, the special tail, I would love to see them present when mating.  I was impressed with the Three-Wattled Bellbird, never seen or heard of such a bird.  I enjoyed the Long-tailed Manakin and would like to see them doing there leapfrogging flight.  Activity 2.  I went to the beach and I saw Brown Pelicans, Heermann’s Gulls, Western Gulls, Great-tailed Grackles, Rock Doves, and Tree Swallows.  Activity 3.  I have too many favorites and it changes depending on my encounter with the bird or birds.  I have a fountain out in my front yard, and I often sit out trying to sketch the birds as they visit the fountain.  I have House and Chipping Sparrows, House Finches, and once in a while a pair of American Goldfinch as well some Anna’s Hummingbirds.

Activity 1: Nope. I cannot choose a favorite, I love every single one. I think I went through half and gave them all hearts. Activity 2: We spotted a group of house finches and loads of Anna's hummingbirds. There was also a bird that looked like a cross between the house finch and a parrot. It was pretty far away and hard to get the details on, but its coloring was a kind of brown with a touch of green and had it had a parrot-like head and beak. We're SO CURIOUS about these two guys. We also see red-tailed hawks hunting every so often, which is pretty neat. Activity 3: It's hard to pick a favorite, but the hummingbirds give us the best look because we can watch them feed and interact with each other. They're so aggressive, they even fight with each other and the hornets. Sometimes they even fly up to face us and seem to be threatening us to go back inside. They observe my small dog (without attacking). They following him and look down at him as he wanders around the yard. It's wild!

Activity 1: Oilbird (lives in caves and uses echolocation), Red-Faced Mousebird (multiple females lay eggs in one nest), African Jacuna (females battle for nesting grounds, males incubate eggs and raise chicks), Wandering Albatross (spend most of their life in the sea, have salt glands). Activity 2: Songbirds (Shiny Cowbird/Mirlo Común) Raptors (American Kestrel/Cernícalo) Waterfowl (Cinnamon Teal/Pato Colorado) Activity 3: My favorite is a Croaking Ground Dove/Tortolita Quiguagua. My friends call it a frog-bird. Some of the funny croaking sounds it makes are Wow! Weird. It’s bigger than a sparrow, but smaller than a pigeon. It’s grayish-brownish in color with a bright yellow beak at its base. It freezes when feels threatened, which allowed me to touch them on many occasions. On the other hand, if you stand still, it will walk around you not even noticing your presence.

I really came to appreciate the motto "keep common birds, common" , especially while under house quarantine. I fell in love with a pair of mourning doves that called our pine tree home... each morning the first thing that came to mind was not coffee, but how are the birds, what are they doing, did the one egg hatch...I really got to appreciate the ordinary birds in my yard/neighborhood, something I definitely took for granted. Though not a colorful bird, grayish/brown- it has a distinct long tail and a call that I found soothing. Parents shared nesting / feeding duties- I was really surprised that during high winds the flimsy nest withstood the stress... I can't thank you all enough, for all these inexpensive courses and sharing your expertise (I attended a fabulous lecture at the lab on crows by Kevin...).  I wrote poems about the birds I saw while home during those 4 months...and I never wrote poetry before...I have been drawing them also. I am now a more relaxed version, of me....Thank you!!

Before seeing the Shoebill on the Wall of Birds, I saw a stuffed-shoebill at the Lab or Ornithology, I thought is was fake...such an interesting looking bill perfect for a carnivore...it depends on the papyrus swamps in Eastern Africa (do not migrate) and are considered a vulnerable species -with estimates of approximately 3,000- 5,300 adults left in the world. Numbers are declining due to habitat loss, clearing for pasture, and agricultural burning. In Uganda, some are hunted because they are considered a bad omen. The wingspan can be up to 8 feet in length-  once classified in the stork family, it looks prehistoric- check it out...  

THE PELICAN and THE WOOD DUCK, are my favorites.   THE PELICAN, because it has a mixture of strength and playfulness, in its' looks and style.   THE WOOD DUCK, because it is unique and cool looking. It has a 'one of a kind,' profile and assortment of colors.  

