Activity 1: From my kayak on a small local lake I spotted a red-shouldered hawk perched on a dead tree peering intently at the tree next to him. There was a ruckus of songbirds. Merlin told me they were brown-headed nuthatches. Several of them would fly up to higher branches and continued the ruckus. I did not see anyone fly toward the hawk. The hawk left after about 10 minutes, and the noise stopped. I read that they are social and often live in groups. I learned about mobbing in this lesson.

Activity 2: My rose-breasted Grosbeak acts like a regular at a diner. Unlike most of the other birds who come and go, he sits for long stretches at a time at the perch on the safflower feeder, eating occasionally.

Activity 3: I have become obsessed with identifying birdsong since taking the birdsong class. I am confident with about a dozen now, and find that I am starting to hear families; I don't know individual warblers but can usually tell when it is someone from that family singing. I will keep working on this.

Activity 3: I listened outside for several minutes. I heard and saw a northern cardinal, robins, a white throated sparrow, and a red bellied woodpecker. I turned on the Merlin app to see if there was anything I was missing, and it heard a yellow rumped warbler.

Activity 3: Today, I saw blue ts (I'm not allowed to type the full name for offensive language ;)), great ts, blackbirds, a robin and great spotted woodpeckers in my garden (in Germany), where they come daily to the feeder. When a woodpecker arrives, the smaller birds flee, although some brave blue ts come back and keep a bit of a distance. But the woodpeckers never tolerate another woodpecker at the feeder. Also the blackbirds chase each other away from the food.

Activity 1: I saw a male Downy Woodpecker at my feeder. He was on the side of a suet feeder pecking away, very alert and glancing around. Occasionally he’d pause to tilt his head, looking around for threats. After 7 minutes, he picked out a seed from the suet and flew off into the forest.

Activity 2: I watched my own feeder. The Tufted Titmice grab a single seed before quickly flying away, though on occasion one will linger and eat at the feeder, holding it with its feet and using its beak to crack open the shell. Black-capped Chickadees eat the same way. The Downy Woodpeckers spend more time at the feeder, eating suet for a while before flying away. Being ground feeders, the Dark-eyed Juncos eat what falls out of the feeder and onto the ground.

Activity 3: Though I only heard calls and not singing (it’s January a currently snowing), I heard Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, and a Common Raven while out in my yard.

Activity 2: While watching the Cornell Live Feed from Sapsucker Woods, I noticed that mourning doves stay for  long periods of time and only eat from the flat feeder.  I noticed that Blue Jays tend to take one peanut at a time and fly away. The woodpeckers cling to the sides of the feeders and peck to get seeds. The goldfinches tend to eat the sunflower seeds and sit and peck. They stay for longer periods.  Many of the nuthatches or chickadees take one seed and leave.

For this part of the course I performed activity # 3 from my back porch. The rain clouds are present and the winds are calm and the temperature is about 47 degrees. There are two feeders with seeds. the first two birds present were common Ravens, one was calling. Then I heard a mourning dove on the block wall there were 5. Also singing and calling were House Sparrows and yellow-rumped warblers. After I added more seed there were House finches and Rock Pigeons (Feral) present.

Activity 1: It’s snowy and cold outside so the birds aren’t doing much, but I did watch some Hooded Mergansers and Buffleheads swimming around each other, and disappearing under the surface of the river. I remembered seeing them last year and mistaking them for the same species. So, they were feeding and swimming around the river in a very small flock (there were 7 birds.)

Activity 2: There is one near me, but the weather is so nasty that I didn’t feel up to standing and staring at it for any amount of time. There was a Red-Bellied Woodpecker use a bird-feeder before. I’ve watched them eat from trees, but noticed that in this context it didn’t really need to pump it’s head that much, and I noticed it turning it’s head from side to side in the feeder a little to get at whatever was inside it. In terms of things I had seen before, I watched a Mourning Dove peck down at feed on the flat surface, barely lifting their heads as they ate. The Blue Jays who used the same feeder, however, lifted their heads completely and looked around practically between each bite, apparently paying much more attention to their surroundings.

