Joy of Birdwatching

Lesson 3 I don't have a favourite bird but I am very excited to see the Robin's return here in Eastern Ontario. It means that spring is arriving and it's my favourite time of the year.

I love birds! But my "spark" bird was definitely the crow. Here is our resident crow we call Couscous!

I love all birds but especially raptors. This is a Sharp Shinned Hawk that just arrived in my neighborhood a few weeks ago. Here it has taken down a Mourning Dove.   Here it is waiting and watching. I hope to see much more of it so I can continue to observe it's amazing character and habits. This is an Inca Dove. This bird drove me crazy at first with it's incessant "Who hoo, Who hoo," and then I figured out what it was and I fell in love with it. They are a tiny ground dove with the most lovely wings.

Activity 1: The barn owl I love them. Barn owls are my favorite bird, and I hope to one day see one in the wild. Activity 2: I see many red tailed hawks around my house and my friends and I found a nest at George mason near the sports fields. When we go on hikes sometimes we see a couple of great blue herons here and there. Finally, I have a bird feeder set up in my backyard and we see two mourning doves under it or near it, every day. So that's Raptors, Wading birds, and Doves

Activity 3: My favorite bird from around my neighborhood is yellow, black, and white. You can find it eating seeds from the feeder or from flowers, The American Goldfinch! I love them because they are so brightly colored and they just pop out on the feeder. My next favorite is the eastern bluebird. They always perch on the wire next to our house.

1.  From the wall of birds I chose the Northern Cardinal - because it was my mom's favorite bird.  I hadn't heard their sounds before.  2.  3 groups of birds I see often in my yard are sparrows, blackbirds, and doves.  The Redwing Blackbirds are here now and their flashes of color as they fly are fun to watch.  3.  My "spark" bird is the Green Jay.  They are so colorful and are year round residents here in Southeast Texas.

Activity 1: There were so many on the wall of birds. I don't know if I could name a favorite. My daughter has a love of flamingos so that always draws my attention, but I loved looking at all the different birds from different countries that I can't even imagine wandering around where I live. One that caught my attention was the supberb fruit-dove. It's colors kind of looked like a fruit and I love that the male and female work together to raise their young! So fun! All the interesting shapes sounds and colors of the birds on the wall are so intriguing.

Activity 2 Spending time at the beach (Gulf of Mexico) I have been working on sorting out the birds I see all the time at the beach. Learning from this lesson on what would be shorebirds and using a pocket guide, I am now able to sort a laughing gull from a bonaparte’s gull from a ring-billed gull. Bev

Activity 1 - There are so many interesting birds, but I am choosing the Resplendent Quetzal (Trogons Family).  Besides being a beautiful bird with a very interesting call it is a very important bird in Guatemala.  It is on their flag and their currency is named for the bird as well (Quetzales).  I have been to Guatemala several times but have only seen the Quetzal in a zoo.  I would love to see it in its’ natural habitat.

Activity 1: After exploring the wall of birds it was difficult to decide which is a favorite since there are so many amazing and different birds. I will say the albatross is quite striking with its size and amazing ability to stay away from land for so long.   Activity 2: There are many birds I regularly see in my neighborhood--house sparrows, mourning doves, blue jays, cardinals, goldfinches, red bellied/downy/hairy/red headed woodpeckers, white breasted nuthatches, black capped chickadees, tufted titmouse, mallards, Canada geese, and various hawks.   Activity 3: It is hard to choose a favorite but I will say the red bellied woodpecker because I love their cheerful sounds and lovely feathers, plus I can guarantee almost anytime I go for a walk I will see one.

Activity 2: Who says different species don't get along? These Great Cormorants (Sea Birds) seem fine to share their space with the Snowy Egret (Wading Birds). Also, I've been enjoying watching a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks apparently carrying sticks to build their nest in a Live Oak somewhere nearby. Activity 3: I don't know that I have a favorite bird; I enjoy so many of them, but I do love to watch a White-breasted Nuthatch as it scampers down the tree near the feeder and makes that quick foray onto the feeder.

Activity 1: I'd have to say one of the most interesting birds to me is the Secretary Bird. Their massive size and beautiful feathers make them look absolutely gorgeous! Activity 2: Three main groups of birds I see in my yard are various doves, songbirds, and woodpeckers. Starlings singing on the rooftops, beautiful Inca Doves hooting as they wander around the yard, and the Gila Woodpeckers that visit my feeders to grab food every now and then. Activity 3: One of my favorite birds that visits my yard would have to be the Mourning Doves! I love hearing them first thing in the morning when I go outside and it's always fun to watch them wander around the yard. When spring comes there is always a pair nesting and raising babies.

Activity 3, a favorite bird that I see (and photographed) that I see in my neighborhood - Cedar Waxwings. They are incredibly beautiful to me and are sneaky as they go about their foraging activities. I'm always excited to see them since they never come to feeders and you have to find them. Extraordinary-looking birds indeed.

For Activity 1, I'd have to say that the Albatross, of the Oceanic Birds, was the most impressive as I've observed them while at sea. I had no idea that they would or could go for 5 or more years without touching land. Their ability to drink seawater by using its salt glands to discharge salt really impressed me also. For Activity 2, very easy for me here as we have so many groups represented right here on my rural property. I've photographed more than I can recall. We also raised ratites. So, photos - First would be Anatidae In this case, the male wood duck that I photographed right here on our pond. The next group would be - Columbidae A mourning dove. Third would be... Trochilidae Male Ruby-throated hummingbird  

Activity 1 I looked at several birds on the wall of birds. The one that caught my attention is the Red-legged Seriema, Cariama cristata. I found it interesting and a little challenging to group. After reading several articles and looking at pictures, I believe it would be in the "chicken like birds" group. I don't have a favorite bird. I find them all interesting.

Activity 1: After exploring the Wall of Birds, something I'd like to see in-person, one of my favorites is the Blue-footed Booby. Call me immature, but the name alone still gives me a chuckle even at 30 years of age. I cannot imagine a more fitting bird for the Galapagos Islands than the Blue-footed Booby. For such unique beautiful birds, their calls are less than desirable. It was interesting to learn that since males and females look incredible similar, both with bright blue coloring whereas normally females are always drab, you can tell the female from the male by their star-shaped pupils. I did not see this bird on the Wall of Birds (unless I overlooked it), but another one of my favorites is by far the Paradise Bird. The shape they take on when dancing around to impress females is so unique - with their solid black coloring and bright bits of blue coloring coming through. Their dancing rituals puts even the most trained dancer to shame - I have never watched a Paradise Bird dance video that did not bring an instant smile and chuckle. Activity 2: There are three main bird groups I spot in my backyard: sparrows, woodpeckers, and tree creepers. It is not uncommon to talk outside and see a dozen or more Song Sparrows at any given time. I haven't seen any House Sparrows in my backyard, but I have spotted them outside more downtown on the sidewalks outside of businesses. As for the woodpeckers, my most frequent visitors are a male and female Downy. Often times they are both going to town on one particular pine tree, but they also seems to very much enjoy the suet cakes I put out. I have seen one Hairy male woodpecker as well as a Red-bellied woodpecker. Neither the Hairy nor the Red-bellied seem to stick around whenever I come outside. My favorite tree creeper I have is a Red-breasted Nuthatch. There is only one, whereas there are multiple White-breasted Nuthatches that visit. The little Red-breasted one is very friendly - like will sit on the feeder as I'm filling it up watching me and has even landed in my hand before to take unshelled peanuts. Activity 3: For me it is so hard to pick a true favorite. I feel each bird has it's own personality and it is such a joy to be able to watch them daily and see how they interact with each other. As mentioned, above I have a Red-breasted Nuthatch that visits daily and she is one of my favorites. She along with a Carolina Wren have such larger than life personalities and have absolutely no issue with making noise and messes until I fill up their feeders. I just recently spotted, for the first time, a Yellow-rumped Warbler. My Merlin app had been picking up his sound for a while, but I wasn't able to ever physically ID him until recently. He is my first Warbler so I am quite found of him. The Blue Jays, while incredibly loud, are a site to see - their coloring is just downright beautiful.

Activity 3 - Meet Edgar one of three crows that visits my yard. I find crows so inquisitve and interesting.  There are 3 that visit each day (Edgar, Allena and Poe) that have my routine down pat and show up as soon as let my dog out.   I usually put out peanuts or dry cat food for them and I watch them review their surroundings before taking turns to pick up the food.  The other day, the ruckus they were making along with the other birds led me to think there might be a predator in the yard.  Sure enough, when I went out to check, I found a cat lurking under my car. The other day when I was at my desk in my bedroom, I looked up to see them on the hydro wire in my backyard watching me through my window!!!  I got up, grabbed some food and headed out.  They had moved to the tree to await my arrival.  I was thinking I could maybe train them, but now I'm thinking that they got me tained. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

Activity 2 - Tree Creepers - Red Breasted Nuthatch as seen from my livingroom window. I love these guys and their cousins White Breasted Nuthatch.  Just watching them moved around my tree and feeders puts a smile on my face and they are one of the first birds I hear each day!