I love the Stellar's Jay! They have nested in our yard for the last few years, and I've learned that they are much quieter when they are nesting (their squawk can be annoying). I love watching the hatchlings leave the nest and walk about the area while learning to fly.

I am following three birds we see around our home.  The Ring-necked Pheasant,  what I now know to be a Rufous Hummingbird and what appear to be a family of Song Sparrow living in a birdhouse.  I have yet to capture their pictures.

1. I've visited Ithaca many times to see relatives. We always find our way to Sapsucker Woods and the Wall of Birds. My grandchildren were enthralled and they would love the interactive Wall on this site. I think the Asiatic Fairy Bluebird is lovely. Penguins are so amazing as are the walking birds such as emu. 2. I love red bellied woodpeckers with their red heads and noisy clucking around. I was trying to spot a mocking bird and discovered it was a brown thresher imitating a cardinal, twice. I loved to watch nuthatches at my previous resident. They fly so quickly and do Darth Vader imitations when being territorial. 3. Now my favorite neighborhood bird, though only as it passes through, are the swallowtail kites. They are such dramatically colored birds, white and black, and sail through the air using their swallowtails as rudders.

I just spotted two Ring-necked Pheasants on our fence but was too late with the camera!  They were displaying and looked to be young males, from what I can tell, as the novice I am.   They seemed to be practicing displays?  Very excited to see them again and find out what they are up to.  Great course so far!

The three types of birds, are : Duck/Waterfowl. White Heron/Waterbird-Wading Bird. And the Shorebirds/Pipers. The pictures were taken today, 8/6/20. I have noticed some birds are very flighty, and some are not. The Heron flew away after the pictures, but the ducks did not. -b.k. All these birds connected to the water, but differently.

Activity 1: I chose the Brown Creeper from the family of tree creepers. It’s shown in western North America on the wall but we have them here in Pennsylvania as well. I was surprised to learn how large the Brown Creepers range is and that it is a year-round resident here. I only first saw one last year and was able to get a photo. I think they are cool because they are masters of camouflage.

Activity 1....Our favorites were the Carolina wren (because we have them in our backyard) and we also choose the common loon (for its bizarre and haunting song, also because the description read like a strange romance novel)....   Activity 2...So we have White breasted Nuthatches which I believe fall into the songbird group in the tree creeper category. We have red-tailed hawks which are in the raptor group. We have downy, hairy and red chested wood peckers which fall into the wood pecker group.   Activity 3...My favorite bird is the blue jay, although after recent hawk attacks they have kept a distance. My fathers favorite bird right now is the gray catbird, because of its memorable personality.  

Activity 1: My favorite bird from the Wall of Birds was the Shoebill. I just think they are so fascinating. Their beaks are huge and they have a hook at the end of them. Activity 2: The Eastern Phoebe is a flycatcher. I love watching them sit on a branch, fly out to catch a but, and fly back to their original location! The Great Egret is a wading bird. I saw one the other day as it was trying to catch a fish. It was so close. The Red-shouldered Hawk is a raptor. I think I have been seeing and hearing this type of bird. It has a loud call that sounds like PEW-PEW-PEW! Activity 3: Some of my favorite birds in my neighborhood are ones that I see in my backyard. I really like the Gray Catbird, Goldfinch, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The Catbird is medium sized and gray with a long tail and black beak. There is one that comes to my house often that is missing its tail! The Goldfinch is a bright yellow bird with black wings. The females are more of an olive green. Lately, there have been Hummingbirds showing up to my Hummingbird feeder. The only ones I have seen are girls because they do not have red on their throat. They have white bellies, green back, and long, black beak.

My current favorite birds would be the Barred Owl and the Loon. The Barred Owl because they are so neat! We saw a pair when walking in the woods the other night. They were just amazing and certainly scoping us out to see if we would make good food! The Loon is another one I love because of the call. It is so haunting and lonesome sounding. I have only seen Loons in secluded lakes and so that might be why I think that. As for three birds from three different groups, I am having the most trouble with the water birds so I will choose from those groups to help myself learn the distinctions between the three. 1. Cormorant.  I think that would fit into the Seabird Group. I see them sometimes holding their wings out to dry them. 2. Wilson's Snipe. Shore bird. I have heard their call and it is really unique. 3. Great Blue Heron. Wading bird group. They are so elegant.

