The Cornell Lab Bird Academy › Discussion Groups › Joy of Birdwatching › Activities: Exploring Birds
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Activity #3: Maybe not my absolute favorite backyard bird, but here is a picture of a bald eagle guarding his/her nest. It's a HUGE nest, and I could see at least 2 juveniles moving around inside. The first time I saw a bald eagle was when I was 18 on a canoeing trip down the Susquehanna River in central PA, and I was so fascinated because I always thought they were super rare for some reason. This eagle and nest are located on Sand Island on the Great Sacandaga Lake in the southern Adirondacks (NY). I like to visit them often and watch as mom and dad bring in fish and small animals for the young ones to eat!
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Activity 3: I recently moved permanently to South Africa and have been loving getting to know the bird life around the area! My absolute favorite bird is the African Hoopoe, pictured below. It's the David Beckham-like hair that makes me love it!
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Very cool! I love seeing birds from other continents (I'm in the U.S.), they're all so exotic and special for me! Thanks for sharing!
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Activity 1- One of my favorite birds from the Wall of Birds is the quetzal. I love the long tail, cute, round head and vibrant colours. I have also never seen one, so would love to see one! I also love all owls, hummingbirds and warblers. I saw a tropic bird for the first time in Kauai while hiking, and was so excited I photographed and watched for hours. Activity 2- I love swifts, I did not know one part of their brain can be asleep while flying! I was thrilled to see a Black-headed grosbeak AND Western Tanagers here, which are only visitors here for a very short time..they are so beautiful. I am learning to identify bird songs, that I do not know, so I watch out for the birds, as I know they are not common ones, as I know the common calls in my area. Activity 3- My favorite bird in my area is a tough decision, I would have to say the hummingbird, we have Anna's and Rufous.. I love their ability to flit around effortlessly and go up in the air and down, while chatting to each other, and especially their glistening colours..they are so sweet..
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Activity #3: My favorite local bird is a blue heron. It is so tall and majestic hanging out at the edge of a small pond near my house in Indiana. I’ve had a bird feeder and hummingbird feeders for years, but didn’t pay much attention to the variety of birds that were showing up until I started working from home during the COVID crisis. We always have cardinals, but in March there were dozens hanging out in the snow in the yard, beautiful! And then I saw a rose breasted grosbeak (identified with the Audubon app) and now I’m hooked and want to identify all of them :)
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We live in western New York and love the NYS Bluebird! We have several houses and usually get at least one brood of babies. But we are having problems with English sparrows who try to take over the bird houses. How can we get "rid" of the sparrows? Or discourage them from bothering the bluebirds? Just asking!
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I recently added three birdfeeders to my small yard in central NJ. It has been fun to see new birds arrive to feast. I find the starlings who fight for the suet cakes the most interesting to watch. I have been lucky enough to see the fledglings arrive at the suet with their parents and/or other adults. The adults can be quite aggressive toward the fledglings - I assume not their own young. The blue jay who comes occasionally is also very aggressive. We've had three types of woodpecker and one flicker. All birds that I had never seen growing up in the cities of NJ.
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I enjoyed the Wall of Birds. I looked at birds that I am used to - cardinal, blue heron, and then ones that I have never heard of. I enjoyed hearing the calls as well.
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Saw this amazing Coopers Hawk on my deck rail two mornings in a row. So beautiful! Atlanta GA, Dana
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Amazing photo!
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Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
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Activity 1: I learned in this activity that albatrosses are my favorite birds! I think it's so so cool that they can fly for YEARS at a time, and that they live to be so old (80 years!!). It got me thinking about lifespans of other types of birds, like the ones in my neighborhood and that I see commonly. I'll have to do some more research on bird lifespans, as it's interesting to me that they can live as long as humans and I've never really considered it before!
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Another cool picture of the Barn Swallow. These were taken with an iPhone so not as crisp and sharp as one would like but still amazing. I've never seen (or noticed) a Barn Swallow before. In fact, never heard of one so this was incredible to see. (Marlborough, CT).
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So cool! I want to see a barn swallow, I really like their super exaggerated forked tails. Thanks for sharing!
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This is a barn swallow feeding its young in my friend's barn. We live in Connecticut and she has a horse barn and has barn swallows that return year over year. She has well over a dozen active nests.
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You captured some great photos of those barn swallows!
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Activity 3. The Bobolink is a bird I don't get a chance to see often. However when I do, I excited. I usually see them sitting on an overhead wire or flying quickly from field to field where they land and hide in the grasses. I was fortunate the other day though to have this guy accommodate me by sitting up on several blades. I really enjoy the cream colored nape on that black head followed by the white areas on the back and wings.
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Congratulations! We just saw our first Boblink recently, at Middle Creek Wildlife Area in Pennsylvania. Our photos are not as good as yours as the birds stayed deep into the meadow, but we were very excited to spot them.
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The Hooded Merganser is my favourite duck or the ten different kinds of ducks that drop by in their spring migration on the river that I live on. What a wonderful view I have of these colourful and lively little divers.
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Hi Liz, I've never seen this duck before. Where do you live? Nan
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Activity 3- I am fortunate to live only 1.5 hours away from the Pacific coast. Yesterday I was able to take a socially distanced trip to the beach and observe birds living on a large haystack. I enjoyed watching the Common Murres, Pelagic Cormorants, and Tufted Puffins. I have always been enthralled with Puffins, but have never actually seen one (every time I went to the shore I tried to spot a few). I also observed a Bald Eagle snatch a baby Seagull from the top of the haystack. I was unable to take any decent photos, but I can't wait to go back and watch again!
