Some of the birds I saw eating at a feeder would take the food and go, while others ate one seed at a time. I found that fascinating because it really shows how their beaks are designed to eat in a way that is comfortable for them and serves them the best.

These were challenging, but fun, activities.  I realize that I "watch" all the birds at our feeding station, but I rarely pay attention to one specific bird for an extended period of time.  It was interesting to change my perspective in that way.  My best observations come when I am inside the house watching through a window, but I lose sight of the bird when it flies off into the trees.  Also, when I am inside, I can't really hear their vocalizations. To do the third activity, I sat outside in a quiet spot and heard at least five or six different bird songs.  I was able to easily identify the sound of a blue jay (since I'd just heard it on one of the links presented earlier in this class), and soon I could spot it flying from tree to tree.  It's most common call was three loud repeated sounds, not quite the "caw-caw-caw" of a crow but a bit similar.   I saw a mockingbird fly from our roof to a tree, and it made a short call (five notes or so) that was not particularly distinctive.  There were several house finches, actively flying back and forth between the trees and the feeders. Their call sounded a bit like "cha-cheep cha-CHEEP, cha-cheep cha-CHEEP."  Two slightly different songs were extended repetitive and regular sounds, almost like a trill but not as fast.  One was quieter than the other, almost like a background noise.  I heard another bird call that sounded like "chirp-chirp-chirp" and another than sounded to me like "tweeter-tweeter-tweeter."  I couldn't see any of these birds, so I queried Merlin for typical songs and calls for the birds I see most often in my yard.  It is possible that the "tweeter-tweeter-tweeter" was a titmouse and possible that some of the quieter repetitive sounds were from goldfinches, chickadees and/or nuthatches.  A chirping sound seems to be often associated with robins, but I haven't seen any robins lately.  It could have been a slightly different song from a mockingbird, cardinal or other bird.  I have a LOT to learn.

California Quail are common in our region (Central Vancouver Island, British Columbia) and it was a treat to watch the behavior of a covey in our backyard all this summer (2020) that were almost daily visitors. My husband and I decided that they are quite eccentric birds in their behavior, but really they were just demonstrating all the topics in this section. The male's song declared his territory in the spring, sharp calls alerted danger, soft coos and clucks from the adults moved the group along or signaled the parents' location to the brood. At first it was just a male and female that made an appearance in the yard, scratching for seeds that that other birds had kicked out of the feeder. They stuck close to one another and nonchalantly meandered into and out of the open area, ducking under the hedge when it was time to go. Eventually, one or the other showed up alone, and although we worried a bit, we concluded that there must be eggs in the nest and that they must be spelling each other off. I don't know if this is true, but this is what we surmised. Eventually, we watched 15 chicks scramble through our yard when they first hatched. The male kept a perch up above, either on the roof of the house, or from a fence post, watching for dangers (aka the neighbor's cat.) Over the coming weeks, the number of chicks dwindled down to four that began to grown big, but then there were three. Happily we got to see these three grow as big as the adults, every day showing up in the yard to eat seeds, the male usually perched somewhere above them, watching, or he'd flutter down to eat and lead the group through to the "exit." A curious behavior that we observed was that the little family was joined in mid-summer by another adult male and female, a pair not quite as large as the parents -- we wondered if this was last year's kids! The four adults and three juveniles hung out in our yard, visiting two or three times a day, sometimes taking mud baths and siestas in soft dusty soil in the flower beds where I'd often see them altogether as a group. Gradually, we began to see the chicks' feathers taking on male or female colors, and their "fascinators" taking shape on their heads. Darling birds. One day, in later August they didn't come to visit. We have no idea where they went and they haven't been back. I read that quail will form larger coveys with neighboring quail in the autumn, so we like to think that they are all tucked into a nearby thicket of blackberry bushes, having a quail party.

For Activity 1 I went outside and sat and watched several birds. First I watched three Tufted Titmice as they gleaned bugs from the undersides of the leaves in an oak tree. I saw several times some beak wiping. Then one of them started calling repeatedly and then flew across the yard to a magnolia tree. The other two followed. They seemed to be a family unit. Once they got over to the magnolia tree they continued gleaning bugs from the undersides of the leaves, and the one that had been calling continued being very vocal. It was joined by another group of Tufted Titmice. It turned out there were a total of seven of them. After that I watched a Downy Woodpecker as it foraged in the branches of a small dead tree. It found a sunny spot and started fluffing and preening. It was also doing some scratching of it's head with it's foot. I never would have realized that this was just a part of the preening process. The fact that they can not reach their head in any other way had never occured to me. Watching in this moment it was clear that it was a part of the birds preening.

I particularly enjoy watching blue jays pick through the peanuts-in-the-shell I put out for them, but haven't seen any in quite a while (and even when they are around, they really are quick about picking what they want and taking off). Meanwhile the red winged blackbirds and grackles took off with most of the peanuts while the blue jays were on hiatus. I have never been good at recognizing bird sound (or musical notes, for that matter), but I have been listening to different bird sounds here. Today I heard a loud distinctive call outside, and I just knew it was a blue jay, and sure enough, I ran to the window and there was a beautiful blue jay standing on top of the curved hook on my feeder crowing and scaring everybody else away.