Activity 3: It is impossible for me to choose a favorite. But the bird I will select for this purpose is the catbird. The reason is because it is like my little buddy — 9 times out of 10, the first bird to show up in the morning and the last to leave in the evening. It is not shy, and likes to be seen *and* heard. Sometimes there are two together and they act like squabbling siblings or spouses, vying for the same spot on the suet feeder and chasing each other around. Cheeky catbird!

My first bird learning experience. I was watching and listening for birds when I walked this morning. Only one bird was close enough to see. I realized that I need to school myself to look at beaks, tails, and shapes an not rely on color. I think the bird I saw was a robin, but it didn’t look like robins I have seen from my apartment. Hope my observation skills improve.

My selections from three groups are: 3) Hummingbird (hummingbirds) - I did not know we had hummingbirds in my neighborhood and I was stunned one more to have one come through our garden to nosh on the hosta blossoms. I was unprepared and did not get a good photo. A few days later, it came through again and I was ready on the second pass. I hav been a birder since May 21 (2020) and this is my favorite photo that I’ve taken so far!

My selections from three groups are: 2) Downy woodpecker (woodpeckers) - I have only seen the female but I would love to see the male with his bright red patch. She feeds at our regular feeder regularly and I have also seen her in a tree. Her black and white coloring is quite dramatic. She has only been to the suet feeder a few times that I’ve seen but that’s where I was able to catch a picture of her. Still working on getting a better photo, but she comes and goes pretty quickly!

My selections from three groups are: 1) House wren (songbirds) - we had a male house wren build a nest in our birdhouse but it was not selected by the female to be used. (I am new to birding as of May 21 when we moved to our new bird-blessed home and I learned that the male builds about 3 dummy half nests, then the female selects the one she wants to use and finishes the nest herself. Here is the male working on the nest.

I voted for the northern cardinal on the Wall of Birds. There is something so dramatic about the cardinal’s vibrant solid red color — simple and bold — that I just love. I call the one who visits our yard regularly Mr. C (often accompanied by Mrs. C). There is a regal air to the cardinal and when he perches up high, as in this photo of him at the top of our tallest fir tree, he looks like the king of all he surveys. Yet close up, when he forages underneath the feeder, there is something just a bit comical in the way he moves his head and appears to be perpetually puzzled. That combination of qualities, along with his stunning coloring, endears him to me, and that’s why he gets my vote.

Here are two of my favorite backyard visitors. The handsome hawk stopped by last year for about 30 minutes and gave me a great opportunity for pictures.  And I love the picture of daddy bluebird feeding the babies. Looking forward to learning more about the birds that visit my yard and that I see on my trips.

I'm super new at this, and live in Northern Colorado (NoCo, to us locals). ;-) I spotted two downy woodpeckers on my daughter's playhouse this morning -- one male, one female. Of course they'd flown away by the time I grabbed my camera! While walking my dog, we startled two hawks out of a yard. Both were the same size. Both had been on the ground, which made me think maybe they were eating something? We have tons of red-tailed hawks around here, but I don't generally see them on the ground. I didn't spot the red tail as these two flew away, but both seemed to have striped patterns on the under-side of their wings, so I wonder if they were juveniles? Or maybe a different kind of hawk? Wish I knew. Went back with my camera but again, they were gone by the time I returned. (Of course!) Pretty sure I heard an owl this morning, but couldn't spot it. We've had this big guy in the neighbor's tree a few times, so not sure if he's the culprit. Not sure which bird would be my favorite. I love the hawks because they're everywhere and I love seeing them hanging out on the lightpoles. But I love the owls because they're NOT everywhere (or at least, not visible!). And I love the chickadee's little song.  

