• • The red tailed hawk is a favorite of mine as he surveys his world from atop a high electrical tower or soars gracefully above the spring grasses growing underneath the towers. One day he surprised me as he looked at me from the tall grass beside the walking path. I was able to get a photo of him with my iPhone.

I was on Maui this past winter (back in the good old days when we were allowed to fly in airplanes and travel the world, before the current pandemic isolated us at home in Michigan).  My favorite bird on Maui is the Cattle Egret.  Egrets are "wading birds" but I always saw them in the bushes or grass along the ocean shoreline.

My favorite bird in my neighborhood is the Northern Mockingbird. There are several that come to my porch every day and I love to hear them sing on my chimney. My sister's favorite bird is the Great Blue Heron. They fly over our house almost every day and they look really graceful and elegant.

We live on a lake and my favorite bird to watch right outside of our house is the Ruddy Ducks. It is a waterfowl. What I think is great about them is how vibrant blue the male's bills are. It's really cool to see that color blue in contrast to their redish/brown body. There are also a pair of Mute swans that live on the lake that are great to look at. The white of their bodies is brilliant and it is interesting to watch such a pretty bird be territorial towards other birds in their bay.

1.  The Lilac-breasted Roller is absolutely beautiful--it blends into the sky's colors!  Saw one in Africa this fall. 2. The American Goldfinch, Red Bellied Woodpecker and Tufted Titmouse come to my feeder almost everday and bring so much joy. 3.When the Osprey come back in March, you know spring has arrived and summer is not far off.  They can't be missed in the sky with their white head and dark wide wing span.  They dive down to catch fish and are successful more than 50% of the time.  They carry the fish off in their talons.  Remarkable!

We have enjoyed seeing an Eastern Towhee spend some time in our yard.  So he/she would be part of the sparrows.  There is a Barred Owl in the park near our house- so he is a raptor.  About a week ago we saw a pileated woodpecker which was a first for us and obviously part of the woodpecker group.

Gila Woodpecker visits my agave bloom multiple times a day.  He noisily announces his presence.  Phoenix, AZ

NYC, Central Park. Red winged Black Bird.  Crow family? NYC, Central Park. One of about a million Red Robin's sharing their Springtime joy in the Park.  You cant miss them, they're all over the place.

Activity 2 Sandhill Cranes and Whooping Crane in Alabama -- Family: Gruidae Pair of House Finches in Alabama -- Family: Fringillidae Cedar Waxwing in Alabama -- Family: Bombycillidae

Glaucus-winged gull made an appearance on my deck while I watched song birds at the feeders. Couldn't figure out what he was after - bird seed? suet? He was quite silly and stumbled over his webbed feet as he walked along the rail :)

While looking at this incredible course, and discovering the wall of birds, I have my bird feeder right outside the window, and I'm watching Northern Cardinals, Brown Headed Cowbirds, and White Throated Sparrows fly in and out, plucking up the seed.  Thank you so much for organizing this course!  I look forward to the other lessons ahead!  Does anyone have any field guides that they recommend.  I got the Merlin app this morning.  For activity 3, my personal favorite bird that I see around my house is the red bellied wood pecker.  I love the black and white patterns on the back of their wings!  They occasionally stop by at my homemade bird feeder!  Thank you!

I live in Duluth MN and the past couple weeks we had a small hawk like bird calling almost the enterer day.  He must have been successful because they are now nesting in a large spruce tree on our block. I was watching it with my neighbor who happens to volunteers at the famous Hawk ridge raptor area. I asked him if it was a type of Kestrel which I grew up seeing a lot of them in Wisconsin, but it just did not look the same.     I was told me it was a Merlin.   I will keep an eye on it into the summer

As I am taking this course I'm observing the Common Flicker, Yellow shaft. So interesting to find them moving into my yard. Last year I only had one, this year, a group. Learning to distinguish the male and female, took awhile, but I get it. A male is starting to carve out a hole, in a pine tree. Hope he makes it his home. The newest bird that has been seen, only once, was the Brown Creeper. And it really dose creep. It's feathers are camouflaged to blend into trees. The Eagles are moving in, off of Onondaga Lake, so the bird mix is beginning to change. I don't see the Peregrine Falcon as much. PS: Glad I didn't destroy a rotted tree stump, apparently, it has tons of ants in it! Thank you, Helen

Activity 3: I love watching the nuthatches around my house. The most common one I see is the red-breasted nuthatch, with a handsome red breast, slate-blue back, and white and black eye stripes. They way that they move around, "hop-clinging" both up and down tree trunks, is so unique.