Activity 3: Birding by ear for five minutes. I was able to recognize five bird species; Carolina Wren, American Robin, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch and Gray Catbird. I also heard a burbling, warbling kind of a bird sound in a shrubby, weedy area but I couldn’t see the bird.

• Activity 2: Cornell Lab Feeder Cam
• Black-capped chickadees invariably grab one seed and go.
• Mourning Doves prefer to sit in the seed tray and swallow as many small seeds as they can.
• Northern Cardinal likes to take medium to large seeds, open them at the feeder And discard the husks, and will stay long enough to take a few seeds.
• Red-bellied Woodpecker alights on the vertical tube, takes a mouthful and flies off.
• Common Grackle pushes other birds out and takes the biggest seeds, crushing them in its large beak.
• Red-winged Blackbirds perch on the tube feeder to eat and will stay a few minutes.

Is this a Broad Winged Hawk?

Activity 2: To keep the Hooded Orioles away from my hummingbird feeders, I put up an oriole feeder with oranges and grape jelly, as I had been advised.  The orioles love it, and it did the trick.  But when they come to feed they swoop in quite noisily and frighten away all of the other birds from the tube feeders, mostly finches and sparrows. The orioles will stand on the other feeders, even though they have no interest in the food contained therein, then erratically fly to their own feeder where they nervously peck at the food for a few seconds and fly off.  Interestingly, the House Finches have also taken a liking to the jelly and oranges, and I see them feeding at the oriole feeder more often than the orioles.  The finches take their time, as long as they aren’t being harassed, luxuriating on the jelly and oranges.

Activity 1: I watched a Cedar Waxwing for about ten minutes. It was early morning and the sun’s rays were just kissing the treetops. The waxwing sat in the highest tips of a dead tree in the bright sunlight and was preening and stretching . I imagine the bird was warming up for it’s busy day.

The birds I saw at the feeder were a variety of birds. The first bird I saw was a European Starling, feeding on some sunflower seeds for about 7 minutes. I then saw a Nuttall's Woodpecker for about 11 minutes on 2 different feeders. Then, I saw two Red-Winged Blackbirds in exactly the same area. They had one thing in common: they stayed away from each other.

Activity 2: I watched the Cornell Feeder Cam and what a cornucopia of birds to see! The first bird to appear was a Blue jay followed shortly thereafter by a Red Winged Blackbird. They were both on the same feeder. The Jay didn't stay very long. Another Red Winged Blackbird appeared on a separate feeder but a Grackle landed and seemed to chase the Blackbird off. A Mourning Dove appeared. The Grackle landed near it bit didn't scare it off. Shortly thereafter another Mourning Dove appeared at the feeder. The Mourning Doves spent the most time at the feeder. Shortly thereafter a Woodpecker appeared ( Possibly a Hairy Woodpecker) followed by a second one. There also appeared to be a male and femalle Cardinal. It was fascinating to watch.

Activity 1 I watched a group of Oak Titmice with great admiration and amusement. The group descended in to an oak tree. So many can fit in there but they are so tiny you can hardly see them from a distance. Such a cute bird with a lot of personality. They were crawling all over the branches and many were hanging upside down. I learned that this is their method of foraging for insects. Oak Titmice can also open nuts by holding them with their feet and pecking with their bill. I have not seen this yet but will be watching for it.

Blue Jays were the first birds to appear when I watched the Cornell Lab Feeder Cam at Sapsucker Woods. First there was one using a fly in, grab, fly out technique. Then there were two using the same feeding method. One then settled on the solid seed feeder and took his time pecking while the other perched nearby and almost seemed to be keeping watch. A Red-winged Blackbird landed on a sunflower seed feeder and ate for about twenty seconds before leaving. Mourning Doves ate from the bottom tray of the little house feeder. They take their time and seem to eat a seed at a time. I am going to check back to the Panama Fruit Feeder. When I looked before there were Hummingbirds. One at a time they zipped in and out from the feeder so fast I am not even sure what kind they were.

Certain birds come around every evening at this time of year and from practice I can identify some of their songs. The Mourning Dove, California Scrub-Jay, American Crow are very distinct. It is nice to hear the Common Raven’s croak. The Dark-eyed Junco, the Spotted Towhee and the Bewick’s Wren have unique songs. The California Quail make their ca CAA ca and kissing sounds. When I hear drumming the  Nuttall’s Woodpecker is usually near. The Red-shouldered Hawk’s screech can not be mistaken.

