• curt
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      It would be nice if the photos indicated where the bird is found - is it my area or somewhere far away? Hope we see more video with the prof...and less reading from the screen. Onward!
    • curt
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      woodpecker-pileated3turkey3-11-05
      • Catherine
        Participant
        Chirps: 17
        Thank you for that photo of the pileated woodpecker, Curt! I've been commenting on it regarding others' posts, and here is a photo! Very typical, I think--and, of course, very impressive. It reminds me of the walks I used to take through a very small woodland (disputed terrain between a city and a developer--and the city was still winning:), when I often saw it (and certainly heard it) every day. I guess (for today) it is my favorite bird :)
    • Manyu
      Participant
      Chirps: 42
      Activity 3 : Peahen , the neighborhood bird. Feathers not as beautiful as the male peacock but walks very elegantly, the kids follow her trail, she feels very comfortable when I am around and take a short flight if I make sudden move. It is big but still very gentle to other birds. Locally we believe if peahen is singing continuously that means it is about to rain. IMG_2871
      • Robin
        Participant
        Chirps: 2
        How wonderful to see a peahen up close!
      • Sheryl
        Participant
        Chirps: 5
        Her crown (head-dress? hairdo?) is amazing.
    • Manyu
      Participant
      Chirps: 42
      Activity 2 - Bird one  - Group - Song birds IMG_3110 Bird 2 : Red Wetted lapwing -  Group - Shore bird IMG_3094 Bird 3 : Group - Humming BirdIMG_2840
    • Manyu
      Participant
      Chirps: 42
      Namaste to  All, I am Abhimanyu from India's western state Rajasthan's capital Jaipur. This is a Hot semi arid region where summer temperature go upto 45 degree Celsius and winter temperatures are recorded as low as 5 degree Celsius. I want to express my gratitude towards all those who are sharing and motivating others on this group discussion. Special thanks to the Bird Academy for this wonderful opportunity. I assure I will read as many posts I can on this discussion, I will feel privileged to do so. Activity 1 : Bird 1 : Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster) also called snake bird because of the snake like neck. I clicked this picture in famous tiger reserve Ranthambore. Fun facts Diver, has to dry it's wings after every dive. IMG_0669 Bird 2 : White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) I clicked this picture from my balcony. There were couple of them, I watched them from my binoculars they were looking for mice in the empty patch of land near my home. I spent 20 minutes watching them and now I can recognize the bird just from it's call which is very similar to common kite and Great Indian grey horn-bill. IMG_0191 Bird 3 : House Sparrow ( Passer domesticus) They are like friends now in this lockdown. I started smashing some dry peanuts and serve them to birds. House sparrows and doves love this catering and are frequent visitors. I serve them food and they give me delight - Barter! IMG_3104
      • DocJunior
        Participant
        Chirps: 2
        Thank you for posting your images. You caught my attention because I lived in Jaipur for some months when I was younger. Here in lockdown, we are sharing our time the house sparrows, too! Also many American goldfinches and house finches.
      • Carol
        Participant
        Chirps: 12
        Thanks for posting photos. Fun to see birds we can only see if we travel.
      • patricia
        Participant
        Chirps: 3
        Wonderful images, thank you
    • Lindsay
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      Red-Tailed-Hawk Red Tailed hawks are easily my favourite bird. They are so majestic and fiesty. I caught a pair flying low and yelling at each other a couple of weeks ago over our yard.
      • Manyu
        Participant
        Chirps: 42
        I am sure I have noticed their Indian cousins involved in friendly aerial fights.
    • Jody
      Participant
      Chirps: 7
      Activity 1:  Owls, Owls, Owls!  They are my favorite simply because they always elude me!  Activity 2: Chickadees are songbirds, right?  They were not mentioned in the lesson.  Activity 3: And again, my favorite is...Great Horned Owl.  Got a picture of a mama in the next with 2 owlets a few days ago.  Highlands Ranch, Coloradogocmjfgefcijceop
      • Manyu
        Participant
        Chirps: 42
        Love those ear tufts.
      • Julie
        Participant
        Chirps: 13
        Great photo! Love these guys
    • Lorae
      Participant
      Chirps: 4
      thumbnail_IMG_3830thumbnail_IMG_3828 I live in Seattle, WA. and saw this beautiful bird outside my window this afternoon. My friend (who is taking this course with me) thinks it may be Sharp-Shinned Hawk. Can anyone confirm ?