  Any7 Activity 2 - Water bird - a beautiful showing of a Wood Duck as my first viewing while on vacation in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  I had always heard tell of them and their beauty and was once again, excited to actually see this bird.

    Activity 2. From the Woodpecker Group - Here is a picture of a Red Bellied Woodpecker as taken from my living room window.  I usually have a Downy and a Hairy visiting my suet.  This bird's visity sure made me happy.  Peterborough, Ontario, Canada    

Activity 3: I have a few favorite birds that I see in my neighborhood, depending on the time of year. I live in Chicago, and we get some ruby throated hummingbirds in the warmer months. In the cold months I watch coopers and re-tailed hawks hunt and catch squirrels and pigeons.

Activity #1:  When I was a child, we would vacation on a small lake in New Hampshire, and I will never forget the haunting and beautiful calls of the Common Loons across the still water before anyone or anything was awake.  Anyone who has ever heard it knows it is an unforgettable experience. Activity #2 and #3:    I am participating in Project Feeder Watch and have the pleasure of seeing and reporting so many birds this winter, just outside my kitchen window at the feeders:  Blue Jays,  Cardinals, Chickadees (my personal favorite, for their spunky and brave personalities, and adorable and tiny look),  Red and White Breasted Nuthatches, Downy and Red Bellied Woodpeckers,  Sparrows (usually White Throated or House Sparrows), and Mourning Doves.  In the finch category, I have even seen a few Evening Grosbeaks this year!

The Prothonotary Warbler was my favorite bird on the Wall of Birds. It lives in New England and its named after the bright yellow robes of papal clerks (prothonotaries) in the Roman Catholic Church. I like it's colors and its pastoral song.

I love Great Blue Herons.  I love how graceful they are in flight, with their long legs trailing them.  I love their grating squawk, which makes it easy to see a bird/dinosaur connection.  I love their ability to stand still and observe — something I could definitely work on.  Although I usually see them “at work” in the water, on two occasions recently, I saw one “at rest.”  The second picture, where the bird looks hunkered down, well, it probably was because it was a miserable day, cold, overcast, and bone-chillingly humid.  

My favourite bird from the wall of birds was cormorant, just because we saw a group of them bickering when hiking in Belgium a few weeks ago. They were very striking in terms of their size and communication high up on trees. There was definitely some kind of bickering going on! My favourite bird from my neighbourhood is goldfinch. They are part of the finch family (Fringillidae Family). Hopefully, they come back before not too long, after spending winter in Spain or somewhere warm.

Ironically, I've just spent the morning journaling and sketching the birds on my deck. So far, a single white-breasted nuthatch, a pair of dark-eyed juncos - which I just learned in the previous lesson are actually sparrows - three types of woodpeckers (Hairy, Downy (I think), and Red-Bellied), and a pair of cardinals - which I just learned in the previous lessons are finches! What an exciting morning :D

My favorite from the Wall of Birds - Great Blue Heron. We will see them in NH in the warmer weather. They are truly spectacular! Their nests are huge, too. I am also a fan of woodpeckers, especially the pileated woodpeckers. We have them in my backyard in NH. They are amazing to watch

I am really enjoying this course so far, and am wowed by all the backyard birds people are sharing - fun to see so many birds I don't see (or for some, just haven't noticed yet!) where I live. I went for a walk with my new binoculars last weekend and saw these visiting long-tailed ducks. I ended up using iNaturalist to confirm the ID; Merlin couldn't place them despite some good sound recordings, maybe because they are not usually found in this area? They had beautiful long tails - a treat to see!

I bought a pair of lightweight binoculars last year, and it has been thrilling for me to discover how beautiful birds are when I can see them in the detail the binoculars provide. I bought a pair for one of my daughters for her birthday, and I am happy to have her as a birding buddy! This first week of the new year, I downloaded the Merlin app and had fun with it, and I ended up going on a birding walk almost every day and identifying some birds. I feel like a "bird nerd," now, and I am happy with that! I have been happy to discover so many different kinds of ducks - favorite of the week - Hooded Merganser. I also never knew how pretty sparrows are. I enjoyed spotting them in the scrubby, brush areas . Two other new birds for me to discover this week were the Spotted Towhee and Townsend's Solitaire.

It's cold and snowy here in Minnesota at present, and so I find myself wondering about what birds live north of here. Snow Buntings are apparently the most northerly passerine in the world.

Today on my daily walk I saw a black capped chickadee of the songbird group, a cormorant of the seabird group, and a downy woodpecker of the woodpecker group. Really nice to be able to categorize these birds even if I don’t have the taxonomical knowledge of bird families and orders.   I found it interesting that brown creepers and nut hatches are in their own group, as I see both regularly. That must be one of these categorizations with the fewest members.

Have been feeding hummingbirds for several years and recently decided to put up bird feeders, to get me through the winter months when the hummingbirds are away. Have enjoyed it so much that I plan on keeping up feeders year around. Watching birds is so relaxing and brings me so much joy. Am so happy I found Bird Academy so I can learn more about my feathered friends.

• These images were taken in Punta Gorda, Fla., during my recent visit there. This pair of Sandhill Cranes were in my daughter's backyard. The other is an unknown bird, but someone here surely will identify it. It was near Fisherman's Village on the waterfront in Punta Gorda.
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These are two birds at my feeder after a big snow this morning.  As far as I can tell we have sparrows, finches, doves, and juncos.  Here are two pictures taken with my iphone via new monarch binoculars I got for Christmas.

I've been interested in birds for a few years now, photographing birds at my feeders and in local parks, and always participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count.  I'm interested in learning more about the science of birds and tips for more adventurous birding. This past week was especially cold and we had different birds at the feeder, including the pictured Yellow-rumped Warbler and other winter birds.

I am brand new to bird watching. I have a feeder about 10 feet away from my couch, through a glass door. I can watch birds with binoculars. It's great.   I have a pinecone stuffed with peanut butter and black oil sunflower seeds hanging on the railing of my porch that i can see. Also a block of suet in a holder.   Small gray birds come in groups of 10-12 or more to feed on the pinecone. They seem to love peanut butter.   I see other kinds of birds sometimes. One with a bright yellow helmet and chest. Wow! Today I saw a woodpecker pecking at the suet. I looked him up in a guide.   Other birds seem nondescript. Beige chests and gray feathers. Short beaks.   Any suggestions for me?

These are a few of the birds I see in my neighborhood. My favorite is the white throated sparrow. I love the splash of yellow near the eyes. We are fortunate to have a few resident raptors though I can not tell the different between a red shouldered hawk and a red tail hawk but that's a different course. My latest fascination is with Northern flickers. You can't see it in the image provided but they have stunning yellow feathers under their tails.

I saw a Roadrunner on my walk the other day, I was interested to learn in my reading in this course that the reason they fluff up like this is to warm themselves.

I live in a suburban subdivision west of Phoenix. In my backyard I will often see mourning doves or rock pigeons perched on the wall. I've also encountered woodpeckers pecking at the side of my house. Raptors and Owls are rarer, but still appear (or are heard) from time to time. I am excited to learn more about the birds of my area, as well as all the other fascinating bird species of the world! Here is a family(?) of doves, what appear to be three juveniles and two adults, eating on my patio.

A male American goldfinch above my backyard bird feeder in Maryland.  Like everyone else, they love the sunflower chips.

Wood duck at Beaver Lake in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada. Stanley Park is an urban park that’s a fabulous place for bird watching. I’m especially happy the days when I spot one of these colorful ducks.

great course! I love the wall of birds, specially those extinct birds in the left of the wall where I confirmed how diverse these animals are even today. I loved so much when I saw the three-wattled bellbird in the wall, because a couple months ago I saw that bird in a beach trip at Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro (Panama) with a group of friends, and that’s probably the moment I thought of birdwatching as a hobby. I bought binoculars and a book of birds around Panama City. My boyfriend and I enjoy it so much. Last week we went to Cerro Ancon for birdwathcing with my brother as well, and we were lucky/surprised because there are a lot of species in such a small piece of nature in the city. The toucan in this picture was one of the wonders we saw that day.

i have a Mexican eagle or cara cara that sits on the high power lines near my neighborhood.  I love their bluish beaks and their majestic posture.  

I wish I were as good at photographing birds as some of you are! I'm amazed at how many different birds we have identified just in our small yard and how much they can change from season to season (yes, even in San Diego, CA, where many people will tell you that we don't really experience seasons!) I've seen hawks, orioles, wrens, warblers, hummingbirds, crows, sparrows, and owls.