Activity 1: After watching the Cornell Feeder Cam I can say I saw a lot of foraging of seeds. At first a mourning dove arrived but was chased away by grackles. Shortly after the grackles arrived, so did a blue jay. The grackles were looking up quite a bit but I’m not too sure if that’s anti-predator behaviour. Grackles are fair sized birds. Finally the grackles left and the mourning dove returned and really just did nothing but eat for quite a while. Activity 2: Cornell Feedercam: Mourning Dove, Grackles and a Blue Jay Activity 3: Listened to the feedercam but couldn’t make out too many bird calls or bird songs. I’m really bad at identifying bird calls and bird sounds though.

This past summer in Rochester, NY I saw two peregrine flacons harassing a red-tailed hawk that was flying over. The peregrines would take turns flying about 30-40 feet above the red-tail, which was flying, and then diver bomb it. At the last second, the red-tail would flip upside down and extend its talons in the direction of the diving peregrine, which would then pull away. They did this for about 5-8 dive bomb attacks. Eventually, the red-tail flew off and settled down in a tree. Were the peregrines hunting the hawk, or trying to drive it away?

Activity 1: A couple of Croaking Ground Doves was bringing dried plants and hairs (the type one might find inside a vacuum cleaner) on our movement light outside. Clearly they were trying to build a nest. It didn’t go very well since all their building material was falling down. Some other Croaking Ground Doves or Quiguaguas as they are called here were taking dust baths. All About Birds looks like a website that can provide a lot of information on birds. I’m considering getting a monthly or yearly subscription. Activity 2: I was observing birds from the Cornell Lab Feeder Cam in Supsucker Woods. Common Grackles came in a group of 7 and sort of scared 2 Red-Winged Blackbirds and 2 Mourning Doves. But these guys came back. Unlike Grackles that ate altogether, Mourning Doves didn’t let the 3rd Dove land on the feeder. Grackles, Doves and Blackbirds stayed for a long time helping themselves with seeds. Blue Jays were more of solitary eaters: the second one came after the first one left. Red-Bellied and Downy Woodpeckers came at different times and left fast. They attached themselves vertically to a feeder that looked like a tree trunk. Grackles and Doves sat on trays and Blackbirds, Jays and a Northern Cardinal ate from perches. None of these birds would grab just one seed and leave. Activity 3: The birds around my house are pretty much the same all the time: Turkey Vulture/Jote, Rock Pigeon/Paloma, Andean Gull/Gaviota, House Sparrow/Gorrion, Rufous-collared Sparrow/Chincol, Croaking Ground Dove/Tortolita Quiguagua, West Peruvian Dove/Kukuli and Oasis Hummingbird/Picaflor del Norte. So I can hear them daily, except Turkey Vulture and Rock Pigeon that are only visible to me from the far. (I never heard a sound from a Vulture). They prefer to stay on top of the apartments across the highway in front of our house. And I can only hear Sea Gulls, so I walked around to make sure that they were Andean Gulls picking on city garbage. According to Merlin bar charts, they are here all year round. About 2-3 years ago I started hearing a beautiful song of a Shiny Cowbird/Mirlo. Since then I can see groups of them outside on the trees and cables in the mornings when they come for food.

Activity 3: Although only one bird species was vocal at the time, I now have an understanding of the behavior. I could hear the urgency in a robin's call in my parents' backyard, so I ventured outside to see what was provoking it. I spotted the neighbor's cat crouched in the flowers below the birdbath. Thanks to the robin's mobbing, the cat's hunting attempt was thwarted and no birds were harmed!

I think this guy/girl is very cute. Do you agree? Here is my reason: He/she is all puffed up, looking at the camera, and half-spreading his/her wings. Look it his/her ADORABLE CUTE SMALL BEAK!!! Also, he/she is a juvenile.

Activity 3:  I could hear the flight calls of an American Goldfinch, the calls of a Carolina Wren and a Grey Catbird while outside today.

Activity 1: I think I was watching a staling at feeder. It seemed to peck a few times at seeds then raise head and eat. It flitted from one feeder to next. Activity 2: watched feeder cam which showed many birds. Some picked once from suet but most went to seeds. Blue jay seemed to peck several times in a row. Downy woodpecker pecked in upright position atvfeeder. Also saw pleated woodpecker. Some stayed a while and tried several feeders. Some went to one and flew away. Activity 3: really hard. On Cornell webcam. Heard a blue jay give a squawk when it left. Mourning dove wings beating when they flew. Heard some background song but couldn’t identify. Saw lots of birds though and with merlins help could identify some

Activity 1: I think I was watching a staling at feeder. It seemed to peck a few times at seeds then raise head and eat. It flitted from one feeder to next. Activity 2: watched feeder cam which showed many birds. Some picked once from suet but most went to seeds. Blue jay seemed to peck several times in a row. Downy woodpecker pecked in upright position atvfeeder. Also saw pleated woodpecker. Some stayed a while and tried several feeders. Some went to one and flew away.

Activity 3:  Late afternoon in my backyard. Heard a woodpecker.  Mourning dove. Some kind of squawk, maybe catbird? Miscellaneous chirps, unidentifiable. This is really hard.