    • Samuel
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      We live in Idaho and love watching and identifying birds. We love watching them come back after the winter. We have a Harry Woodpecker in our aspens that we have watched build its nest. We have Turkey Vultures that sun in the meadow. We have seen more than 20 at one time. The Spotted Towhee arrived in March. We love sleeping with our windows open and waking up to bird songs. We have our own personal sound track! thumbnail_20200410_163823thumbnail_20200405_171507thumbnail_20200419_094206
    • Danya
      Participant
      Chirps: 20
      Hi!  I'm from Columbus, Ohio and my favorite bird from the Wall of Birds is, without a doubt, the Lilac-breasted Roller because I became a birder after seeing this bird on vacation in South Africa.  Before then in the trip, I was only concerned about seeing lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, etc., but this little bird made me begin to notice the birds too and started my slow journey into birding.  I have so many favorite local birds that it is difficult to pick.  However, I have been getting out to Greenlawn Cemetery for the past two weekends with the other birders from total beginners to the guys arriving from two hours away and setting up camp at the pond.  Since Magee's Marsh in northern Ohio is currently closed due to the pandemic, Greenlawn has become a local hangout to spot warblers.  Here is a photo from last week, taken at Blacklick Metro Park, of a pair of Wood Ducks and a photo of a Yellow-rumped Warbler taken at Greenlawn Cemetery from this morning. 1-IMG_4507 1-IMG_4631
      • Lorae
        Participant
        Chirps: 4
        What beautiful birds, great pictures.
      • Lynn
        Participant
        Chirps: 2
        Your comment about a trip to Africa starting your "slow journey in birding" jumped out at me.  I went to Botswana last year and I remember two specific birds that really got my attention.  One was yours, the Lilac-breasted Roller, and the other was a Southern Carmine Bee-eater (two of which followed our vehicle at eye level, one on each side very close to us, for around 5 minutes).  Of course, the larger birds -- especially the Corey Bustards, Fish Eagles and vultures were also great.  As with you, I hadn't even thought about birds until that trip, and I recently started with a couple of "Beginner Birdwalks" with a local Audobon group (I'm in southern California).  Of course those group birdwalks stopped shortly afterwrds due to our shutdown in mid-March, but I am now really looking forward to learning more.
      • Manyu
        Participant
        Chirps: 42
        Hi, The warbler that I used to see daily at my office premises is not as brightly colored at this one. They fight a lot :)
      • Shreya
        Participant
        Chirps: 5
        WHAT A BEAUTY...SO IMPRESSIVE.
      • Maureen
        Participant
        Chirps: 2
        Hi Danya. Great shot of the yellow-rumped warbler! Thanks to this course and the Merlin app, I spotted and identified one of these on my evening walk tonight. I'm so excited to start really noticing all the wonderful birds and finding out how many people from all over see the same ones! I'm in Saskatchewan, Canada.
    • Stephen
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      One of my favorite birds is the Bohemian waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus). I really enjoy watching them forage for small fruits on trees in my yard in winter. _3023854 rev 01
      • Manyu
        Participant
        Chirps: 42
        I love waxwings.
    • Nat
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      I've always been interested in birding. My father is an avid birdwatcher and I guess I got the bug from him. My brother, from western Canada, is also very into bird watching and we like to discuss the common and different birds from our regions. I live in the country with a forest/marsh property. There are so many birds around that I can identify, but many more that I cannot (many are shy and I can only hear their songs). Since having to stay home and self-isolate due to COVID-19 I've been paying a little extra attention to my backyard buddies. I finally saw one of the Pileated Woodpeckers that have been knocking and laughing around me. At night and very early mornings I've heard a Great Horned Owl and an American Woodcock. As the warm weather approaches I am anxiously awaiting to hear my good friend Whippoorwill. Happy birding everyone, stay healthy.
    • Kim
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      The wall of birds is very cool. Three birds I have observed here near my home are the red tailed hawk, lots of scrub jays, and the common house finches with pretty red heads. My favorite that I’ve seen today is the hooded oriole. Beautiful bright orange and black!
