Activity 1: I love the Common Loon.  I first heard one when visiting a friend who lived on Lake Winnipesaukee in NH.  I had never heard anything as beautiful and haunting in my life. Activity 2/3: I always look for owls around our home when I walk or run in the woods.  Today I saw what I think were 3 young Great Horned Owls in one tree!  They were breathtaking and so still and watchful.  I've seen, heard, and been swooped by, Barred Owls not infrequently, but I've never seen a Great Horned Owl, and here were three!  So exciting! We have lots of Bald Eagles and Osprey that circle over our home.  I also love the Pileated Woodpeckers for their gorgeous red head and their swooping flight pattern.

Activity 1: I really like watching wetland birds, especially when they’re in flight and their long legs are tucked back. It seems so majestic. There is one red-legged bird called the Cavaliere d’Italia (or black-winged stilt in English) whom I love and have seen in Sardinia. I love owls, too. And I love bright, colorful birds. I first got interested in birding when in Kerala in southern India last year. My favorite birds to see there are Indian paradise flycatcher, red-whiskered bulbul, and greater racket-tailed drongo. Activity 2: In my urban neighborhood we see mostly pigeons, parakeets, blackbirds, and sparrows. Occasionally I see a Eurasian blue tit, a very pretty bird that I suppose is a songbird? It is helpful to think of them as separate groups. I am currently visiting family in a small town, where there are many more songbirds, and I see cardinals, bluebirds, robins, as well as turkey buzzards (which group are they?) and the odd raptor. Activity 3: I don’t have a good photo, but I love the blue tit and the bluebird. I guess I like blue birds! I also saw a flock of goldfinches recently and that was exciting.

Activity 2: I have a flycatcher tending a nest over the security light on my garage. She is very busy catching food for her brood and is fun to watch.  Spotted towhees are a common sight here and I am impressed by their attractive plumage and enjoy watching them hop and scratch at the ground in search of goodies. I live near an open space in which the town maintains blue bird houses, so I am fortunate to see mountain blue birds frequently.  Activity 3: I think my favoite local bird is the robin.  We have had a great crop this year and I have enjoyed seeing the young ones bugging their parents for food.  My mom loved them so I think of her when I see them.

I like to be aware of the birds that I may have the opportunity to see in places I am likely to be.  I selected birds from the bird wall that I have seen or hope to see in my vicinity. I especially loved the great blue heron, which I have seen in the creek that runs through our town.

Activity 1: I've always liked birds of prey and specifically the osprey. We have a few of them at the pond here in town and it's amazing to watch them dive to catch fish. Activity 2: Around town there are quite a few morning doves and pigeons. We also have black-billed magpies everywhere and you can hear them all day long. Activity 3: I love seeing the black-capped chickadee in the neighborhood. They are petite and are fun to watch.

Activity 1: My favorite bird on the Wall of Birds is the Shoebill. I had the chance to see one when I was in Uganda, and it really left an impression. It's such a unique and almost prehistoric-looking bird, with its massive bill and slow, deliberate movements. Activity 2: I went for a walk and spotted a few different types of birds. I saw several small songbirds, although they were hard to identify without binoculars. I also noticed a pair of doves on a neighbor’s chimney, which I believe are part of the chicken-like birds group. Lastly, I saw a few raptors circling overhead, possibly hawks or vultures. Even without identifying every species, it was interesting to try placing them into broader groups. Activity 3: My favorite bird in the neighborhood so far is the Spotted Towhee. It’s the first one I managed to photograph clearlywith my phone and then identify with some confidence. I really like its bold coloring and distinctive red sides. It was exciting to log it as my first official sighting.

Activity 1: My favorites in the wall of birds in my area are the Prothonotary Warbler and Wood Ducks. They're some of the more unique birds I found when I was still early into birding.   Activity 2: Chicken-like: I occasionally find wild turkeys around where I live. Swimming birds/Waterfowl: I found a red-breasted merganser far inland on a freshwater river. I was able to get pictures of it that positively confirmed the species. Very fun. Shorebirds: I found a lesser yellowlegs in one of the marshy areas where I like to go birding.   Activity 3: My favorite bird are ospreys. I enjoy watching them fly around catching fish. I got to observe them one time where a father was perched on the side of a nest picking apart a fish and passing pieces to the mother who was having some herself and feeding pieces to her chick. It was really cool to see.

Activity 3: I really love seeing the turkey vultures that soar around my area. I usually see them at least weekly and they brighten up my day. I've seen them circling in groups before, and one flew very, very close to the bridge I was walking by once. It flew up right over the railing; I could see the features of its face, it was so close. So remarkable. I also saw a blue jay while walking home yesterday. Gorgeous little guys!

Activity 2:  Two and a half years ago we moved from a big city to a smaller town.  Now we líve in an apartment that has a large balcony that looks at a wetland.  In the balcony I have some bird-feeders; in one of them I put banana and a kind of plantain the birds like; sometimes I also put papaya.  In the other feeder I put a variety of seeds including crushed corn and birdseed.  At least 8 species of birds come daily to eat.  I love to see the birds come and go. There is also a park in the neighborhood to which we take daily walks.  I love to see the birds when walking and have learned to identify them. We also see other birds in the nearby wetlands.  Moving here sparked my interest in birds. Recently my husband and I joined the regional ornithological society and have gone to birdwatching outings with small groups with trained leaders.  We also participated in the GBD last Saturday 10th May, and we made lists of birds that added to 35 species, just in our neighborhood. I think we are lucky to live in Colombia, which is the country with the largest number of bird species in the world. We have a privileged geography for birds that includes a variety of ecosystems.  We are planning to do some traveling around our county in birdwatching tours.

Vermillion flycatcher - Pirocephalus obscurus This is a bird I like a lot and that we see in the nearby park during our morning walks.