1. The interactive wall is amazing. I especially like reading about the extinct birds.  I live in Canada and don't see many birds in my region on the map. 2.      a.) Woodpeckers - we get the Downy, and the Hairy coming to our backyard.  I hang a homemade bird cake in our Schubert Chokecherry tree every winter.  I've only seen the Pileated  Woodpecker in our local Provincial Park. b.) Blue Jays - I hang a peanut ring in the same tree each winter. c.)  Chickadees - Black-capped chickadee.  They are everywhere, summer and winter.  Would the chickadee belong to the subgroup Finches and Buntings OR Tree creepers? Cant say as I have seen them climbing on the trunks of trees.  May have answered my own question. 3.  Chickadees are my favorite.  They seem so happy and cheerful as indicated by their singing.    I do love the Raptors but we don't see them in the winter. These are three birds I see in the winter, along with magpies and Ravens. I live in Vermilion, Alberta Canada.   If I  was taking this course in the summer my answers would have been different.

Hello again, i just posted the cormorants for my activity 2+3… here are two more species I’ve seen recently (to make up three different species) this time in my backyard in Maryland. I must say I am partial to the raptors - so impressive, beautiful and powerful. And the colors of the red bellied woodpecker, such industrious hard workers. N

Hello ,  I saw today in the canals of Phoenix AZ a group of cormorants. From the waterfowl group!. I have seen these birds throughout North America, from way North up in lakes in Northern Quebec to down here in Arizona.  I dont know the data but have read that its population in the continent, particularly around the Great Lakes, is getting out of control and crowding out habitat for other native birds and wildlife. They are reported to cause significant damage to trees and foliage around lakes and they eat up to 1 lb of fish per day, in places threatening habitat for loons and other types of birds.  Is this a climate change survivor/beneficiary? Would love to know what the Lab thinks of this!!  So far enjoying the course.

The Wall of Birds e version is amazing.  I loved that one can find a bird common to his/her region and complete knowledge with even their calling. Great job combining the wall paintings with the electronic version.  The bird pictures in the more detailed sessions also helped me identify a bird that had just popped up in our bird feeder.

I started birding in second grade and then it really started to come together. I joined the Montgomery Bird Club and YMOS. I participated in a WSB and my team got first :). My favorite bird is the pileated woodpecker. I liked that the Bird Wall showed where species can be found.

I've always been in love with crows! Their behavior is FASCINATING and I love seeing how they live side-by-side with us in cities! They also make fantastic photography subjects!   I was also lucky to find this spotted owl in a nearby park!

I grew up looking at birds but not especially studying them. It is interesting in mid-life to expand on the foundation my parents set with me. There are plenty of birds that I would not look at twice as just “regular”, maybe “ugly” birds. But, now I have time and, seeing the same kinds of birds many times in a row, wonder more about them. Last year, I spent half an hour staring at a bird I could see very clearly, going back to the car at least twice to look it up in my Kaufman guide, then, my old Peterson’s guide. It seemed interesting and had lots of markings on it. I was pretty surprised/chagrined when I finally figured out it was the most common bird in North America, the European Starling. That was when I realized that they are no just noisy black birds. In fact, they have many colours and I can see so much more about them, including that they are not just a dull black bird (no such thing!); they have spots and shades of blue, green, depending on the light and time of year.

I enjoyed using the interactive wall of birds. It was an entertaining way to learn about birds in different places far away from my home.  I live near a wooded area and see wild turkeys, many different song birds, and several species of woodpeckers. My favorite is a pileated woodpecker that visits the peanut suet feeder about the same time every afternoon, announcing its arrival by barking and drumming on a nearby tree.

I have been maintaining hummingbird feeders for quite a while now. It is so exciting seeing them interacting with the feeders and hanging out in the area! I also see many other birds visiting the yard.

Activity 1 - wall of birds. I absolutely loved seeing all the different birds from around the world. The albatross is my absolute favorite!

I always thought that woodpeckers were strictly insectivores. We were observing two Pileated Woodpeckers pecking for food in a poplar tree. Suddenly,  the female flew to a Red Osier bush nearby and spent about 5 minutes picking and swallowing the white berries!

I am 10 years old and I have loved starting my first Cornell Lab course.  I'm doing it with my grandmother who lives in South Carolina. We go birding together in the mornings. I can't believe all the birds that live there.  I hope this course helps me identify more birds in Nashville, so I can talk to her about those, too. So far, my favorite bird in Nashville is the Ruby-throated Hummingbird that I saw at Edwin Warner Park.

I went on Road 22, South Okanagan, British Columbia, Canada to familiarize with the area for futur birding trip. I spotted three ducks on the on the river. I thought from the bill lenght and hook that it might be a merganser. But the colour did not match any of what I knew about the Merganser species. I used the Merlin app to get some input. It suggested Hooded Merganser. I then when on All About Birds site to get more information about Hooded Merganser. The bird on this photo looks like a juvenile Hooded Mergenser. Am I correct?  

Macaw stood out to me, because I have always liked that majestic bird (probably because it was in the movie, Rio; I’m not sure)   2) One of my favorite birds to see is the Northern Flicker. It’s a woodpecker with a tan breast spotted with black dots. It has a black crescent under its neck. It’s wings are brown with black striping on the back. flickers will have striking yellow or red shafts in their wings and tail depending on the variation. Marking on the fave depend on male or female and yellow or red-shafted.   3) The Northern flicker is a woodpecker because of its short legs, short neck, and behavior. European starlings are songbirds. American Kestrel is a raptor.

I was able to get a photograph of this hawk in the back of my home in Queens, NYC.  I used to watch other hawks circling around the park in front the school I worked at.   At home, northern cardinals have become frequent visitors. We also get visits from mourning doves, swallows, and one of my favorites, the blue jay.

These are spotted turtle doves in my backyard in Melbourne, Australia. I started feeding them seeds in early 2020 during our lockdowns and now I have between ten to fifteen visiting daily. They are beautiful. They are cute, almost silent and fairly shy. A pair nested in the vines over my deck a few years ago and the babies looked over the edge of the nest at me whenever I went onto the deck. I also have crested pigeons, wattlebirds, magpies and occasionally lorikeets and galahs visiting. They are a highlight of my time at home.  

I live in north west Vermont, so I'm always looking for birds that I might see in my area. On the wall of birds, the Cardinal stood out, being its one of my favorites. The three groups that I see the most are, jays, warblers and sparrows. I actually have two favorite birds that come to my yard, the cardinals and bluejays. I have a DSLR camera and I'm trying to get photos of all my visitors, I have photos of about all of them, but great photos are few and far between.

Activity 3: Little Wattlebird: (Family Meliphagidae (honey eaters and chats),  Anthochera chryoptera) frequents the Banksia tree in the garden out my front door. Nectar feeder and loves feeding on the Banksia flowers and any Aloe flowers (tubular) both available now in our winter months in SE Australia. Apparently does also feeds on insects and berries. Bill is short to medium downcurved. Medium size body and legs, with feathers appearing browny colour with obvious white streaks on body and has conspicuous white tips of tail seen as it flits from branch to flowers. Nervous, does not sit long in any one area of tree or flower. Calls not always pleasant sound.

Activity #1: I'm really enjoying the Wall of Birds with my 5-year-old grandson. Each time he comes over, we look at and read about a different bird, starting with the ones near us in Ohio. We really like the Great Blue Heron and have one that flies over our village a lot.

I work at an elementary school in Los Angeles. My students and I love watching Black Phoebes catch insects outside our classroom!   https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Phoebe/overview

I live in Northwest Arkansas where we apparently have 7 different species of woodpeckers! In my neighborhood I've spotted the Northern Flicker, Red-bellied woodpecker, Pileated woodpecker, Red-headed woodpecker and pictured here - a downy woodpecker taking some sips out of our hummingbird feeder! The hummers were NOT pleased!

Activity #1 - Loved the bird wall. I could spend hours on this, but one of my favorites so far is the Saddle-Billed Stork found in Africa. The colors were magnificent and unique. Activity #2 - Attached is a photo of a bird - taken in Southern California. I believe it is a Robin??? -  Activity #3 - One of my favorite birds in my neighborhood is the grosbeak

Activity #1: The wall is a good way to explore various birds...you can do it in the Merlin app as well, but having it on a map and with random access to any bird that seems intriguing makes it easier to just explore. For Activity #2, I did some id'ing only in my front yard, found 4 birds from the Songbirds group, a flycatcher (Black Phoebe), two sparrows (California Towhee and Dark-eyed Junco) and a blackbird (Brown-headed Cowbird).

I love the Wall of Birds. The ones that don't occur where I live or have lived are especially intriguing for their novelty. Of the ones that occur near me, my favourites are the Common Loon and the Great Blue Heron. I see the Great Blue Heron more frequently, but the Common Loon is especially exciting to find, other than on our Canadian dollar coin, which we call a "loonie" because it has a loon engraved on its surface. I love the sound of a loon! In marshy areas near me I can easily identify the red-winged blackbirds by sound, often alerting me to the exact location. A couple of the marshes also have yellow-headed blackbirds. The bright yellow head and call that only a mother could love helps identify them.