    • Nancy
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      I am not new to bird watching.  I have been doing it since my 4th grade teacher shared her interest and then my father joined in and built bird feeders and houses so we could watch our backyard birds together.  Everywhere we have lived I have bought bird books for that area (Eastern/Western North American Birds, Eastern Africa Birds, Asia Birds).  I'm taking this course because I have never studied birds in depth.  I know the common ones in my area but I want to know them better.  I've already learned a few new things in just this first section. Activity 1: The one I chose was the Wandering Albatross.  This species fascinates me from their length of time spent in flight to secreting salt from their eyes. It is truly amazing Activity 2: Three birds that I love to watch in my area and want to learn more about are the Great Blue Heron which fishes in my pond.  They are in the Long Legged Waders group. The Indigo Bunting which frequents my bird feeder and darts in and out of the bushes.  They are in the Songbird Perching group. The third one is the Red Bellied Woodpecker which has been pecking at my dead apple tree for insects. They are in the  Woodpecker group. Activity 3: I have so many favorite birds but the one right now is the Chickadee.  Photo from the Cornell All About Birds.  I have a pair building a nest in the pipe of a wagon wheel in our front yard.  I love listening to them and I need to verify whether it is Carolina or Black-Capped.  I just read that I can determine that best by their song so tomorrow that will be my assignment.  BTW I live in Kentucky. Carolina Chickadee
      • Stephen
        Participant
        Chirps: 2
        Nice photo of the black-capped chickadee. I really enjoy watching them at my feeders, especially in winter where I live in Alaska. I've been trying to get some good photos, but I find them hard to capture in camera because they are small and they seldom sit still. But it is fun trying
    • Cathy
      Participant
      Chirps: 5
      IMG_0008 I took this picture this morning, (4-25-2020)  at the Heron Rookery, Morro Bay, California.  This is, I believe, a Snowy Egret.  The feet give it away! We have many Snowy Egrets and Great Egrets on the Central Coast of California.  Because they are fairly common, don't usually move too quickly, and are pretty striking, they are easy to identify.  As a beginning birder, it is fun to be able to instantly identify a couple of birds.  They can be quite funny to photograph, and are always stunningly beautiful.
      • Lorae
        Participant
        Chirps: 4
        How stunning- Great picture !
      • Manyu
        Participant
        Chirps: 42
        Great picture.
    • Jill
      Participant
      Chirps: 10
      GoldenEagle_2018The birds we're most familiar with in our region resonate with this course. Re Raptors: The Golden Eagle is a new favorite and a local birding expert guided us on identification during their spring migration last month. A visit to the National Eagle Center last year let us know that many are misidentified as juvenile bald eagles. Other favorites are the Common Loon (Waterfowl and the Minnesota state bird) and the Pileated Woodpecker (less elusive at Sax Zim Bog and our forested regions vs our backyard). The Wall of Birds is astounding and brought forth the array of birds from Africa----expanding our world view beyond the safari.
    • Heather
      Participant
      Chirps: 4
      Activity 1 My favorites on the fantastic Wall of Birds were the Common Loon, Blue Heron and Pelican. I chose these birds because I see them in my area but I had never heard the call of a Blue Heron.  Very cool. Activity 2 I have Juncos and Black-capped chickadees (Songbirds) at my feeder and some Merlins have just returned to the  yard (Raptors). I saw my first Red-winged blackbird (Songbird) of the season yesterday. Activity 3 My favorite bird at the moment is the Bald Eagle. We have a mature pair and at least one juvenile on our farm. I haven't been able to capture a photo of the juvenile but here is one of the adults. IMG_4900 (2)IMG_4875 (2)
      • Samuel
        Participant
        Chirps: 2
        I love watching eagles soar! Such powerful birds!
      • Manyu
        Participant
        Chirps: 42
        Thanks for sharing.
    • Kathy
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      I am not able to access the instructional videos. I just get the short introductory one (1:17 minutes I think) . Surely there are more. I am listed as subscribed. I live in Canada. Could that be the problem? I posted a question to customer service but haven't heard back. Can anyone help me? Is anyone else having this problem?   Thanks, Birders!   Kathy
      • Heather
        Participant
        Chirps: 4
        I am from Canada and am able to access the videos.
      • Lynn
        Participant
        Chirps: 2

        @Heather I didn't realize that videos (other than the short intro) even exist!!  Other than the link for the Wall of Birds, all I see for each section of this lesson (so far) is written material and some photographs, like an online "textbook".  Am I not seeing something in the lesson pages that links to videos of the same material?

      • @Lynn No, there are not videos on every page. Every lesson has a brief introductory video. Each lesson consists of several topic pages but most topic pages do not have videos.

    • Suzanne
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      Activity 2 outdoor bird identifying.   Swimming birds/waterfowl. We live on a lake that has been frozen until the last couple of days.  All of a sudden, there was a whole flock of white birds  with dark heads and grey birds with rust colored heads swimming together on the lake.  We used our bird book and Merlin and found that they are Common Mergansers.  14 male and female.  And then Buffleheads joined them. in the afternoon, a male and female Mallard pair walked up on our shore as friendly as can be.   And of course, the ubiquitous geese cruise up and down honking away.  I really want to know what they are saying.  Just before sunset, a female Merganser caught a little fish and mayhem broke loose.  The male chased her all the way down the lake (probably three football field lengths) trying to take the fish away.  The battle was on!  To my grave disappointment, he succeeded in stealing the goodies; but what a fascinating display to watch. And another fun thing was to identify the crow ( by his flying pattern.  Flap flap flap instead of the Raven which is flap and glide.  Thrilled by the little things, I guess.
    • Rebecca
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      The Carolina wren has a wonderfully loud and beautiful song.  We have several in our yard and I love to hear them sing.  It's my favorite on the Wall of Birds.