Activity one Lesson one was my first introductory education in the world of birds. I am astonished by the unique characteristic of birds. My interest in knowing and understanding birds has increased after this lesson. It is difficult to pick a favorite bird knowing, similarities are not the same. Every bird is unique individually. My favorite on the wall of birds is the Yellow-billed Oxpecker. Oxpeckers play a vital role in controlling the tick population on large animals and tick-related diseases. Oxpeckers also serve as an alert trigger to huge mammals been the first to sight or hear a predator and will make a loud sound.

For Activity 2: This morning I saw 2 Anna's Hummingbirds (hummingbird group) in my backyard. Right now I can hear American Crows (songbird group) in the front yard. I want to know what they are saying. And yesterday my friend and I rode our bikes to a wetland to see the Great Egrets (wading birds group). They were so beautiful.

My experience today, related to the lesson, is the usual chorus of crows in the morning, a circling red tail hawk way above (a youngster maybe?) and humming birds buzzing my head as I made a few drip system repairs. My favorite neighborhood bird, though saw none today, is the California quail. So pretty, comfortably chubby, and always in family groups at this time of year.

I had heard of the bird the Elegant Trogan and on a recent visit to Madera Canyon I knew I had a good chance to see one. On my first morning, a wonderful woman named Liz offered to show me where she had seen one earlier in the morning and we strolled off with our masks and 6 foot distancing down to the picnic area. She pointed up in a tree and I was excited to get my first view, but my pictures really didn’t show much but a brown blog. That same afternoon one flew outside my cabin window and I got a pretty good picture and was very excited. But the next morning, I got up early to go down to the picnic area because it was Monday and I figured no one would be at the picnic area. When I arrived, there was a lovely family of five enjoying the morning,  but even with their laughter and joy I could hear the trogan call that sounds like a barking dog. And I found it and again got a pretty good picture, but my waiting paid off as once the family left on their hike and it was quiet, I got to watch him eat a worm on the ground.  This was so exciting that I was like a little kid on Christmas morning as I had not only gotten to see an Elegant Trogan but got to observe him in nature eating breakfast.  The early bird gets the worm and got me  hooked me into becoming a birder.

Activity #1:  After reading the book, "The Wall of Birds", my husband and sister travelled to Ithaca for an overnight stay just to see this spectacular painting.  It was just as incredible as I imagined after reading the book.  A great memory! Activity #2:  Find birds from three different groups:  During these crazy days, after working remotely all day, I enjoy sitting out on the porch to read or just watch the birds in my yard.  There are sparrows, cardinals and mourning doves, but I most enjoyed the catbird that would come and sit on the bush near the porch.  I think that catbird falls into the 'Songbird' group (but not absolutely certain).  On one of my morning walks, I was startled by a large raptor that flew across my path (I probably startled him)...I think it was a red-tailed hawk.  On another morning, heading out the front door, there was a wild turkey in my front yard.  Very cool! Activity #3:  Pick a favorite bird that you see in your neighborhood:  On my morning walks, I encounter a lot of Robins...and I found it interesting that they do not seem to 'like' to fly, but instead, seem to prefer to walk, even run when I would get too close.  While this is a common bird, I find them interesting and funny.

While studying this course, I was sitting outside in my backyard in Mississippi. I saw at least 15 different species of birds just in the last hour or two. I would say my favorite from today was the Yellow Shafted Northern Flicker. I saw two doing some kind of dance in the trees, and it was just fascinating! I don't have a good camera yet to take pictures, but it's next on my list of birding buys.

Activity 1: While there were many contenders for my favorite bird from the Wall, I chose the resplendent quetzal because of the beautiful verdant color of its feathers, the streaming tail of this species's males, and this bird’s prominence in Mesoamerican iconography. The last time I traveled to Costa Rica, I visited Los Quetzales National Park and was incredibly happy to see several of these birds as they feasted on wild avocados found in the cloud forest. Activity 2: For my first bird, I selected the Greater Bird of Paradise in the Paradisaeidae family. Birds from this region of the world are wondrous and strange, and this one in particular is multi-hued and spectacular! I would love to travel to that part of the world to see them in person. Second, I will mention the roseate spoonbill, a wading bird that is in the Threskiornithidae family. With their lovely pink coloring and uniquely shaped bills, they are quite a sight to behold. Thirdly, while they are quite common and many others have mentioned them, I enjoy watching the antics of ruby-throated hummingbirds as they hover at my feeder and then zoom away. Hummingbird is the common word used to refer to birds in the Trochilidae family.   Activity 3: For this activity, I am choosing the gray catbird. Its unique cry, akin to that of a cat, is likely how it derives its name. They are small gray birds with a black mohawk that I often see on the ground or in the shrubs around my house. I knew they were Passeriformes, but I had to look up their family, the Mimidae, which also includes thrashers and mockingbirds. I enjoy watching them move about in my gardens.

that is a copper-smith Barbet i have only seen him a couple times i named him smithy!!!