I believe this is a Great Heron that we spotted when we lived in California on the Central Coast. So powerful and graceful at the same time.

Activity 3: White Breasted Nuthatch - I often see these visiting our bird feeder or suit feeder. It is kind of thrill to see them visit. They really stick out amongst our more common visitors - the sparrows and doves. For this activity, I downloaded the Merlin Bird ID app and listened to their calls. I'll be listening for these outside this week!

This year I've learned about the Great Crested Flycatcher.  I first so one at a local park and then was lucky enough to fine one in my back yard!  He had an unmistakable "wheep" like call.

Went for a walk this morning and saw or heard Catbirds, Robins, Titmice, Song Sparrows, Crows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Great Blue Heron, Canada Geese, Mallards, Ruby throated Hummingbird, and Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers.  Too hard to pick a favorite!  When the hummingbirds are here it is probably those and in the dead of winter it is probably the Cardinal but all birds are wonderful and interesting. Enjoyed the Wall of Birds interactive feature.

Activity #2.  Today I saw killdeer, Herrmann's gull, sandpipers, oyster catchers, a great blue heron and an osprey.  Needless to say, I live 1/2 mile from the Pacific Ocean!  Thank you for the course and for everyone sharing their bird pictures.

Very good intro so far. #1 Started exploring the Wall during this course. #2 When out earlier today, saw House Sparrows, Yellow Warblers, American Robins, Great Crested Flycatchers; Wood Ducks, Mallards, Canada Geese, Double-crested Cormorant; Ring-billed Gulls; Downy Woodpecker; Mourning Dove. #3 Happy to see that Great Crested Flycatchers have finally returned to town in good numbers. Also enjoying seeing American Redstarts this year. Both can be found near my home.

I really enjoy the Mourning Doves. By using the Merlin app I have been able to identify a few birds. The Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, and a Brown-Headed Cowbird. I love the app, it’s great.

Activity 2: I saw a song sparrow, sparrow, greet blue heron, wading bird, and an osprey, raptor. Activity 3: A cardinal is at our bird feeder. It loves perching on the pole next to the feeder itself. It is bright red and so beautiful. Whenever I put new bird seed in the feeder, the cardinal is the first one to come to the bird feeder and watches over it.

One of my favorite birds is the White-Rumped Shama Their song is so beautiful I will never get tired of it. This is a male below

My favorite bird is the Northern Flicker. It looks incredible when flying and has a unique polka dot look. I get to see them a lot near my home.

After nearly 2 years of looking, I finally saw a Barred Owl last week! They are elusive!

Hmmm.  What group are wrens in?  I often recognize a wren because of its bill shape.

Great intro.  Didn't know birds could fly in their sleep!  Too crazy.  There is a barn swallow nest right out my hotel window.  4  hungry babies and parent(s) non-stop feeding them.  Is it just the mom or is dad helping out as well?

Activity 2: Today I saw a Bahama Mockingbird, a lifer for me. There was a Northern Mockingbird also in the area so I could compare and contrast them. I also used apps on my phone to help me verify my identification of the Bahama Mockingbird. I found the Bahama Mockingbird thanks to eBird's Rare Bird Alerts. I highly recommend subscribing to them in your area.

Activity #1: I first learned about the Wall of Birds after attending a Monarch Joint Venture webinar entitled: The Monarch Migrating Mural Project: Public Art as a Catalyst for Conservation. In this webinar, Jane Kim discussed her ongoing Monarch Migrating Campaign. She included the work she had done with the Wall of Birds and the same website we visited with this lesson. One of my favorites on the Wall is the Montezuma Quail. I just think they are super cute. I love the small head on the nice plump body.

Activity 3: This is one of my favorite birds which is active in my area right now, it is a Chinese Hwamei. I enjoy their song, which is very loud and long. I also like the white markings around the eye, it looks like a they are wearing a mask.

Activity 2: Today I found Barn Swallows flying low over the grass as it rained, they are listed in the lesson as song birds who are great flyers, I also saw many Eurasian Tree Sparrows bouncing around foraging in the wet grass, they were listed as Sparrows in the lesson. The third type I saw for this activity was a pair of Blue Rock-Thrush, one male and one female. They were listed in the others category of song birds.

Activity 2: went for a walk after this lesson and saw a woodpecker (Northern Flicker; red-shafted), I think a fly catcher (not sure what kind, but maybe a western wood pewee), songbird: American Robin, Eurasian Dove, Raptor (red-tailed hawk). Activity 3: I love all my neighborhood birds but am partial to American Robins and Black-Capped Chickadees. I like how the Robin runs along grass in the yard, as well as it’s song. I like the size and shape of the chickadees.

Today, on a walk around my neighborhood, I saw many cardinals (finches), a northern flicker (woodpecker), and some juvenile starlings, which I had to look up in Merlin since they were starling-shaped and sounded like starlings but were a plain grey rather than iridescent and speckled like adults!

Took this image a few weeks ago. I believe this is a juvenile; hummingbird; not sure if it is an Anna's Hummingbird or Allen's. In any case this is in my backyard, he seems to like the succulents and the flowers of a peach tree we have.

One of my favorites is the White Rumped Shama, and we have one that lives in our backyard.  His songs are absolutely fantastic, especially the amazing, intricate, rapid runs.

From Activity #3:   I got a new camera this spring, with a zoom lens that's actually capable of taking bird pix that are good enough to help with identification. Here's an Eastern Towhee, taken in April at a nature preserve near here. And here's a Wood Duck, taken at a metropark near my house. And here's a Northern Flicker. (ID's assisted by more knowledgeable friends.)

I enjoy watching birds in my yard, but I also am beginning to enjoy birding as we travel in our region.  My favorite bird is a Northern Cardinal. They are so brightly colored and are easy for me to see. I have several pairs that visit my feed station daily. I have also begun to discern the difference in the many small, brown or gray birds that visit my feeder, such as the Chipping Sparrow, House Finches (female and males) and Eastern Wood Pee-Wee.  I am using Merlin to hear bird calls and song as well to know what birds are making all that noise!

Activity 3 - There are wild turkeys in my neighborhood.  I can’t help but stop and watch them each time I see them.

For activity 3: My favorite bird that I see in our area is the Northern Flicker.  I love its little reddish "hat," its black and white spots, its golden yellow wing feathers, and its grey feet.  It is a woodpecker, but it pecks on the ground and I think it looks funny.  I think that it's a beautiful bird!

For activity two:  At the park I saw some kind of tern, lots of songbirds, and a nest with great horned owls. Within the category of songbirds, I was able to recognize the warblers because of the yellow coloring and their body shape, but some others were not as easy to differentiate to such a newbie like me. For activity three: my favorite bird in my neighborhood so far is the one I could recognize, a Cardinal. I like that the males are so brightly colored and easily noticeable, and once I see the male if I look around him I’ll see a female pretty much always. So I like that they seem to travel as a pair.

Yo vivo en el occidente de Guatemala y recientemente inicie con esta hermosa actividad de la observación de aves, me he dado cuenta que en mi ciudad hay pocos reportes de aves, y las personas le ponen poca atención por lo que me motiva a aprender mas y a colaborar porque las aves de mi ciudad sean mas conocidas, apreciadas y protegidas.  Del muro elegí un colibrí, me llaman mucho la atención y me cuesta mucho diferenciar las diferentes especies. En cuanto a la actividad 2, recientemente he observado un halcón Peregrino que es un ave rara en estos lugares, situación que me motiva en gran manera porque en realidad estoy en un campo poco explorado y genial en mi ciudad. Las aves comunes en mi vecindario son los gorriones, zopilotes y zanates, aunque también hay varios carpinteros belloteros.

I discovered this guy in a tree not far from where I live. Isn’t he a beauty?

Activity 2: I saw birds from the wading group (egrets and herons), the seabird group (pelican. cormorant), and the songbird group (Vermilion Flycatcher). I had help! I did a kayak intro to bird-watching tour this past weekend at Watson Lake in Prescott. They said it was unusual to see a pelican there, so that was cool! Activity 3: I like mourning doves because they are everywhere and easy to find and photograph, which makes them wonderful to practice photography on! (I recently got a camera.)

There are so many fascinating birds to choose from it's hard to narrow it down to one but my favorite would have to be the Arctic Tern for the insanely long distance it migrates annually. I sat on my patio for a while today and saw the usual visitors to my feeders, some House Finches and Sparrows, a California Towhee, and some Morning Doves. But then a tiny little yellow bird appeared and I couldn't get a good look at first because he was chasing bugs around inside the tree, then he took a break on an outer branch revealing the black stripe on his crown, a Wilson Warbler. So far there isn't a great variety of birds in the area where I live but the Doves are fun birds, they sound so sad at times but they are very friendly, they don't seem to mind if people are around the feeders or water, they fly right in and get a drink and a snack.

