The Cornell Lab Bird Academy › Discussion Groups › Joy of Birdwatching › Activities: Exploring Birds
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Activity 1: I like the Osprey best because on the Wall of Birds it lives at the same place as I do, but also because there is a Osprey nest where I live and it it's so cool to watch the Ospreys fly around the nest and carry fish and other stuff to the young ones. Activity 2: On one of my walks through the park by my house, I saw Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals and Northern Mockingbirds, group: Songbirds. By a pond I saw Muscovy Ducks with a lot of ducklings and a Anhinga, grouped as Waterfowl. There was also a Great Blue Heron, some White Ibis, some Wood Storks and a Limpkin, group: Wading birds. Activity 3: It is really hard to pick a favorite, for there are about 10000 bird species in the whole world and I am supposed to narrow it down to one species?! I really like the Nanday Parrots with their loud calls and so cute relationships. Great Blue Herons are also really cool, as well as Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. But, if I have to pick a absolute favorite, it would be the Northern Mockingbird, because I always watch them in my yard, sometimes feeding young ones or fighting. And every time I come back to my house after a hike, two Northern Mockingbirds sit on the power lines, at the same spot every day.
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These are some of the birds in the neighborhoods, I have walked in. The Canada Goose, with one foot, was hopping and surviving. Foraging. Poor Thing. And the SeaGulls are at the beach, drinking the water, and 'in a mingle.' I never knew they drank water like that, it looks interesting.
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Activity 1. The Wall of Birds is gorgeous! I fell in love with the Lilac-Breasted Roller found in East Africa. Lilac is my favorite color so that had something do with my choice. What I also love is the male Roller during breeding season will do aerobatic dives and rolls. It brought to mind the numerous Blue Angel airshows I have attended in which the pilots with their planes were doing what the Rollers do. Activity 2. This year I monitored a pair of Red Shouldered Hawks from The Raptors group for a couple of biological scientists doing a survey. I followed the hawks from nest building to the eventual hatching and fledging of 2 baby hawks. It was amazing! There is a Wildlife Refuge near me and there I recently observed a Downey Woodpecker, hard at work and from the Waterfowl Group, a beautiful Cinnamon Teal Duck. Activity 3. My favorite bird is the Western Tanager. It migrates through my neighborhood. I first noticed them due to the loud chatter coming from the tree tops near me. I think quarantine and the quietness around me made me more aware this year. The males are absolutely gorgeous with a red head, yellow body and black wing bars. They stay mainly in tree tops and when they are around there is a flutter of movement in the tree tops and flashes of yellow. I first thought that someone's pet bird escaped until I learned more about them. Such a beautiful bird!
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One day when I was walking in a field beside a creek, a place I could let my dogs off the leash when we were out for a walk, I saw, at close range, a great blue heron (ardea herodias) rise up suddenly out of the creek bed. I didn't immediately know what it was--I'd seen them only from a distance before. I actually had the feeling of my heart rising in my chest. Since that day 15-20 years ago I've felt connected to these wonderful wading birds. I've seen them on the seashore, as in St. George Island, FL (below).
This is a favorite photo of the great blue heron. I actually photographed several members of a group standing close to some people surf fishing. Herons are usually solitary fishers, but will take what human fishers by the water don't use. A close relative of this heron is the great egret (ardea alba), a beautiful white wading bird. I live within a 2-hour drive of a place called Reelfoot Lake in northwest Tennessee, which is teeming with birds, from terns to bald eagles. Below, an egret.
In recent decades, Reelfoot has become known for eagle-watching. A few bald eagles were wintering at the lake in the 60s and 70s. Now, there's an abundance of nesting pairs. Ospreys, too. Plenty of fish for both raptors and waders. I live near Memphis, on the edge of the urban area, in a neighborhood with a lot of mature native trees. Plenty of deer, and a lot of birds I hear in my back yard, where the trees are dense around an intermittent creek that drains the area. It's hard to see them this time of year. But cardinals are abundant and their plumage make them easy to spot. I've been surprised 3-4 times in the 15 years I've lived here by hearing the calls of barred/hoot owls outside. I've immediately gone to sit on the back porch and listen to the back-and-for calls of one nearby and one distant owl. In fact there's a lot of bird music right here, and one of my goals is to acquire a much greater ability to identify birds by their songs and calls. Jays, Red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks, sparrows, wrens, vireos, eastern bluebirds (often seen in pairs) are a few. There's a small lake in a park nearby where I ride around a half-mile track a few times in the course of a longer bicycle ride. I often see my beloved great blue herons, always solitary. And green herons make appearances there too, along with bluebirds. All of them are sources of delight to me. There must be at least a hundred species I have no idea of, so I have the joy of learning some of them to look forward to.