Northern Cardinal is my favourite. It sits in tree in front of my bedroom window and keeps me in tune all day! It adds a bit of brightness to the world even in these tough times

1. I played around with the Wall of Birds interactive for some time. I loved getting to see the long "eyebrows" on the King-of-Saxony Bird-of-Paradise (I also enjoy its long name!). The Bird-of-Paradise family is one I hope to learn more about. Seeing proto-birds and closest-living-relatives was helpful in visualizing the place of birds in the global "family" (used colloquially) of species. I especially enjoy the depictions of what I would describe as dinosaurs. 2. After reviewing the lesson, I took my newly-acquired Sibley bird guide and stood in the yard for a bit. I saw a Steller's Jay, with its bright blue body and black hood, in a tree near our bird feeder. On the ground, I noticed a Junco and two Robins. We often have downy, hairy, and White-Headed (!!) Woodpeckers in our yard, too. I'm lucky to live in Eastern Washington, with such a diverse offering of birds. 3. My favorite neighborhood bird is either the Junco or the White-Headed Woodpecker. I think Juncos are adorable, with their little black heads and brown bodies. They're small and round, and look like they could just fit right in your hand! How darling! The White-Headed Woodpecker is (somewhat) common here in eastern Washington, but exceedingly rare in other parts of the country and the world. I always stop and stare in awe, grateful for my opportunity to so easily witness this creature.

Among the many species I see at my feeder, the Mourning Dove is a favorite of mine.  They are so laid back and gentle as they nibble on the seed or just resting in the sun!  As you can see in the first picture, they built a nest on top of our porch light and were not skittish as I came and went through the door.  I enjoyed watching at the time the eggs hatched and the little ones being fed!

I believe this is a Red-Shouldered Hawk, maybe a juvenile. We've watched it all winter. It catches crayfish and maybe fish and salamanders from out creek.

This is a Kingfisher. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. I believe it is a female because of the rusty-colored belt. I'm not sure what group they belong to. I'd say either waterfowl or wading birds, but they don't have webbed feet or long legs! If anyone knows, I'd love to be informed.

Male and female house finch.  He is very fluffed up, but she is smooth.  I enjoy these birds because they like my feeder and their vocalizations are lovely.

I love woodpeckers! This was taken today 4/22/2020 in my yard in northeasy Ohio. He's been visiting every day for the past week.

1: The inclusion of the proto-birds and extinct birds in the bird wall was really cool! I'm glad that ostriches are still here, but I wish moas were too. I had no idea that a type of albatross has an 11+ foot wingspan. That's crazy! I thought eagles would have the longest wingspan. I'm a fan of the monkey-snatching Harpy eagle.   I was obliged to read more about the oilbird online. ...Is it oily? The parents make the chicks fat with fruit (a third heavier than the adults), and people would use the chicks to make oil. The parent birds probably feed the chicks out of guilt for raising them in a nest made of droppings.   ~~~   3: There is a bird in my neighborhood that I have never seen, but I sure can hear it. It is my favorite bird because it is my quest to classify it, and it has the prettiest song. It sounds most like a white-throated sparrow, but I haven't found a recording that sounds like it. Very long notes that sound like someone whistling. It is high in dense trees. There are multiple birds, and they take different notes. One will do two long, high whistles. The other will do the same whistle, but a perfect fourth lower. Later I'll hear three descending pitches, with the final one sometimes in the "Canada, Canada" rhythm. I could try to lure it to a feeder, but my neighbors have an outdoor cat and I don't want to put the birds in danger. I live in the non-breeding range of the white-throated sparrow, so it may disappear soon.

Activity 2. Woodpeckers: a Northern Flicker pair (female in front, male in back). I’ve also spotted a second female this spring who will “joust” with the other female. I’m assuming these belong to the “woodpecker” group, because they climb along tree trunks, but I see them more commonly pecking at the ground. Songbirds/Finches and buntings: a Northern Cardinal pair (female in front, male in back). Spring is truly in the air as a number of pairs seem to be competing for a “top spot” in the yard! Songbirds/Other: a Blue Jay pair (I’m not sure of the sex… but I like to imagine one of each). The Blue Jay didn’t fit nicely into the course’s Songbird categories, but I looked on AllAboutBirds and see that they belong to the crow family (Corvidae).

I believe this is an Indigo Bunting? It appeared at my feeder last summer.  I am fascinated by the variety of birds that come to my feeder throughout the year. I am taking this course to help myself to identify the birds that appear. Today so far a Yellow Finch and what I believe to be a Downy Woodpecker. I have a really nice Palliated Woodpecker that likes to visit as well.