Activity 1: I picked the Northern Cardinal, Wood Duck, Great Blue Heron, and the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  I've had some recent encounters with these birds so they stood out the most to me as ones I wanted to learn more about. Activity 2: 3 birds that I've seen recently are the Red-headed Woodpecker which is rare in my region, the Ruby-Crowned Kinglet which made an appearance outside my kitchen window this morning with that ruby crown exposed, and a male breeding plumage Yellow-Rumped Warbler. Activity 3: Unfortunately I don't have a photo of my favorite bird which I've seen in my neighborhood.  It is the Pied-billed Grebe https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pied-billed_Grebe/id . They are charming little aquatic birds frequently seen near ducks.  Their small size makes them look like a juvenile duck until one gets a closer look.  A sharp, thick bill with a black ring on it is the first distinguishing feature.  Unlike most ducks, they will completely submerge and stay down for quite a while.  They look wet when they return to the surface, unlike ducks with their waterproof plumage.  Their scruffy-looking feathers and childlike appearance remind me of my 4-year-old son which is one of the reasons these grebes are my favorite.  Another reason is these are a recent discovery for me; I had no idea they existed and if I have seen them before, they remained anonymous. In second place is the Black-bellied Whistling Duck.  I live in Missouri, so seeing a large group of these ducks (who mostly stay in Central America) at my neighborhood lake was quite a treat!  I have photos of these:  

enjoyed finding out about the download bird app[ which is free. I will need practice learning how to use it. Also the bird calls is very informative and helpful. hank you

• At Settle Falconry EnglandAt Falconry in Settle England

• At Falconry in Settle England

Activity #1: There are so many interesting birds on the Wall of Birds. I'm highlighting the Common Loon since it represents the sound of a summer visit to a local lake.  I particularly remember listening to the haunting call of the loon at night from our tent at Fish Lake, Alberta - truly magical! Activity #2: This week I've noticed the abundance of House Sparrows chirping outside.  Although they are a very common Songbird, their songs are a welcome sound in our backyard.  I've also seen a Downy Woodpecker visit a dead branch of our Mountain Ash to look for a tasty treat.  Lastly, I know there are a number of owls in our neighbourhood but have not yet seen them, but I'll be on the lookout for them! Activity #3: This week, for the first time, I observed a few family groups of White-winged Crossbills. It was fascinating to watch them select a spruce cone from the ground and then fly up with it to a spruce branch to eat their lunch.

Activity 1: I explored the Wall of Birds and was taken by the Red-legged Seriema from South America. Watching how the bird prepares its pray for consumption is amazing and the sounds this bird makes is very unique. Activity 2: We have quite a variety of birds in our yard but the ones that most impress me are the Norther Flicker, the Spotted Towhee and, and my favorite California Quail. We have built a substantial mound of brush and branches from our property for the Quail and many other birds to nest in. We are looking forward to the time when the parent birds will be parading around the yard with their little ones. Activity 3: As much as I love the California Quail, the Red Shoulder Hawk is by far my most favorite neighborhood bird. We have a nest in one of our Ponderosa Pine trees and this is the year for a new hawk family. The nest is not used every year. We have been watching the parent hawks feed each other and guard the nest as needed. One morning while sitting on my deck I could hear subtle chirping from the nestlings. It was so exciting. I am looking forward to the nestlings growing and venturing out of the nest to spread and try their wings. It is always a delight to observe this process.

Really enjoying learning about a whole new selection of songbirds, here in the US.  I am British and moved here from the UK in January 2022.  I am naturally inquisitive of comparison and look for like-for-like, chickadee to tit, [Eastern] bluebird to blackbird (Eurasian blackbird of the Thrush family). Blue Jay to Eurasian Jay etc.  I am also really enjoying the number of woodpeckers i have visiting my feeders, which were a very rare occurrence where i lived in the UK.  I am lucky to live in a very forested part of the US and my backyard is surrounded by wooded forest which attract an abundance of wildlife.  Apologies for the poor photograph - shot in fading light from the comfort of my armchair on my phone...on a whim!  But i love the little Downy!

I love how birds wait their turn at the feeder, the chickadee after the titmouse.

Activity #3. I recently moved to a new part of the country. One bird I have seen regularly in my yard and at my feeder is the Pinyon Jay. They come in droves to my feeder. I have since discovered that their numbers are declining because of habitat destruction. They need Pinyon Pines as a food source. A conservation group is studying the Pinyon Jays and has recruited citizen scientists to participate in studying them. Now they are one of my favorites because I am always looking for them and reporting when and where I see them.  (Bird ID) Jay. Jay

Activity#2 I recently moved to the Southwest from the east coast. I have learned so many new species. When I do see a new one, I am usually able to come close to identifying it the first time. I am pretty good on visual recognition, but I am trying to learn to identify common birds by their song.  Merlin has helped.

I have a pair of cardinals that I've been watching in my backyard for years. I don't know how long cardinals live, so I don't know which generation I am seeing, but it is such a joy when they appear, often together to charm us with their very existence. Sybille

Western bluebirds feeding on mealworms at a friend's house. I've been trying to lure them to our backyard, putting up multiple mealworm cups and filling them daily (white-crowned sparrows gobble them up, too).

Activity #1 I would really love to see a Shoebill someday. I have seen videos of them and they are so surreal looking. Activity #2 While walking around a local preserve I saw a Great Blue Heron catch and eat a fish. I also spotted a Red-Winged Black Bird hopping on the cat tails on the edge of the water. There was also a Pied-Billed Grebe that I was able to ID with it's call on the Merlin app. Activity #3 My favorite bird that I've seen in my neighborhood would have to be the Ring-necked Pheasant. They're so beautiful and it makes me happy seeing them because I know for a while they were endangered due to over hunting the males.

Activity 1:  They're not the flashiest, but I've always been fascinated by owls.  I'd love to see one someday! Activity 2:  In our neighborhood, I've seen birds from the crows/jay, titmice/chickadee, & woodpecker groups so far.  I just started birding a few months ago and am looking forward to hopefully seeing some spring robins soon! Activity 3:  My favorite birds are our resident crows/magpies.  They're fascinating to watch and listen to . . . and the crows loved our old dog and used to bring him bones!

This Northern Flicker has really enjoyed the suet cakes we put out this winter. We have an active bird feeder and a wide assortment of birds. This class is helping us to tell the difference between the large number of brown birds that visit.

Have enjoyed introductions to great variety of birds reading all entries submitted below. Thank you.

Goldfinch and Common Redpolls enjoying a Christmas gift

Tree Swallow

I spent an afternoon photographing humming birds (ruby throated). This is my favorite of a female.

Blackbird I photographed when I took my grandson to the local Zoo.

Activity #1 - It's so difficult to pick favorites from the Wall of Birds, even when you're allowed to pick more than one! I find parrots endearing, right down to the scratchy quality of some of their vocalizations (that might be more difficult for others to hear), so naturally the Blue-and-Yellow Macaw, Kakapo, and Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo make my "favorites" list. Of the non-parrots, I found myself drawn to the Atlantic Puffin and Superb Lyrebird, both of whom have an endearing appearance and vocalizations as well. Still, there are so many beautiful birds on this wall that I can go about but it would take awhile to get through them all! Activity #3 - Of my neighborhood birds, my favorite is the California Scrub Jay as the pair (with the male being a bit bolder personality-wise) won me over with their charisma and boisterousness. I still recall the first time I tossed in-shell unsalted peanuts to them while they were perched on a telephone wire. The male bobbed his body up and down a couple of times and made a dive for the peanuts which were just several feet away from me on the ground. Ever since then, as I've continued giving them peanuts, they'd make a soft "kuk kuk" vocalization around me. So cute. I also find their colors and markings beautiful.

Activity #1. I think my favorite bird would have to be the Albatross, the shear size and grace of these birds always astonishes me, and I'd love to see one in person one day. Activity #2. After going outside yesterday we were introduced to quite the variety of raptors, "other" songbirds, waterfowl and woodpeckers. Namely a massive group of bald eagles that decided to fly through the area, and a small kestrel chasing around a red tailed hawk. Other songbirds would have to belong to all the bohemian waxwings which another birder on the trail was kind enough to aid in ID'ing. The waterfowl seen were a bunch of common goldeneyes and a couple of mergansers which made their way into the flock. Finally a pileated woodpecker was seen hammering away at a branch before we were off again. Activity #3. My favorite neighborhood bird would have to belong to that kestrel. The speed and agility of the bird will always amaze me, along with it's persistant nature to chase down any other raptor in the area make it an easy favorite.

Activity #1. My favourite bird is the Albatross.  The year before Covid our family visited the Cornell Lab and I stood right in front of the painting of this beautiful bird.  I was in awe that all the birds are life-sized on the mural.  It is a very special place to visit.  Put it on your "Bucket List". Activity #3.  It is very hard for me to choose a favourite bird.  We are fortunate to live in a rural area.  Our yard is large and we have lots of trees and shrubs for bird habitat.  In winter, I love red-breasted nuthatches.  In summer, I love the orioles and house wrens.

