I enjoy watching birds in my yard, but I also am beginning to enjoy birding as we travel in our region.  My favorite bird is a Northern Cardinal. They are so brightly colored and are easy for me to see. I have several pairs that visit my feed station daily. I have also begun to discern the difference in the many small, brown or gray birds that visit my feeder, such as the Chipping Sparrow, House Finches (female and males) and Eastern Wood Pee-Wee.  I am using Merlin to hear bird calls and song as well to know what birds are making all that noise!

Activity 3 - There are wild turkeys in my neighborhood.  I can’t help but stop and watch them each time I see them.

For activity 3: My favorite bird that I see in our area is the Northern Flicker.  I love its little reddish "hat," its black and white spots, its golden yellow wing feathers, and its grey feet.  It is a woodpecker, but it pecks on the ground and I think it looks funny.  I think that it's a beautiful bird!

For activity two:  At the park I saw some kind of tern, lots of songbirds, and a nest with great horned owls. Within the category of songbirds, I was able to recognize the warblers because of the yellow coloring and their body shape, but some others were not as easy to differentiate to such a newbie like me. For activity three: my favorite bird in my neighborhood so far is the one I could recognize, a Cardinal. I like that the males are so brightly colored and easily noticeable, and once I see the male if I look around him I’ll see a female pretty much always. So I like that they seem to travel as a pair.

Yo vivo en el occidente de Guatemala y recientemente inicie con esta hermosa actividad de la observación de aves, me he dado cuenta que en mi ciudad hay pocos reportes de aves, y las personas le ponen poca atención por lo que me motiva a aprender mas y a colaborar porque las aves de mi ciudad sean mas conocidas, apreciadas y protegidas.  Del muro elegí un colibrí, me llaman mucho la atención y me cuesta mucho diferenciar las diferentes especies. En cuanto a la actividad 2, recientemente he observado un halcón Peregrino que es un ave rara en estos lugares, situación que me motiva en gran manera porque en realidad estoy en un campo poco explorado y genial en mi ciudad. Las aves comunes en mi vecindario son los gorriones, zopilotes y zanates, aunque también hay varios carpinteros belloteros.

I discovered this guy in a tree not far from where I live. Isn’t he a beauty?

Activity 2: I saw birds from the wading group (egrets and herons), the seabird group (pelican. cormorant), and the songbird group (Vermilion Flycatcher). I had help! I did a kayak intro to bird-watching tour this past weekend at Watson Lake in Prescott. They said it was unusual to see a pelican there, so that was cool! Activity 3: I like mourning doves because they are everywhere and easy to find and photograph, which makes them wonderful to practice photography on! (I recently got a camera.)

There are so many fascinating birds to choose from it's hard to narrow it down to one but my favorite would have to be the Arctic Tern for the insanely long distance it migrates annually. I sat on my patio for a while today and saw the usual visitors to my feeders, some House Finches and Sparrows, a California Towhee, and some Morning Doves. But then a tiny little yellow bird appeared and I couldn't get a good look at first because he was chasing bugs around inside the tree, then he took a break on an outer branch revealing the black stripe on his crown, a Wilson Warbler. So far there isn't a great variety of birds in the area where I live but the Doves are fun birds, they sound so sad at times but they are very friendly, they don't seem to mind if people are around the feeders or water, they fly right in and get a drink and a snack.

Activity 1: I picked the Northern Cardinal, Wood Duck, Great Blue Heron, and the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  I've had some recent encounters with these birds so they stood out the most to me as ones I wanted to learn more about. Activity 2: 3 birds that I've seen recently are the Red-headed Woodpecker which is rare in my region, the Ruby-Crowned Kinglet which made an appearance outside my kitchen window this morning with that ruby crown exposed, and a male breeding plumage Yellow-Rumped Warbler. Activity 3: Unfortunately I don't have a photo of my favorite bird which I've seen in my neighborhood.  It is the Pied-billed Grebe https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pied-billed_Grebe/id . They are charming little aquatic birds frequently seen near ducks.  Their small size makes them look like a juvenile duck until one gets a closer look.  A sharp, thick bill with a black ring on it is the first distinguishing feature.  Unlike most ducks, they will completely submerge and stay down for quite a while.  They look wet when they return to the surface, unlike ducks with their waterproof plumage.  Their scruffy-looking feathers and childlike appearance remind me of my 4-year-old son which is one of the reasons these grebes are my favorite.  Another reason is these are a recent discovery for me; I had no idea they existed and if I have seen them before, they remained anonymous. In second place is the Black-bellied Whistling Duck.  I live in Missouri, so seeing a large group of these ducks (who mostly stay in Central America) at my neighborhood lake was quite a treat!  I have photos of these:  

enjoyed finding out about the download bird app[ which is free. I will need practice learning how to use it. Also the bird calls is very informative and helpful. hank you