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Those are some amazing and gorgeous pictures you posted! The herons and egrets are some of my favorites too. It sounds like you must live not too far from where I am, in Florida. We are blessed with an abundance of shore birds and water birds here. Thank you for sharing your pictures.
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Activity 1. I really enjoyed the Wall of Birds, but there are so many birds I decided to start with South America and just check out every bird. So far I especially like the marvelous Spatuletail Hummingbird because of color, the special tail, I would love to see them present when mating. I was impressed with the Three-Wattled Bellbird, never seen or heard of such a bird. I enjoyed the Long-tailed Manakin and would like to see them doing there leapfrogging flight. Activity 2. I went to the beach and I saw Brown Pelicans, Heermann’s Gulls, Western Gulls, Great-tailed Grackles, Rock Doves, and Tree Swallows. Activity 3. I have too many favorites and it changes depending on my encounter with the bird or birds. I have a fountain out in my front yard, and I often sit out trying to sketch the birds as they visit the fountain. I have House and Chipping Sparrows, House Finches, and once in a while a pair of American Goldfinch as well some Anna’s Hummingbirds.
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Activity 1: Nope. I cannot choose a favorite, I love every single one. I think I went through half and gave them all hearts. Activity 2: We spotted a group of house finches and loads of Anna's hummingbirds. There was also a bird that looked like a cross between the house finch and a parrot. It was pretty far away and hard to get the details on, but its coloring was a kind of brown with a touch of green and had it had a parrot-like head and beak. We're SO CURIOUS about these two guys. We also see red-tailed hawks hunting every so often, which is pretty neat. Activity 3: It's hard to pick a favorite, but the hummingbirds give us the best look because we can watch them feed and interact with each other. They're so aggressive, they even fight with each other and the hornets. Sometimes they even fly up to face us and seem to be threatening us to go back inside. They observe my small dog (without attacking). They following him and look down at him as he wanders around the yard. It's wild!
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Activity 1: Oilbird (lives in caves and uses echolocation), Red-Faced Mousebird (multiple females lay eggs in one nest), African Jacuna (females battle for nesting grounds, males incubate eggs and raise chicks), Wandering Albatross (spend most of their life in the sea, have salt glands). Activity 2: Songbirds (Shiny Cowbird/Mirlo Común) Raptors (American Kestrel/Cernícalo) Waterfowl (Cinnamon Teal/Pato Colorado) Activity 3: My favorite is a Croaking Ground Dove/Tortolita Quiguagua. My friends call it a frog-bird. Some of the funny croaking sounds it makes are Wow! Weird. It’s bigger than a sparrow, but smaller than a pigeon. It’s grayish-brownish in color with a bright yellow beak at its base. It freezes when feels threatened, which allowed me to touch them on many occasions. On the other hand, if you stand still, it will walk around you not even noticing your presence.
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I really came to appreciate the motto "keep common birds, common" , especially while under house quarantine. I fell in love with a pair of mourning doves that called our pine tree home... each morning the first thing that came to mind was not coffee, but how are the birds, what are they doing, did the one egg hatch...I really got to appreciate the ordinary birds in my yard/neighborhood, something I definitely took for granted. Though not a colorful bird, grayish/brown- it has a distinct long tail and a call that I found soothing. Parents shared nesting / feeding duties- I was really surprised that during high winds the flimsy nest withstood the stress... I can't thank you all enough, for all these inexpensive courses and sharing your expertise (I attended a fabulous lecture at the lab on crows by Kevin...). I wrote poems about the birds I saw while home during those 4 months...and I never wrote poetry before...I have been drawing them also. I am now a more relaxed version, of me....Thank you!!