Activity 3: While I didn’t spend time outside staring at the bird-feeder by my home, I did spend some time closer to home listening. As I mentioned the weather was kind of miserable, so I wasn’t surprised when there wasn’t much to hear. I heard Canada Geese, a Mourning Dove, a Blue Jay, and a bunch of Dark-Eyed Juncos. The first three are ubiquitous around here and I could recognize them since I was a kid. I have been learning to recognize the Juncos this winter, and was pleased to see that I do know what they sound like now.

Activity 1: About 20-30 Turkey Vultures roost on a cell tower nearby my home. At about 3:00 pm they begin to gather at the tower. A few arrive early at this time (8-10). At about 4:30 pm (or earlier as the day becomes shorter), a kettle of vultures can be seen soaring overhead and one-by-one they find their spot on the tower. By 9:00 am the next day all but a few birds have left the roosting spot of the cell tower. While roosting, the birds sleep and preen. There is non-aggressive interaction between/among birds. In looking up Turkey Vultures I found the following: Near my home in southern New England, they live year-round. Their conservation status is rated as Low. They can digest anything as they have highly acidic stomachs. They use their sense of smell to locate carrion. Buzzard is a term used in the west (old movies) for vultures. Their range is from North America through Mexico, Central America, and South America. Photos posted were taken on different days within a ten day time period. Below are photos of the Cell Tower at about 9 am when most have left; one of the Turkey Vultures still at the tower and the kettle of Turkey Vultures at about 5pm. Photos were taken October 21st and 25th.



Activity 2:   At the feeder with several feeder stations that include:   feeder trays with seeds, peanuts in the shell, cracked corn and sunflower chips; tubular seed feeders with shelled peanuts in one and sunflower seeds in another; and, seed cakes.  Blue Jays fly into the tray feeders and carefully select a peanut in a shell. They try to put it in their front pouch, if successful they will select another peanut. When selection in made, they fly off and then return for another. Blue Jays are often seen at the tubular feeder with shelled peanuts.   House Sparrows, House Finches will select from tray feeders, sunflower chips, and cracked corn. They will choose the smaller food and eat at the tray. They stay unless a Blue Jay returns to the tray. House Sparrows and House Finches may also be seen on the ground looking for the food that drops off the tray. Occasionally, a White-throated Sparrow will be here on the ground. A Red-bellied Woodpecker will be seen at the tubular feeder with the shelled peanuts, collecting peanuts and they flying away. This bird, like the Blue Jays, does not stay long at the feeder. Downy Woodpeckers are always at the seed cakes. They will peck at the cake and eat as they find the most desired seed. They stay for long periods of time at the seedcake and unless I come within 2 feet, they are not likely to fly away.

 

Activity 3: Bird Songs Identified. Note: It is October in New England. There were not many songs being sung. Mostly calls were heard. Observation was at an Airline Trail with mixed wooded areas, pond, and a marsh.  Identified: American Robin, Blue Jay, White-throated Sparrow, Canada Goose, Black-capped Chickadee, and American Crow.  Identified with help of Merlin:  Eastern Bluebird, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Belted Kingfisher. The most surprising bird was a Belted Kingfisher who was seen flying over the pond to the marsh and chattering the entire time.

I spent a good amount of time watching Cornell's Bird Cam. After completing this module, I noticed I had become more attentive to each bird's behavior. I saw territorial behavior: two starlings getting into a spat and pecking at each other and flapping their wings; a grackle chasing away a red-winged blackbird; a starling and a grackle making screechy vocalizations at each other. A collared dove flew in and made a succession of happy-sounding coos. Everyone eats furiously, some more skittishly than others, while looking around with a wary eye. I always associate jays with aggressive behavior, but the Blue Jay in the cam always kept to himself. I don't have a feeder because I live in an apartment building, but I enjoyed watching the birds at the fruit feeders in Costa Rica during a birding trip earlier this summer. At the little park near me, there are big flocks of parakeets. They're a fun bird to watch as they're very active (and LOUD!) and forage on the ground.