Activity #3. I am a new birder. Yesterday, I confirmed identification of a large bird I've heard and seen swooping across the park outside my front windows over the past several weeks. I live on the third (and top) floor of a vintage building in Oak Park, Illinois. The building is just north of the Village's small downtown main street and faces longways into a block-long and -wide park with many mature trees. A fellow bird enthusiast in the building told me there is a Cooper's Hawk living in the park, but after hearing the bird's call and comparing to the bird calls on Merlin, I knew that wasn't the bird I have been hearing. During my walk in the park yesterday, the bird flew overhead and landed in a large nest high up in a tall Oak, and in a completely different location from where I assumed the bird was nesting. As I watched the bird and pointed it out to a friend who was with me, it left the nest to fly to a tree closer to us, which gave us a great view. Had the bird noticed us looking and was drawing attention away from its nest? I burned the bird's image into my brain and checked my Kaufman's guide as soon as I got back inside. A Red-Shouldered Hawk it is, as I had identified on Merlin from the bird calls! I couldn't get a good photo on my cell phone camera, but this bird looks exactly like the photo of the adult Red-Shouldered Hawk in the guide. Also according to the guide, this bird can live in the area all season but is rare. What a treat!

Activity 1) Wall of birds. For me, the most remarkable birds are: Sunbittern (Eurypyga helias), Jocotoco Antpitta (Grallaria ridgelyi), Paradise tanager (Tangara chilensis), Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus), Green Broadbill (Calyptomena viridis), Three-wattled Bellbird (Procnias tricarunculatus), Schlegel's Asity (Philepitta schlegeli), HamerKop (Scopus umbretta) and Ornimegalonyx.   Activity 3) My favourite neighborhood bird is "Rabilargo" (Cyanopica cooki). These birds are very social, extroverted and intelligent.  

#1. My favorite bird with difference are shoebills!!!! They are so cool looking, they feel so ancient. I love their expressions! #2. Went on my first birding trip two days ago and came back with way more species than what I expected to find!! Caught on photo an European Robin,  a bunch of Yellow-Legged Gulls and a Little Egret, among others. #3. In my neighborhood we mainly have Common Pigeons, and honestly they might as well be my favorite ones anyway. They are very funny guys and the color combinations they show are so interesting to learn about.

For Activity #2 - our backyard feeder this week hosted woodpeckers (hairy and downy), chickadees, a white-breasted nuthatch, and a female northern cardinal, and the crows were flying between the neighbourhood trees. I think that covers 3-4 groups. For  Activity #3, I think my favourite of these is the nuthatch as it only shows up once in a while so it seems special - love watching it going headfirst down the tree trunk. But a close second are the woodpeckers with their distinctive colouring - and I've learned to tell the two types apart!

My favorite bird I see in my yard is the Black-capped Chickadee. They are always active and constantly moving about, grabbing a seed from my feeder and eating it somewhere else.

Activity #1- some of my most favorite birds are ones I have been fortunate enough to see but they are not native to my home (North Carolina, USA). I have seen the Atlantic Puffin (Alcidae fam.) off the coast of Maine.  Hundreds of birds were nesting on a rocky cliff and they dove into the water over and over again to catch fish for their young. I think they look adorable and are so unique. Another is the Blue-Footed Booby (Sulidae fam.) in the Galápagos Islands. Their brightly colored feet and legs are quite humorous. They appeared to be more like a cartoon than a real bird. Within my home state, my favorite bird is the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. We have a handful that come each year to feed in our yard (Apr-Oct).  These tiny birds are so amazing and beautiful. In Mexico I once saw a mother hummingbird feeding its young in a tiny nest in a bush. I still can’t believe I happened upon that wonder!  Not sure of the exact species.

Hi!  I am very new to bird watching.  As a result of the pandemic, I found myself living full time at my farm, north of Toronto.  In the spring of 2020 we discovered a nest of ravens inside our barn way up at the peak.  After some research we learned a bit about them, and what they like and my daughter build a house for them and eventually it was attached to the outside of our barn in hopes they would return in 2021.  Well they did come back and had 3 adorable babies.  I watched them grow, spoke to them everyday and waited for them to drop from the nest.  It takes about 10 days before they learn to fly!  They are so smart and funny to watch.  They no longer use the house but visit every day…my fingers are crossed they nest again this spring!

I have lots of songbirds including house and gold finches, white crowned sparrows, bluejays and cardinals at my feeders.   In addition there are woodpeckers, red bellied and downy and an occasional piliated.  We also have Canadian geese still around, red tailed hawks and Great Horned Owls in the area.

I found this little guy interesting. Its a black oyster catcher, not actually my favourite but an interesting shore bird. They were travelling in pairs with very striking/bright beaks and eyes. I found this guy on a beach in Vancouver Island. My favourite bird in the area would have to be the Great Blue Heron - they are just so large and majestic.

As someone who recently joined the exciting world of bird watching, I find myself enamored with even the most common songbird.  Whenever I leave the house now (or look out my window!), it feels like an adventure and a scavenger hunt.  I really believe in the sentiment that birdwatching changes your entire perspective on nature and the world around you. Since I have the pictures to accompany, I'll answer activity 2 and share about a few birds I saw in Arizona last month.  I've lived in the Northeast the past 10 years, but I grew up in the Mojave desert in Nevada, and love how resilient the wildlife is in the desert, so I thoroughly enjoyed searching for birds in Phoenix. While hiking around Papago Park, I came across a lake that was filled with a variety of birds including American Coots (waterfowl), Great-tailed Grackles (songbird, blackbird), a Great Egret (wading bird), and my personal favorite, a Neotropic Cormorant (seabird). I only have a phone to take photos with so please forgive the lack of quality! Above - Great-tailed Grackle Above - Great Egret, Neotropic Cormorant, Canada Geese Above - American Coot

01/16/2022 - I live in northeast Texas. #1 - Explore the Wall of Birds. I am always intrigued by the very large flightless birds that look like they should be clumsy, but are not.  Common Ostrich, Greater Rhea, and Southern Cassowary. The Superior Lyrebird was interesting with his fascinating long tail used for mating song and dance. #2 - Find birds from 3 different groups. I have participated in Project FeederWatch for 20 some years since our sons were homeschooling. I am counting birds now from November through May and I highly recommend your involvement. I only see birds from 2 of the groups - Songbirds like juncos, sparrows, cardinals, chickadees, etc.  Pigeons and Doves like the mourning dove and white winged dove. The doves will actually sit in my open tray feeder and are so big and heavy, that the feeder tilts.  Only one dove sits in it at a time and it is very humorous to see. #3 - Favorite bird in yard.  In mid December, I saw a Bewick's Wren. It is a small to medium sized brown bird with a long tail that is usually held up. Long slightly curved bill, white eyeline/eyebrow, dark stripes on tail. It is a very curious bird and bobs it head around looking everywhere. When I saw it, it was investigating a pile of wood that I keep for our stone firepit. It went in, so I do not know if it was looking for a place to make a nest or not. It would be the wrong time of year for nesting.

I love the blue birds. Especially when they scope out our birdhouse like they are at an open house tour. Credit this picture to Mary Prochnow, my neighbor.

Activity 3:  I think my favorite neighborhood bird may be the nuthatch.  I see them going up and down trees in my yard.  Better yet, someone a few blocks away has a feeder next to the sidewalk that they frequent.  When I go for a walk I can stand on the sidewalk a short distance away and watch them take a seed, wedge it between the ridges on the bark of the tree that supports the feeder, and crack it open.  After I observed this behavior it dawned on me that that's how they got their name.

Lately I've welcomed goldfinches to my feeders! I've also had a lot of dark eyed juncos (slate) and mourning doves and have been lucky enough to have some downy woodpeckers and nuthatches (mostly red breasted but did see one white breasted the other day!). The juncos are one of my favourites, I love how they hop/shuffle to uncover seeds buried under the snow.

We were on a driving trip this past August in southern Manitoba, Canada. We rounded a curve on a quiet secondary road and there in front of us, on a large lake was a flock of white Pelicans, about 20 in all. They were swimming around actively, fishing, accompanied by about 15-20 black cormorants. Before this, we had only ever seen grey pelicans, only in Mexico, and assumed their habitat did not include Canada. I read on the Wall of Birds, that they like to congregate on interior lakes in southern Canada, in the summer breeding season. This lake was aptly called Pelican Lake, not far from Baldur, Manitoba.

On the wall of birds, I was intrigued by the Montezuma Oropendola, a bird I'd never heard of before and whose call was unique. In my backyard in Northern California I've most recently seen dark-eyed juncos, California Towhees, Anna's hummingbirds, and crows that love the redwoods behind the house. My favorite backyard bird is the Oak Titmouse, a little grey songbird that has really interesting behaviors and family structures. I couldn't get a picture of him, but he is small and light grey with a short sharp beak and a fun triangular tuft on the top of his head.