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Before seeing the Shoebill on the Wall of Birds, I saw a stuffed-shoebill at the Lab or Ornithology, I thought is was fake...such an interesting looking bill perfect for a carnivore...it depends on the papyrus swamps in Eastern Africa (do not migrate) and are considered a vulnerable species -with estimates of approximately 3,000- 5,300 adults left in the world. Numbers are declining due to habitat loss, clearing for pasture, and agricultural burning. In Uganda, some are hunted because they are considered a bad omen. The wingspan can be up to 8 feet in length- once classified in the stork family, it looks prehistoric- check it out...
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THE PELICAN and THE WOOD DUCK, are my favorites. THE PELICAN, because it has a mixture of strength and playfulness, in its' looks and style. THE WOOD DUCK, because it is unique and cool looking. It has a 'one of a kind,' profile and assortment of colors.
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I love the Stellar's Jay! They have nested in our yard for the last few years, and I've learned that they are much quieter when they are nesting (their squawk can be annoying). I love watching the hatchlings leave the nest and walk about the area while learning to fly.
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I noticed this with the Blue Jays here in Pennsylvania. We have always had noisy, raucous groups of them until last year when a pair nested here. They were completely quiet all summer .
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I am following three birds we see around our home. The Ring-necked Pheasant, what I now know to be a Rufous Hummingbird and what appear to be a family of Song Sparrow living in a birdhouse. I have yet to capture their pictures.
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1. I've visited Ithaca many times to see relatives. We always find our way to Sapsucker Woods and the Wall of Birds. My grandchildren were enthralled and they would love the interactive Wall on this site. I think the Asiatic Fairy Bluebird is lovely. Penguins are so amazing as are the walking birds such as emu. 2. I love red bellied woodpeckers with their red heads and noisy clucking around. I was trying to spot a mocking bird and discovered it was a brown thresher imitating a cardinal, twice. I loved to watch nuthatches at my previous resident. They fly so quickly and do Darth Vader imitations when being territorial. 3. Now my favorite neighborhood bird, though only as it passes through, are the swallowtail kites. They are such dramatically colored birds, white and black, and sail through the air using their swallowtails as rudders.
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I just spotted two Ring-necked Pheasants on our fence but was too late with the camera! They were displaying and looked to be young males, from what I can tell, as the novice I am. They seemed to be practicing displays? Very excited to see them again and find out what they are up to. Great course so far!
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The three types of birds, are : Duck/Waterfowl. White Heron/Waterbird-Wading Bird. And the Shorebirds/Pipers. The pictures were taken today, 8/6/20. I have noticed some birds are very flighty, and some are not. The Heron flew away after the pictures, but the ducks did not. -b.k. All these birds connected to the water, but differently.
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Activity 1: I chose the Brown Creeper from the family of tree creepers. It’s shown in western North America on the wall but we have them here in Pennsylvania as well. I was surprised to learn how large the Brown Creepers range is and that it is a year-round resident here. I only first saw one last year and was able to get a photo. I think they are cool because they are masters of camouflage.
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Activity 2: For activity 2 I chose the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, the House Wren, and the Red-eyed Vireo. There are many hummingbirds here now for the flowers, and we have a Wren family in a nest box but the coolest thing I saw was two vireos feeding a chick that had left the nest. I had to compare bird calls to figure out what kind of vireos they were. Activity 3: I chose the Song Sparrow. There is one I see almost every day. It perches close to me whenever I’m in the garden. I look forward to being able to identify more kinds of sparrows soon. This is another photo from last year.
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I have a huge tree that is 2 feet from my back door and the deck is built around it. I love it when the Brown Creeper comes to visit! He is so tiny! I know most birds are naturally camouflaged, but I think it is spectacular how he matches this tree so well! The funniest thing is I've lived here for 8 years and he's likely been on that tree thousands of times and I've never seen him until I started birding! I'm new to birding (since March during quarantine) and they exactly match the trees here in Arkansas as well!
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I have a huge tree that is 2 feet from my back door and the deck is built around it. I love it when the Brown Creeper comes to visit! He is so tiny! I know most birds are naturally camouflaged, but I think it is spectacular how he matches this tree so well! The funniest thing is I've lived here for 8 years and he's likely been on that tree thousands of times and I've never seen him until I started birding! I'm new to birding (since March during quarantine) and they exactly match the trees here in Arkansas as well!