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Lately in my neighborhood I've seen House Finches, House Sparrows, Eurasian Collared Doves, Crows and Quail. I love seeing Quail because my grandfather loved Quail and it brings back sweet memories.
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Activity #1: I am fascinated by the Secretary bird. It's near blindness unless it's prey move makes me think of Jurassic Park and the fact that T-Rex may have had similar qualities. Could it be that the secretary bird is a downsized version of the former kind of dinosaurs? It's pretty cool to think of it that way. Activity #2: I've been birding recently with more experienced birders. Some birds that I have seen/learned about are Orchard Orioles (found a nest!); King Birds (also found a nest and learned about their territorial personalities; Red-Tailed Hawks - these are the birds that got me into birding along with the Falcon. Next to our family garden plot live a pair of hawks and it's cool to watch them hunt, observe, swoop over us, and escape all the blackbirds that want them out of their space. Activity #3: BlueBirds! So many people have bluebird nest boxes it's cool to observe them. We've watched them lay eggs, the eggs have hatched, some aggressive sparrows are being fought off, and they go out and get food to feed the babies.
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Actividad 1 Las aves que me llamaron la atención y por las que vote fueron Hoatzin (Opisthocomus Hoazin), Oilbird (Steatornis Caripensis) y Nyctibius Griseus. Actividad 2 Los tres pájaros de tres grupos diferentes que encontré fueron: Grupo Palomas: Encontré a Paloma Manchada (Patagioenas Maculosa) Grupo Loros: Encontre a Kirki (Psilopsiagan Aymara) Grupo Colibríes: encontré a Picaflor Cometa (Sappho Sparganura), Picaflor Gigante (Patagona Gigas) Actividad 3 El pájaro que elijo es Pinchaflor (Diglossa Carbonaria), este pajaro es uno de mis preferidos porque es muy valiente ya que se enfrenta a los picaflores para poder alimentarse del néctar de las flores tubulares.
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Gracias. De donde viene el foto?
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Activity 3: although this photo was digiscoped, I have a pair of California quail visiting my backyard. My neighborhood is a recent development in farmland, so I working on improving the habitat in my backyard. These days I have house finches, house sparrows, mourning doves, Eurasian collared doves, red-winged blackbirds, Brewer’s blackbirds, and brown-headed cowbirds coming to my seed feeders and a couple of black-chinned hummingbirds coming to my nectar feeders and penstemons. Robins have been plucking serviceberries from the two shrubs I planted last year. As trees get bigger, I hope to see more small, insect-eating birds show up. I’ve had flyovers by Canada geese, snow geese, mallards, red-tailed hawks, Swainson’s hawks, osprey, and American kestrels. This past winter I had an immature sharp-shinned hawk and an adult Cooper’s hawk hunting my feeders and dark-eyed juncos feeding on seed I scattered on the ground. Killdeer are still present in the area but none have come to my yard.
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Really like the Wall of Birds concept. My main intent is to have basic bird watching skills, as I'm moving to Morocco and our house is located next to a bird wetlands/sanctuary that is now a formally protected area. It's hard to find a lot of info on the birds I will see there, but learning how to use the apps and try to identify - and started drawing them. By me now I got to see a huge flock of pelicans, and it was really exciting.
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I love Western Meadowlarks. I hear them in fields two miles from my home. They are difficult to photograph, because they are far from the street in grassy fields. Focusing on the bird and not the grasses is a challenge, but I was able to at least get an image that proves it is a meadowlark! I love their songs. The course is good for me - I have been birding for a long time but have lots to learn.
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Ahhh I’m a huge fan of the snowy plover (such a beautiful bird, considered a symbol of longevity and perseverance) ~I think it’s in the shorebird family? I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one, so I will be excited to add that to my life list at some point! before corona hit, I would see barn owls near the student union at my college (they’d come out at about 8pm regularly.) that’s something I really miss since having to go back home. But I’ve still gotten some nice encounters with birds since returning from school. we have a nest of barn swallows on our porch, and they’ve had two rounds of chicks. Lovely birds, if a bit sloppy! Haha
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I live in East Texas. Some birds I have seen on our property: Song birds..... Painted bunting (MY FAVORITE ❤️) Wading birds...Great blue Heron Woodpeckers....Pileated woodpecker, Downy woodpeckers, Red headed woodpecker Hummingbirds.....Ruby throated woodpecker
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Here in west Houston (TX) today Northern Cardinals, Tufted Tit Mouse (or should they be Titmice?) pairs, Carolina Chickadees and Blue Jays were all dining at our backyard feeder. White Wing Doves along with all of the others were using the bird bath to drink and cool off in the heat of the early summer. Overhead, Black Vultures that roost on the roof of nearby office buildings were circling overhead. Great Blue Herons were flying in a straight path several hundred feet high from their roosts & nests in nearby Addicks Reservoir to either Barker Reservoir or Buffalo Bayou.
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Activity 1: Hi! I really liked Wall of Birds and how it represented each bird on their geographical location. I came to know about the Albatross when I read a poem in school in which Albatorss was one of the main character. It was "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Since then, I am always thrilled with this bird. When I saw the Wall of Birds, my eye got fixed on Wandering Albatoross which I loved on how it is potrayed. I would like to thank the artist responsible for creating such a nice artwork. Activity 2: Grey-hooded Warbler (Phylloscopus xanthoschistos) (Insectivore), Plum-headed Parakeet (Psittacula cyanocephala) (Frugivore) and Himalayan Griffon Vulture (Gyps himalayensis) (Carnivore) Activity 3: I like Himalayan Bulbul (Pycnonotus leucogenys) which is very common in my neighbourhood. It is an omnivorous bird and resident in Himalayas part of India.
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