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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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