Activity 1: Early this morning I was watching the birds coming to my bird feeder.  A ruddy ground dove was eating the bird seed when a saffron finch came and displaced the dove.  The dove had to move to where the other seeds were.  I find it interesting that the smaller bird can displace a bigger one.

Activity 3: While watching these birds eating seeds, I could here in the background the southern house wren singing beautifully.  I could also hear some saffron finches and the great kiskadee; this last one is a nice-looking bird but makes a sound I do not really like.

Activity 2:  I also have a fruit bird eater with fruits (banana, papaya and a special type of plantain). While most birds come to eat calmly, the great kiskadee bites the food and flies away, sometimes the food falls to the floor.  When the red crowned woodpecker comes, it perches vertically while the other birds do so horizontally.  If the papaya is sweet, they eat it all; if not, they leave it.  Lately they have been eating the plantain more than the banana; they seem to like it a lot, especially the woodpecker.

Very new to birding. I have been wanting to get a bird feeder but worried about the numerous squirrels on our property.  So…the grandkids and I have taken to just scattering sunflower seeds along the deck and then we go back inside and watch what happens.  We can put on Merlin to record sounds and hear a lot of different birds, but it seems only a few different types of birds will join the deck party.  It seems odd really seeing the relatively large Mourning Doves in amongst the little House Finches.  The seeds are spread out quite a bit so everybody gets to partake.  It is a good way to sort out who is who.  What I used to think was Black Phoebe, I now realize is also possibly Dark Eyed Junco.  I have both.  Black vs Pink beak I think is the determining factor.   Oh the excitement yesterday when the two kids (5 and 7) and I saw a new bird.  We had to decide if it was a Hairy Woodpecker or a Downy Woodpecker.  Didn’t realize they came so small.  Again, it was decided by the beak.  Bill?  In this case it was a shorter bill that led us to conclude we were looking at a Downy Woodpecker.  What we are learning is that by the time I get the camera in place the bird has probably flown away so if we see a new bird we need to just verbally describe it, bit by bit.  And then use Merlin to try to identify it.  The kids to love to draw the birds for me, and then use my husband’s color copier to make a copy to take home to Mom.

I took my son to a park located next to a marsh with lots of bushes and trees and got to watch a variety of birds. An apartment next door had a bunch of bird feeders on their balcony, which meant there were birds constantly flying back and forth.

It wasn’t great for watching behaviors, but I was able to identify a lot of songs! Chickadees and robins were the easiest, since I hear them at my house all the time, as well and the short tweets of dark eyes juncos. I was most excited to hear a barn swallow. I wasn’t sure if I was identifying it correctly (because they fly so fast it’s hard to see clearly) but I looked up the song and it matched the chaotic twittering I was hearing!

Activity 3: Sitting on my front porch I hear Blue Jays, Cardinals, American Crows, House Sparrows, Northern House Wrens. House sparrows are constantly singing.

There's a House Sparrow that lives by me, he's sitting on top of my neighbors roof right on the peak yapping and yapping. I think he's claiming territory bc he does this all the time and it's like late morning/early afternoon. He also has a lot of black on his chest which i read would make him more of an elder again making him a big dawg in the community. I love the guy, he's great and honestly doing some wonderful marketing for his team. Love you, Mickey House. (that's  his nickname)

Activity 2: I noticed about 7 different species at our feeders outside my office.

• House finch


• Tifted Titmouse


• Goldfinches


• Juncos


• Sparrows


• Downy Woodpecker


• White Breasted Nuthatch

I noticed that the house finch stayed on the feeder longer than any of the others and there appeared to only be one. The goldfinches are pretty feisty at the feeders chasing each other off. The downy woodpecker prefers the suet and pecks at for quite awhile. The juncos tend to stay under the feeders and pick up dropped seeds.

