The Cornell Lab Bird Academy › Discussion Groups › Joy of Birdwatching › Activities: Exploring Birds
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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 :)
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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.
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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.
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I've never heard of this bird before- it is seriously cool and very colorful! Thanks for sharing! -Alex, NY
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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.
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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
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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!
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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.
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It was a favorite of mine when I lived in Texas Hill Country. It's one of the things I miss most. That and fireflies.
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i live in Canyon Lake and my favorite is also scissor-tailed flycatcher! I'll never forget the first time a saw one by the dam when i moved here. I had to know what it was....so cool.
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@Cindy You may have already known this, but the Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher is the state bird of Oklahoma. I have never seen one, but I would like to one day.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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love your photos!
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@Cindy Thank you very much!
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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.
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your painting is wonderful!
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I really love your paintings!
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We disturbed a great egret while kayaking on a river near Montreal, Canada.
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these are beautiful photos. I live in Israel, and at the moment we have thousands of them nibbling from the goods of the fields
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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The sound ID on the Merlin Bird ID app is so helpful! I'll just walk through the woods and keep it on, and it'll identify everything it hears. I'll end up hearing more birds than I was actually able to see, but it helps to start getting used to hearing a bird and knowing who the tweet belongs to. Granted, the app isn't 100%, but any help I can get for identification, I'll take!
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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?
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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.
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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).
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