• At Settle Falconry EnglandAt Falconry in Settle England

• At Falconry in Settle England

Activity #1: There are so many interesting birds on the Wall of Birds. I'm highlighting the Common Loon since it represents the sound of a summer visit to a local lake.  I particularly remember listening to the haunting call of the loon at night from our tent at Fish Lake, Alberta - truly magical! Activity #2: This week I've noticed the abundance of House Sparrows chirping outside.  Although they are a very common Songbird, their songs are a welcome sound in our backyard.  I've also seen a Downy Woodpecker visit a dead branch of our Mountain Ash to look for a tasty treat.  Lastly, I know there are a number of owls in our neighbourhood but have not yet seen them, but I'll be on the lookout for them! Activity #3: This week, for the first time, I observed a few family groups of White-winged Crossbills. It was fascinating to watch them select a spruce cone from the ground and then fly up with it to a spruce branch to eat their lunch.

Activity 1: I explored the Wall of Birds and was taken by the Red-legged Seriema from South America. Watching how the bird prepares its pray for consumption is amazing and the sounds this bird makes is very unique. Activity 2: We have quite a variety of birds in our yard but the ones that most impress me are the Norther Flicker, the Spotted Towhee and, and my favorite California Quail. We have built a substantial mound of brush and branches from our property for the Quail and many other birds to nest in. We are looking forward to the time when the parent birds will be parading around the yard with their little ones. Activity 3: As much as I love the California Quail, the Red Shoulder Hawk is by far my most favorite neighborhood bird. We have a nest in one of our Ponderosa Pine trees and this is the year for a new hawk family. The nest is not used every year. We have been watching the parent hawks feed each other and guard the nest as needed. One morning while sitting on my deck I could hear subtle chirping from the nestlings. It was so exciting. I am looking forward to the nestlings growing and venturing out of the nest to spread and try their wings. It is always a delight to observe this process.

Really enjoying learning about a whole new selection of songbirds, here in the US.  I am British and moved here from the UK in January 2022.  I am naturally inquisitive of comparison and look for like-for-like, chickadee to tit, [Eastern] bluebird to blackbird (Eurasian blackbird of the Thrush family). Blue Jay to Eurasian Jay etc.  I am also really enjoying the number of woodpeckers i have visiting my feeders, which were a very rare occurrence where i lived in the UK.  I am lucky to live in a very forested part of the US and my backyard is surrounded by wooded forest which attract an abundance of wildlife.  Apologies for the poor photograph - shot in fading light from the comfort of my armchair on my phone...on a whim!  But i love the little Downy!

I love how birds wait their turn at the feeder, the chickadee after the titmouse.

Activity #3. I recently moved to a new part of the country. One bird I have seen regularly in my yard and at my feeder is the Pinyon Jay. They come in droves to my feeder. I have since discovered that their numbers are declining because of habitat destruction. They need Pinyon Pines as a food source. A conservation group is studying the Pinyon Jays and has recruited citizen scientists to participate in studying them. Now they are one of my favorites because I am always looking for them and reporting when and where I see them.  (Bird ID) Jay. Jay

Activity#2 I recently moved to the Southwest from the east coast. I have learned so many new species. When I do see a new one, I am usually able to come close to identifying it the first time. I am pretty good on visual recognition, but I am trying to learn to identify common birds by their song.  Merlin has helped.

I have a pair of cardinals that I've been watching in my backyard for years. I don't know how long cardinals live, so I don't know which generation I am seeing, but it is such a joy when they appear, often together to charm us with their very existence. Sybille

Western bluebirds feeding on mealworms at a friend's house. I've been trying to lure them to our backyard, putting up multiple mealworm cups and filling them daily (white-crowned sparrows gobble them up, too).

Activity #1 I would really love to see a Shoebill someday. I have seen videos of them and they are so surreal looking. Activity #2 While walking around a local preserve I saw a Great Blue Heron catch and eat a fish. I also spotted a Red-Winged Black Bird hopping on the cat tails on the edge of the water. There was also a Pied-Billed Grebe that I was able to ID with it's call on the Merlin app. Activity #3 My favorite bird that I've seen in my neighborhood would have to be the Ring-necked Pheasant. They're so beautiful and it makes me happy seeing them because I know for a while they were endangered due to over hunting the males.

Activity 1:  They're not the flashiest, but I've always been fascinated by owls.  I'd love to see one someday! Activity 2:  In our neighborhood, I've seen birds from the crows/jay, titmice/chickadee, & woodpecker groups so far.  I just started birding a few months ago and am looking forward to hopefully seeing some spring robins soon! Activity 3:  My favorite birds are our resident crows/magpies.  They're fascinating to watch and listen to . . . and the crows loved our old dog and used to bring him bones!

This Northern Flicker has really enjoyed the suet cakes we put out this winter. We have an active bird feeder and a wide assortment of birds. This class is helping us to tell the difference between the large number of brown birds that visit.

Have enjoyed introductions to great variety of birds reading all entries submitted below. Thank you.

Goldfinch and Common Redpolls enjoying a Christmas gift