I witness a variety of birds at my feeder who display different eating habits. I have noticed that cardinals, house sparrows, and woodpeckers tend to stick around the longest. Both cardinals and house sparrows will open sunflower seeds using their beak while woodpeckers will peck at my suet or grab an individual seed and fly away. I presume they stick around the longest because they can easily eat the food while at the feeder, and their larger size allows them to displace other birds. The tufted titmouse, however, tends to grab one individual seed and then peck it open while holding the seed with its feet, or grab one and fly off if he feels threatened. The few times I have put peanuts out I noticed blue jays shove as many peanuts as they can into their food pouch and then fly away. In addition to my feeder I love watching birds at my local park which has a small wetland area. I remember last summer I was observing a blue heron near the shore when a male red-winged blackbird came up behind him and started pecking him and flying away and repeating. After this lesson I think the blackbird was displaying mobbing behavior and protecting its territory.

I went to a local park at the Hamilton Bay and observed American Coots.  I also had the luxury of seeing a Winter Wren.  While both species exhibit unique adaptations suited to their respective environments, American Coots dabble, dive and grazing for their food, whereas, the Winter Wren have a very different approach to feeding.  They like the dense vegetation or leaf litter on the forest floor.  Unlike coots that utilize both aquatic environments and terrestrial habitats for food sources, Winter wrens are more specialized in their feeding habits.

 

There were trumpeter swans there and it was easy to distinguish their sound from the other birds around me.

Activity 2: I put out seeds for many birds that come to my yard. How long they stay depends upon the weather, how much us humans move near their feeder, territory claiming if finding food has been hard or it is breeding season, or if there is a predator. Usually though, they stay for several minutes each time they visit. When they do visit, the smaller songbirds like to eat sunflowers fist, then later the millet when the sunflowers are gone, and then nyger seed when they feel like it; the doves prefer the millet. As the birds eat, they will take one seed at a time and if it is a sunflower seed they will take a bit longer to remove the light covering on the seed. If I put out fruit the songbirds will take one to a safer eating area in a bush or work at the feeder to open the berry skin. I have a plant that provides nectar for hummingbirds and only one at a time will show up and will visit all of the flowers to get enough food, then they won't visit again until they feel there is enough nectar again in the flowers.

 

Activity 3: Depending upon the time of day, if it is not raining or hot, and the time of year!; I can hear around 15 or so birds in one day.

Very good

Activity 1:

Today I watched a male mallard swimming in a shallow pond with a lot of vegetation.  I noticed vegetation hanging out of its bill while swimming, and I wasn't sure if it was still eating the plant or if it was there for eating later or if it didn't notice the hanging vegetation.  There was another male mallard swimming closely behind, and both moved their heads quickly side to side as they swam closer to the shore of the pond.  They encountered another pair (male / female) of mallards who both quickly swam away when they approached.   Then they met up with another group of mallards, making it 5 males and 2 females bobbing their heads underwater, seeming to feed on underwater plants near shore.  There was one male mallard feeding very close, and it pushed the bill of that second mallard away.

I saw drying/preening behavior, rising up out of the water and flapping its wings.  Also  shaking it's head to remove water after bobbing underwater to feed.  There was also shaking off just the tail feathers, then standing on a log near the surface to get mostly out of the water and preen underside feathers, also lifting a foot to wipe off the foot with its bill.

 

 

Activity 1: When I was at the lake, I saw a Red-winged Blackbird strutting on the beach.  He had his wings  facing forward so that his red and yellow wing bars were very obvious.  I believed that he was probably displaying mating behavior; but it is also possible that he was defending his territory.

Activity 2: I often see a female ruby-throated hummingbird (no ruby throat) at my hummingbird feeder, but I haven’t caught the male there.  I wonder what he does instead?

Activity 1: too hot to sit outside, so I watched the Cornell bird feeder cam. a female blue jay at the feeders spent the first minute or so looking out for predators. Then she ate from the box and from the vertical feeder on the pole.  Meanwhile, the duck in the background bathed itself and preened its feathers.

Activity 2: I don't have a bird feeder up in the summer so I watched the Cornell feeder cam. I noticed that the Hairy Woodpeckers would remain on the feeder the longest and would eat their fill. The Downy Woodpeckers would also spend a good long time at the feeder but would not remain quite as long. It was interesting to see the size difference having the birds next to each other. The blackbirds would often eat a few seeds before flying away and would seemingly return later. They would also eat from multiple locations. The Common Grackles were pretty similar to the blackbirds.