I do a lot of photography, and most of it seems to be out in nature, and of birds! I started this course in part so that I could properly identify some of the beautiful birds I see in our back yard and also at our summer cabin. The cabin is on a lake, so that means lots of shore birds.  Great Blue Herons are always my favourite, and our lake has many, but this year I started seeing another, smaller, heron-shaped bird. Using an online identification app I was able to pin it as a Green Heron--something I had never seen before. A few days later, we had a visitor on our dock, and it turned out to be a juvenile Green Heron. Very exciting!

Activity 1: Macaws as #1, with toucans coming in as a close second. Activity 2: Seabirds - wilson storm petrel - I would have thought the seagull would have been the most common seabird. Arctic - the rock ptarmigan -I didn’t realize it was the only species that all populations inhabit the tundra. Songbirds - American crow - spoiler alert to section 2 - I didn’t know they fly different than the raven. Activity 3: my favourite bird in my neighbourhood is the Bohemian waxwing. I believe I saw a flock of these birds eating berries on my way home from school as a kid, but they may have been cedar waxwings. They seemed to look more like bohemians, but if they were bohemians they would have been visitors to this area of eastern Ontario.

I have spent an enjoyable afternoon starting my bird academy course.  I now have the first assignment to complete.  As I perused the Wall of Birds my favourite was obvious.  I enjoyed a poem as a child about a puffin.  It was a favourite for me then and still is now.  On to activity two. I am in my backyard barbecuing dinner, does the chicken I am cooking count towards a bird sighting??  I must say that we are blessed with the variety of birds that visit our backyard...usually. Currently just a ruby throated hummingbird is at the feeder.  It is chirping what I believe to be a thank you.  Today being Thursday is the day I clean and refill the sugary elixir they love.  The only other birds are the grackles.  I find it funny that one seems to like the niger seeds more than the sunflower seeds.  I must admit, I used to loath the grackles coming to my feeders because they would clear them out quickly.  However, I spent some time watching them last week and found them quite attentive to their young.  Also, I was fascinated at how they would puff up before making their squawk. They looked like a warlord or gangster from a 1940's movie.  I can hear bluejays but they have not shown up at the feeder.  Do they know something I don't?  Is the rain finally coming??  A mourning dove has arrived with a welcomed cool wind. We recently purchased a wooded lot where we plan to build our next home.  That's what led me to taking this course.  It is only an hour north of where we live, but with so many birds I have never seen in person.  We identified an American woodcock in early March.  There was a pair of ducks (type unsure) we saw twice take off from the woods.  My current favourite (activity 3) is a pair of Barred owls, residents on the property.

I had to post one more of my favorites! We have a cactus that is home every year to a family of great horned owls. I never knew that they are such fans of cactus as nests. It is a real treat to watch the process unfold every spring. What a hoot! 

• I have always been a big fan of the Roadrunner. We caught this guy eating bugs off the grills of all the cars parked at Joshua Tree State park. While we have many here in AZ this is the best photo I have ever taken. He walked right up to us. I never knew that they drop their body temps at night and expose their dark back feathers to the morning sun to warm back up.

Activity 1: So many interesting birds to read about, a few I looked into are Whiskered Treeswift and Western Yellow Wagtail. Activity 2: Three birds that I commonly find in my neighbourhood are Mourning Doves (Doves and Pigeon group), American Goldfinch (songbird group) and Downy woodpecker (woodpecker group). Activity 3: I picked the Northern Cardinal. I love its vibrant red colour especially when winter rolls around.