    • Katie
      Participant
      Chirps: 5
      I love the Wall of Birds! Can’t wait until COVID is over and can visit. Have seen hawks around the backyard recently. And of course daily woodpecker visitors (pileated, red-bellied, downy/hairy, and northern flickers a few times). Does anyone know why many woodpeckers (at least in the NE USA) have red patches on their heads? Why is this a common feature? And why red specifically? I can’t find any information online. Thanks, and hope everyone is safe! CA35A815-93A0-4412-AFAF-15C65A29E990 649F3B09-47E6-4DDB-BB4B-390AF702CA85C55C0934-4B89-4B70-87A7-14C0C19B1ED8
      • Manyu
        Participant
        Chirps: 42
        Beautiful pictures.
      • Cynthia
        Participant
        Chirps: 6
        I absolutely love Pileated Woodpeckers.  They are so beautiful.  I have only seen them a few times in Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada.
    • Virginia
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      Hello from Berlin! i loved the wall of birds :) I remembered some of the species I miss from when I lived in Australia, the Superb Fairy Wren or the amazing Bowerbirds and the sociable Galahs. From my window I’m lucky to see shiny starlings eating from the ground, not impressed when the sparrows want to take part. They all have to go when the big bosses (hooded crows) claim the terrain. Here in Berlin tiergarten you can hear big parties of great tits, see Canadian geese and also mandarin ducks. One of the funniest ones I’ve seen lately around the city we’re two male common goldeneye ducks fighting over a lady...
      • Lucy
        Participant
        Chirps: 3
        We often have female Satin Bowerbirds visit our garden. They are entertaining to watch... Superb Fairy Wrens, New Holland Honeyeaters and Eastern Spinebills are current visitors, they are enjoying the bird bath. Enjoy your birding in Berlin! A place I would love to visit some day:-)
    • Kathy
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      I saw a brown crested fly catcher, a red-winged blackbird and a cardinal.  I also saw a scissor-tailed flycatcher yesterday.
      • Katie
        Participant
        Chirps: 5
        I would love to see a scissor-tailed flycatcher! Sounds like a great spot. Was it in flight?
    • David
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      I loved the Wall of Birds!!!  I hope I get to see it in person someday!!!  My favorite birds on the Wall was the Northern Cardinal and the Carolina Wren.  It probably because I see these birds all the time around my home and I love their songs and the Cardinal is so pretty. So the other day, I stepped out on to my deck so see what birds I could capture with my camera.  The first bird I found was a Downy Woodpecker.  He was on one of the dead trees by the creek just off my deck pecking for insects.  I then saw a duck (I think it was a Mallard) swimming in the creek but by the time I tried to take his picture he had swam around the bend of the creek and had gotten out of sight.  I am going to try and capture him (with my camera of course) another day!!!  I then saw an American Robin in my yard searching for worms.  Finally I saw 3 House Sparrows in the bushes along the side of my house.  Before now I have never tried to take photos of the birds I see but I think going forward I am going to take my camera with me when I go on my birding hikes. My favorite all-time bird is the Eastern Bluebird!!!  Although they don't live around my house, I do live at my father's house up in the Laurel Highlands mountains in Western Pennsylvania.  When I was a teenager, I planned and put together a Bluebird Trails project at my local state park to help bring the Bluebirds back to the local area.  When I saw my first Bluebird I was blown away as to how beautiful it was and it has been my favorite ever sense.  I am happy to see that the Bluebird population has improved a lot over the last 30 or so years in Southwest PA.  As far as the birds that live around my house now, I love seeing and hearing the Black-Capped Chickadee!!!  I love their songs and I think they are cute little birds!!!  The fact that they stay around all year is awesome!  I love feeding them!DSC_0013DSC_0030DSC_0041
      • Katie
        Participant
        Chirps: 5
        Nice crisp pictures! Keep em coming!
    • Andrei
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      Hello from the Danube Delta, Romania!     Activity 1: A very interesting project. My favorite the American White Pelican, we have also a specie of White Pelican here, in the Danube Delta. Because I'm from Europe, I observed that there  are only few birds in this area on your map :)
      • Activity 1: A very interesting project. My favorite the American White Pelican, we have also a specie of White Pelican here, in the Danube Delta. Because I'm from Europe, I observed that there  are only few birds in this area on your map :)  
      • Activity 2: In our yard I saw today a Great Tit(Song birds category), Feral Pingeons and few days ago some White Pelicans on the sky(don't know the category).
       
      • Activity 3: I found an ineresting bird. Its my favorite at this moment. I have a picture of it on my photocam but I can't share it right now. Maybe you can help me to identify it: small size(same as a Barn Swallow), the head and the back including the tail are dark grey, the chin and the throat are black and I observed that the undertail-coverts are orange.... 
      Thank you.