Activity 1: My favourite birds were the crested satinbird and great tinamou due to their uniqueness and unexpected shapes. Activity 2: I see songbirds such as robins, wrens and crows extremely often, and I love feeding water birds like mallards, canada geese, greylag geese and the occasional mandarin duck in my local park. Most people I know have seen woodpeckers in the area, and I know that the great spotted, lesser spotted and green can all be found nearby, but sadly my only sighting has been one green woodpecker from a distance. Activity 3: I would say that my favourite bird in my neighbourhood is the european robin. They visit my garden all the time and I recently set up a nest box for them. I love how cute and round they look and how fearless and inquisitive they are. 

Activity 1: my favorite bird from the bird wall was the toco toucan. Activity 2: I have mostly black- capped chickadees and tufted titmice for the songbirds. I have Downy woodpeckers and hairy woodpeckers in the woodpecker family, and I commonly see red tailed hawks.  Activity 3: My favorite birds to watch on my window feeders are Eastern Bluebirds. I had been trying to attract them, and now they are there every day.

Activity 1: My favorites birds were 1) Kakapo, 2) Long-tailed Manakin and 3) the Common Loon   Activity 2: We have a pretty active birdfeeder outside of our kitchen window. We regularly see the regular array of upstate NY songbirds (Black-capped Chickadees, Northern Cardinals, Juncos, Tufted Titmice (Titmouses?), lots of woodpeckers (Downy, Yellow-bellied Woodpeckers, even a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers in the summer). There is a Grouse that lives in our woods. I've never seen him, but we can hear him "thump" when we walk through.   Activity 3: My favorite birds are Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. They come around in the summer and fall in group and this past year I saw their close relative the Evening Grosbeak for the first time!

I'm just learning to attract a variety of species to my yard, and was lucky enough to catch this little Nuthatch stopping by for a drink.  It's cold here in Michigan as well, and the heated water is irresistible to them.  It's amazing to me how they will share the birdbath with many other birds, without being frightened away. I'm anxious to learn more about these amazing little creatures!

It's pretty cold here in Boston.  I suspect the most fruitful use of my time will have to wait until I install the bird feeder that I gave myself for Christmas.  :-). More later.

Activity 1: Great Blue Heron - Carolina Wren - Prothonotary Warbler Activity 2: Red-tailed Hawk - Rosette Spoonbill - Northern Cardinal Activity 3: Black and White Warbler. These are so fun to watch!

Activity #1.  I hiked around a local lake that has an eagle's nest in which both were perched on the nest.  The female, which is about 25% larger spread her wings and both made distinct calls. This nest was about four wide by three feet and eagles continually build on to their nests adding one to two feet each year.

I've been lucky lately with raptor sightings. I think the pic above is a red-shouldered hawk seen at a local college campus. It was lightly raining at the time and the bird was surprisingly bold, sitting on the lawn and gracefully swooping into a tree and then to a lamppost. Such beautiful color and form! I also got lucky with a bald-eagle sighting this week!

Activity 1: The sunbittern is my favorite bird of the ones I explored on the wall of birds. Activity 2: I went to a state park yesterday and observed 1) Songbird: A tufted titmouse (songbird). Also present and easily spotted were numerous northern cardinals, yellow rumped warblers, ruby crowned kinglets and blue gray gnatcatchers. 2) Waterbirds: Cormorants: An Anhinga perched quite close to the walking trail and not very concerned with the people passing close by. This is the closest I have ever been to one of these magneficent birds. Picture attached.  Several migratory ducks were present and attached is a picture that has Ring necked ducks (one male and two female) and a lesser scaup(male). The duck and scaup males look quite similar at first glance. 3) Raptors: It was a good day for raptors, as I approached the gate in my car, I observed an Osprey carrying a fish and flying alongside the road presumably looking for a suitable perch. Turkey vultures are common occurrence in this park but yesterday there were several hundred vultures soaring. A white tailed hawk was also seen soaring. Activity 3: Of the song birds in my neighborhood, I absolutely love the scarlet tanagers. These are temporary visitors arriving in spring briefly when the mulberry tree in the backyard is full of ripe berries. I was able to photograph some this year. One of the pictures is attached.

I just did activity 2 - took my dog on a walk to the dog park and kept my eyes peeled for different birds. I think I saw a dark eyed junco from the sparrow grouping, and I am also pretty sure that I saw a downy woodpecker from the woodpecker grouping. Lastly I saw some crows - I saw that they are under song birds, but I am not sure what the subgrouping would be! Are they in the "other" category? I know they are corvids, but I am not sure if that is one of these sub categories - I also wonder if a raven would be considered a song bird as well.

Not a great shot, but was thrilled to see this female Pileated Woodpecker last week when I met my friend in a city park. I always enjoy seeing these in this park and in the river valley of Edmonton. The female has a red top but starts further back from the bill. They have a grey line coming from the mouth whereas the male has a red line.

I enjoy the high-pitched sounds of a Nuthatch, described as "a toy horn." I took this image through the window at a friend's when I was doing a bird count. I had one land in my hand once, SO light. It was following the example of fellow Black-capped Chickadees, used to being fed by people.

Happy Holidays from the Midwest! One of my favorite fall/winter birds is the White-Breasted Nuthatch. I love to watch them hop up and down the trees feeding on suet. This winter I also saw a group/convoy (I don't actually know what a group of songbirds official name is) of male and female Eastern Bluebirds sticking their heads in and out of a birdhouse. It was very interesting, and at the same time entertaining. (Random Fun Fact: a group of owls is called a parliament.) I will try to snap a picture of some kind of bird soon. Happy Bird-Watching!

Activity 3: I live in Northeast Iowa. A frequent favorite bird I enjoy to watch is the Black-capped chickadee. I love seeing them grab 1 seed from the feeder at a time. A favorite bird I only see in the winter-time is the red-breasted nuthatch. I have one that has come back each winter for 2 years now. It is so tiny and unique-looking!

Activity 1: I was drawn to the I'iwi bird of Hawaii. I used to live there, long before I became a birder. After listening to the song, I recognized it! I can't wait to go back to Hawaii, this time looking at and enjoying the birds!

Activity 3: I live in a wooded suburb of Richmond, Virginia. I fell in love with the flute-like song of the wood thrush and it took me a while before even finding out what kind of bird I was hearing. I got binoculars to try and find it. For months I tried in vain. Finally, I saw it hopping on the ground. Maybe one day I will see it when it is singing on a branch, but it is in my area only from about March to September. I learned that it will raise young from eggs left in its nest by parasitic birds such as the brown headed cowbird. Therefore it wastes time it could be producing its own broods. Anyway, the wood thrush was a spring board for me to get interested in birding in general. -Linda

Greetings from Illinois.  My favorite bird is the Northern Cardinal.  The male is red and the female is fawn with grayish-brown tones with reddish tints.  The Northern Cardinal is a year-round visitor to our backyard feeder.  This photo was taken from my window on a snowy day.

Este hermoso carpintero estaba alimentándose en el árbol que esta enfrente de la casa, cuando este hermoso árbol se llena de frutos, tenemos la fortuna de poder observar muchas especies, pájaros carpinteros cheje, charas yucatecas, luis bienteveo, centzontle tropical, una tarde llegamos a contar ¡cinco carpinteros cheje! Las Aves son increíbles. La pared de las aves es maravillosa, en una de nuestras visitas al laboratorio tuvimos la fortuna de coincidir con la artista, que estaba pintando un hermoso momoto. Fue increíble poder observarla trabajando con tanto talento, paciencia y pasión. Es una gran herramienta para aprender y compartir.

Activity 1: I loved the Wall of Birds!! I especially liked that there were pictures and descriptions listed. The extinct birds gave a window to the past as well as variations of birds we see today!   Activity 2: I have seen mostly songbirds, but saw a heron the other day and regularly see red-tailed hawks!   My favorite bird is a Cardinal!

Greetings from Florida!  I had a rare visit from a Roseate Spoonbill and attempted to catch a quick photo.  The Great Egret is a regular visitor, but a joy to watch just the same.

Hello everybody ! greetings from Colombia, South America. A wonderful country for birding.  I am a beginner, this is my first course in birding.   Activity 1: Favorite birds in the wall of birds: 1. Pelicans (in this case, american white pelican) this one I like because it brings me memories of a place in Colombia where I like to sit and watch them, it gives me a sens of peace. Just like the Aldo Leopold description mentioned “…descending in majestic spirals to the welcoming wastes of a bygone age.” 2. Barn Owls, I think it is amazing how can they actually recreate their location by hearing 3. Great Spotted Kiwi. A very rare bird, with its characteristics it looks like if it wasnt a bird or like a combination of mammal and bird. I also liked the description about how the female digs the burrow and the "mongamous mate" lines it with material so she can lay her eggs. Activity 2: Find birds—either outside, online, or in your field guide—from three different groups that you learned about in this lesson. The birds outside that I commonly see are the songbirds, humming birds and pigeons. Activity 3: Pick a favorite bird that you see in your neighborhood Zonotrichia capensis, is the most common bird where I live. I love them because they are everywhere, and because in front of my window there is usually one of them, singing. This is a picture I took :)  

When I'm in my yard south of Seattle, I love the Pileated Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers that some to eat the suet in my feeders.  Sorry, no pictures.  I love the orange color of the flicker's tail feathers.  I had an adult Pileated Woodpecker one day with a juvenile.  I watched as the adult taught the juvenile how to eat out of the suet feeder!! In the summer months, I volunteer as a beach naturalist.  I'm working to learn and identify Seabirds, Wading Birds, and Shorebirds.  I also live near a heron sanctuary; so it probably won't surprise you that the Great Blue Heron is a favorite of mine.