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Activity 1....Our favorites were the Carolina wren (because we have them in our backyard) and we also choose the common loon (for its bizarre and haunting song, also because the description read like a strange romance novel).... Activity 2...So we have White breasted Nuthatches which I believe fall into the songbird group in the tree creeper category. We have red-tailed hawks which are in the raptor group. We have downy, hairy and red chested wood peckers which fall into the wood pecker group. Activity 3...My favorite bird is the blue jay, although after recent hawk attacks they have kept a distance. My fathers favorite bird right now is the gray catbird, because of its memorable personality.
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Activity 1: My favorite bird from the Wall of Birds was the Shoebill. I just think they are so fascinating. Their beaks are huge and they have a hook at the end of them. Activity 2: The Eastern Phoebe is a flycatcher. I love watching them sit on a branch, fly out to catch a but, and fly back to their original location! The Great Egret is a wading bird. I saw one the other day as it was trying to catch a fish. It was so close. The Red-shouldered Hawk is a raptor. I think I have been seeing and hearing this type of bird. It has a loud call that sounds like PEW-PEW-PEW! Activity 3: Some of my favorite birds in my neighborhood are ones that I see in my backyard. I really like the Gray Catbird, Goldfinch, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The Catbird is medium sized and gray with a long tail and black beak. There is one that comes to my house often that is missing its tail! The Goldfinch is a bright yellow bird with black wings. The females are more of an olive green. Lately, there have been Hummingbirds showing up to my Hummingbird feeder. The only ones I have seen are girls because they do not have red on their throat. They have white bellies, green back, and long, black beak.
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My current favorite birds would be the Barred Owl and the Loon. The Barred Owl because they are so neat! We saw a pair when walking in the woods the other night. They were just amazing and certainly scoping us out to see if we would make good food! The Loon is another one I love because of the call. It is so haunting and lonesome sounding. I have only seen Loons in secluded lakes and so that might be why I think that. As for three birds from three different groups, I am having the most trouble with the water birds so I will choose from those groups to help myself learn the distinctions between the three. 1. Cormorant. I think that would fit into the Seabird Group. I see them sometimes holding their wings out to dry them. 2. Wilson's Snipe. Shore bird. I have heard their call and it is really unique. 3. Great Blue Heron. Wading bird group. They are so elegant.
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Activity 3: It is impossible for me to choose a favorite. But the bird I will select for this purpose is the catbird. The reason is because it is like my little buddy — 9 times out of 10, the first bird to show up in the morning and the last to leave in the evening. It is not shy, and likes to be seen *and* heard. Sometimes there are two together and they act like squabbling siblings or spouses, vying for the same spot on the suet feeder and chasing each other around. Cheeky catbird!
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My first bird learning experience. I was watching and listening for birds when I walked this morning. Only one bird was close enough to see. I realized that I need to school myself to look at beaks, tails, and shapes an not rely on color. I think the bird I saw was a robin, but it didn’t look like robins I have seen from my apartment. Hope my observation skills improve.
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My selections from three groups are: 3) Hummingbird (hummingbirds) - I did not know we had hummingbirds in my neighborhood and I was stunned one more to have one come through our garden to nosh on the hosta blossoms. I was unprepared and did not get a good photo. A few days later, it came through again and I was ready on the second pass. I hav been a birder since May 21 (2020) and this is my favorite photo that I’ve taken so far!
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My selections from three groups are: 2) Downy woodpecker (woodpeckers) - I have only seen the female but I would love to see the male with his bright red patch. She feeds at our regular feeder regularly and I have also seen her in a tree. Her black and white coloring is quite dramatic. She has only been to the suet feeder a few times that I’ve seen but that’s where I was able to catch a picture of her. Still working on getting a better photo, but she comes and goes pretty quickly!
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My selections from three groups are: 1) House wren (songbirds) - we had a male house wren build a nest in our birdhouse but it was not selected by the female to be used. (I am new to birding as of May 21 when we moved to our new bird-blessed home and I learned that the male builds about 3 dummy half nests, then the female selects the one she wants to use and finishes the nest herself. Here is the male working on the nest.
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