Activity 2: I’m really lucky to live in an area with lots of forests/trees, but also on a bay. So there’s some great diversity in the kids of birds in my neighborhood! We have lots of song birds (crows (so many, we’ve counted over 150 flying overhead at one time), black-capped chickadees, dark-eyed juncos, stellar jays, redwing black birds, and robins), but also wading birds (blue herons), sea birds (seagulls), raptors (bald eagles), and hummingbirds. Activity 3: I have two favorites, mostly because I’ve only seen them once and feel super proud of myself for figuring out what they were. The first was a red breasted nuthatch. I heard a… unique (ie. kind of annoying) song over and over in my backyard and finally saw the little guy fly to my feeder. It’s a super cute bird, but that song…. The other I saw just yesterday at the park. It’s a spotted towhee. I love it’s red eyes and the little white spots on its wings and tail.

first bird i could ID without merlin or any help! my sweetie white crowned sparrow

1. Tremendous fun! 2. I see a lot of crows which belong to the Corvid group  I also saw a raptor recently I  e  the common red tail Hawk. At home I have a bird feeder with a frequent visitor who is a songbird finch 3. In the evenings I like seeing the flock of wild green parrots squawk by as they fly to their night roost

Morning Dove was the bird that I found. It hopped right out of the tree in my apartment complex. I often hear their song. It was neat that I used a guide and narrowed down my favorite morning song bird!

Activity 3: I work at a school in Kalamazoo MI called Kazoo School that is located right next to Kleinstuck Nature Preserve so I see and hear many different birds daily. One of my favorite birds is the pileated woodpecker and I saw them for the first time in Kleinstuck. I was amazed by their size and physical features, rather Dinosaur-like. I was in the woods with my preschool students at a spot we call Paw Paw Valley and I saw two pileated woodpeckers. I was so excited I gasped and said to myself "Oh my f***ing god". Two of my students were sitting close by and they looked up at me and one of them said, "she just said f***k". They started to giggle. I was mortified and explained to them that that was not a good word to use but sometimes people say it when they are surprised or excited. It was the first sighting of a bird that really made me feel something. It's hard to put into words but mesmerized is one word I'd use. My dear birding friend told me that the pileated woodpecker was my spark bird.

I’m new to this and other than the birds I’ve been able to identify my whole life (cardinal, robin, etc) I saw my first “what is this?” bird the other day and figured it out using the Merlin app. A European Starling! I love the black and gold look of it.

This morning we went on a walk along a trail near Utah Lake. We saw several birds including American White Pelicans, Double-breasted Cormorants, American Kestrels, Red-winged blackbirds, and Northern Flickers. American White Pelicans and Double-breasted Cormorants are from the seabirds group, American Kestrels are raptors, and Red-winged blackbirds are from the blackbird group. Looking forward to finding more birds from various groups!

I was drawn to the Lilac Breasted Roller as I have also admired their beautiful coloring. I was surprised to listen to it's rather croaky call, for such a pretty bird, it sounds like it's choking on something! For activity two I went outside and the first thing I saw was a Great blue Heron. They're not frequent visitors out here so it was a treat. While out there I saw a killdeer and a dark eyed Junco, so those are my three birds; a wading bird, a shorebird and a songbird. Finally my favorite bird out here is the American Goldfinch. They're frequent visitors, so chatty and I love seeing that splash of color in the trees.

Activity 3: I live just a few minutes' walk from a river and a small waterfall, and we have Great Blue Herons that stand at the base of the short fall and fish. Usually I only see one at a time, but I have also seen an adult there with a juvenile (presumably teaching junior to fish). They are so beautiful, and so patient!! I love the way they are incredibly still, until they are incredibly fast. I could watch them all day. They are tied for favorite with the Double Crested Cormorants, whom I love to see sunning with their wings out on tree branches or rocks (or, an upturned shopping cart that someone stole and dumped in the river for whatever reason. It's now often a cormorant roost, at any rate). I think they're so funny when they dry out in the sun.

Activity 1:  I went outside the US and explored.  I love the look of the Hartlaub's Turaco and it's call is nothing like I expected it to be.  Downright gruff.  The other bird I liked is the Resplendent Quetzal. Again, very bright and colorful; I did find this call to be lilting and very pretty.  I was saddened to read that their main habitat is no longer as abundant, but happy that their numbers have maintained. Activity 2: Out of the songbird group, I love the mountain bluebird.  I don't see them near my home, but just a bit west of where I am they're abundant.  From the shorebirds group, the killdeer is one of my favorites.  Activity 3: I have three woodpeckers that are consistent visitors to my backyard: downy, hairy and northern flicker; I love them all. It is spring and I can here the northern flicker acting like the 'big man on campus.'  He lets other flickers know that this is his territory!

Activity 1: Like many others, it can be difficult to choose a favorite. On the Wall of Birds, both the common loon and the scissor-tailed flycatcher caught my eye. Growing up in Michigan, I had no idea how much I missed the sound of their call on the lakes and how much it reminds me of home. I also have a soft spot in my heart for the scissor-tailed flycatcher because I was one of the first species my MerlinID app helped me identify when I first started birding.

My favorite bird that I see from where I lived in my hometown of Rineyville, KY is house sparrow. I see theses sparrows having seed from my family's feeders in my backyard.

Activity 3: I work at a state park in Missouri and we set up a feeder watch window this winter for our visitors. I have really enjoyed watching the Goldfinches change from a bright yellow to a darker almost olive or grey. I would have assumed they were different birds had I not previously taken the color course in the bird academy and read about their seasonal color changes in a book I had been reading. I think this color change is so fun to observe. I also have been working hard to learn to differentiate between the hairy woodpeckers and downy woodpeckers since we get both frequently.