Hi, Val from USA hot southwest desert. A longtime favorite bird of mine is the verdin. It's an attractive little guy with a big mouth. Although quite at home in the harsh desert year-round, it has been kind enough to adapt to human settlement. I enjoy watching them around my home flit up, down and over chasing bugs. Also, they build nests that are unique and ingenious, kind of a hollow bag of twigs and fines with a hole in the bottom. Check them out.

Tucson Backyard in the last 10 minutes: Heard and saw a Gila Woodpecker on the palm tree, watched a Black-chinned Hummingbird chase a neighbor Hummingbird trying drink from 'his' feeder; heard a Lesser Goldfinch call near the thistle feeder out front.

Activity one & three G'day I'm Ross from Melbourne Australia This bird is a Magpie . You can hear them caroling especially at dusk.  They have a fearsome reputation for swooping on unsuspecting people on bikes especially during the nesting season :-) They are my favorite bird in my urban area. They mark out their territory  and will raise two to three young. When the young are fledged they stay with the parents for quite some time - you can often see them begging for food rather than foraging themselves. As juveniles they remain in the parents territory for at least twelve months before they are chased out to find their own territory

I"m doing this course with my 8 year old son, Peter.  We are in Pasadena, CA on the West Coast of the  United States. We choose Anna's hummingbird.  They buzz all around our backyard.  The buzzing, like bees, is pretty cool and that they can hover. Sorry - they are too fast for us to get a picture!

Activity 1- I love the scissor tail!  In Texas their arrival coincides with my hot summers and their high wire antics greet me when I am on my front porch with my morning coffee.

Activity 3:  a favorite bird of mine is the blue jay.  I think they are beautiful.  For many years I did not see them often, but in the last few years I see them more frequently.  Lately I have seen them a lot at a bird feeder we have in our backyard.  The blue jay is definitely the most aggressive of the birds that usually visit our feeders.  They easily push off the house sparrows, cardinals, and woodpeckers which are often at our feeder and suet. As I writing this I can hear a couple of blue jays.

activity 2:  I live in the the suburbs of Washington, DC in Maryland.  This morning I took a long walk that went through several different types of habitats.  As soon as I closed my front door I head crows and heard and saw blue jays.  Then I heard and saw a couple of red shouldered hawks.   So I saw two groups of birds before I had gotten past my front lawn.   I then walked into a wooded area along a stream.   I heard Carolina Wrens, more Red-Shouldered Hawks and blue jays, and heard and saw Cardinals.  While I saw several birds I was not able to identify, I then saw an American Redstart and a Scarlet Tanager.   Next I walked into a public garden that has ponds.   I saw more song birds:  blue jays, a Gray Catbird, a Tufted Titmouse and a Red-eyed Vireo.  I also saw a mourning dove and then a green heron.   On the way home I heard a red-bellied woodpecker and saw a northern mockingbird.  In total I saw four groups of birds this morning which is unusual.   Usually on my walks I see songbirds and mourning doves.

Activity #1 - I was drawn to the American White Pelican on the Wall of Birds because of its sheer size.  I recently took a trip to the Dakotas and was surprised to see a Pelican on display in one of the National Park visitor centers and was able to learn that the Pelicans breed inland and pass through the Dakotas. Activity #2 - On my outdoor walk through a natural forest/creek area, we saw a large collection of vultures on the ground.  We were not close enough to see if there was a carcass there, but I imagine that there was.  Vultures would fit into the Raptor group.  On our trip to the Dakotas, we saw a Western Meadowlark which I believe fits into the Songbird category.  Another bird we saw in the Dakotas was (I think) a pied-billed grebe - which would be a swimming bird/water fowl.

Activity  1:  looking at and exploring the wall made me think about some trips I have taken in the past and why I have decided to take the course after the events of the last year.  I thought of a family trip that we took about 10 years ago to Panama.  My daughter and I went white water rafting and on our way to the river we saw a toucan flying just as the sun was coming up.  I do not know a lot about birds, but that was one that was hard to get the group wrong.  I also looked at birds that I often see near my home.   We live near a public garden where I often see great blue herons.   I have become more interested in birds since I started taking early morning walks - something I have done as exercise during the pandemic when I have been working from home and not going to the gym.   I have found the bird song comforting on my walks and began to wonder which bird I was hearing.  I had never heard of a Carolina Wren until about a month or two ago.  I often hear them on my walks and see them in our backyard.

Activity 2 I often see Red-winged blackbirds (blackbirds) when walking around marshes, ponds, and lakes in Southwest Ohio.  I also see Great Blue Herons (herons) wading and fishing in similar waterways.  They are patient when fishing and majestic in flight.  It is a rare delight to see a pileated woodpecker (woodpeckers) come to our backyard feeder to investigate.  They are striking in size and coloration.

Activity 1 I like the call of the common loon.  I hear and see them when I am traveling near lakes in New Hampshire and Maine.  I have seen them flying and swimming and observed their platform nest from a distance.  Their chicks don't always survive although the entire New London, NJ Pleasant Lake community tracks and roots for them each year.

I am living in Zimbabwe. The first one, I think, is part of the flycatchers or great flyers. I think it is a dark-capped bulbul. The second one is a paradise flycatcher.   And the last one is part of the grouse. It is a purple-crested Turaco

Activity 3: One of my favorite local birds is the Greenfinch - they have a lovely song, a bit like a wild canary. I tried making some watercolor drawings of the male Greenfinch, but they don't do justice to this beautiful little bird.

We disturbed a great egret while kayaking on a river near Montreal, Canada.

Activity 3 - Three common birds from where I live (Brussels, Belgium) are the Wood Pigeon, Rose-ringed Parakeet and Magpie. I don't know if the Wood Pigeon has an equivalent in the US, unless it's maybe the Band-tailed Pigeon, but I've never seen one. They're big chunky pigeons, like a small chicken, and they trundle around in the leaf litter in the fall searching for beech nuts. In the spring they eat buds and young leaves. There's a pair that nests in the ivy in our garden each year. The Rose-ringed Parakeets are all over Brussels. They come from a collection of parakeets that were deliberately released in Brussels when a local zoo went bankrupt. The authorities complain about them, but most people like them. They might take over some nesting holes that would otherwise be used by native birds, but they seem to mostly eat seeds from ornamental, non-native trees that other birds aren't interested in. The Magpies are everywhere in Brussels where there are some big trees to perch in. They don't get along at all with the local Carrion Crows - the crows chase them and they chase the crows.

Activity 1: SECRETARY BIRD: It was interesting to learn that its name comes from its elaborate crest that recalls secretaries. It is far from sedentary; it is very active hunting by kicking its prey with its powerful legs and toes. PROTHONOTARY WARBLER: Beautiful yellow feathers. Fiercely defensive of their territories. Both sexes are aggressive in their interaction with the same sex. Pair bonds that usually last the season and continue through the winter. Activity 2: SONGBIRDS: Gray Catbird: Lives in open woodlands and eats insects. It copies the sounds of other species and some of its calls are similar to cats and frogs sounds. PIGEONS AND DOVES: Mourning Dove: Lives in open woodlands and eats seeds. It nests in trees and perches in telephone wires. RAPTORS: Red-shouldered Hawk: Lives in forests, eats mammals, and nests in trees. It returns to the same nesting territory year after year. Activity 3: My favorite bird is the Red-shouldered Hawk: it is common in the area where I live. I see them by themselves, in foggy winter days perched in trees, which makes a beautiful scene. They are very elegant and I love their delicate plumage in their breast like little brush strokes.

  I took this photo at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge outside of Philadelphia earlier this year -- something about herons intrigues me. Their "dinosaur-esque" look is incredible and terrifying at the same time. I'm also a fan of the common loon, which I've now learned is part of the waterfowl/duck group. I'm also rather intrigued by the painted bunting, which I recently learned about and would really like to see in person. I would guess that they are considered song birds; however, I'm not too sure which group they would be part of. It'll take some work to be able to be mindful for (and remember) all of the groups and sub-groups for classification purposes.

I loved listening to the song of the Brown Thrasher on the Wall of Birds - it brought back happy memories of when I was growing up and I heard the Brownies singing in the shrubs and woods by our house. Those were the days. May the dear Brownies keep on singing forever.

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.

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...