Lee Ann van Leer

Even though you might not be able to see a reflection the bird probably was and their vision is different than humans. Northern Cardinals are well known for pecking at themselves in a variety of reflective surfaces. These articles advice on how to get rid of the reflection during this period of year.  Since he is still living you'd want permission to set up an eBird account on his behalf. You may need volunteers from a local birding club to band together to get all the checklists data entered in. It is often too time consuming for one person to accomplish.   A Bird Keeps Flying into my Window or Car Mirror, on Purpose. What Should I Do? We usually see this behavior in the Spring—the time of year when most birds establish their territories, find a mate, lay eggs, and raise young. To ensure success, they defend their territory aggressively, and will attack and try to drive away any bird they view as a possible competitor or a threat to their young. When they see their own reflection in your window or car mirrors, they assume they're seeing a competitor and attack the image. We sometimes see this at other times of year as well—less frequently. This behavior usually dissipates within a few days or, at most, weeks. But while it lasts, the bird may exhaust or even hurt itself, and it distracts the bird from far more important activities. Plus, this behavior can be extremely annoying for the people witnessing it. To get rid of the reflection, you must alter the reflective surface. You can cover it with fabric, or newspaper--or a tarp. When you're no longer seeing the bird nearby you can remove this. Often, rubber snakes frighten birds away, at least temporarily—although like any object that doesn't move, the birds get used to seeing them. There are a host of other things to try at: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/why-birds-hit-windows-and-how-you-can-help-prevent-it/ and here: https://abcbirds.org/get-involved/bird-smart-glass/

There are several reasons a bird could puff up its feathers. Also several reasons a bird could look disheveled.   Here are just a couple possibilities and it could be a combination of factors: According to Birds of the World our online subscription bird information service: <> Furthermore, birds will often puff up their feathers as a way to stay warm and conserve heat. --Lee Ann van Leer Bird Academy Project Assistant

Yes. Red-bellied Woodpecker, juvenile.   --Lee Ann van Leer Bird Academy Project Assistant

This is indeed an American Goldfinch. Size is the hardest characteristic to access in birds and it may have just appeared bigger if it was closer to you. Size can be hard to access when there is not another bird next to it to compare it to another knowns species. However looking at this goldfinch in relation to the size of a brick it is indeed a small bird. Thanks for asking and sharing your photo.

Are you trying to document them and share the photos to eBird or somewhere else? If you do Facebook there is a public eBird Discussion group where people give each other advice on such matters.  

Here is a prey item that might surprise you: leeches.  In this video from our Barred Owl Cam a leech is dealt with by a sibling. Blood-Sucking Leech Goes for Wild Ride in Barred Owl Nest Box 

Yes, a European Starling, juvenile.

• short tail
• long bill

Northern Cardinal, male

Dr. McGowan says the only place he is aware of that has scientific accuracy on vocalizations is in the vocalization section on the Birds of the World site for American Crow. This is a subscription site so not everyone will have access. However we do mention in one of the lessons of this course about Birds of the World and give a discount coupon for it. The coupon code is meant for folks enrolled in the course. Here is just a small portion of that account: <Wide repertoire of calls. Anatomy of syrinx reveals 6 pairs of syringeal muscles (Chamberlain et al. 1968). Most common call, heard year-round, is caw, given 2–5 times in a bout (range 1–9; Thompson 1968a). Cawing is main type of vocalization for long-distance communication (Parr 1997), used when individuals are 0.5–1.0 km apart (Brown 1985c). Some of the calls listed below are variations of this basic call, brought about by varying the frequency, duration, interval duration between caws, and intensity of each caw within bouts (Brown 1985c , Parr 1997). Parr (Parr 1997) recognized 8 basic caw types used in long-distance vocal communication: Short Caw, Short-Medium Caw, Medium Caw, Long Caw, Harsh Caw, Ko , Ko-aw , and Two-Syllable Caw. ...>> <<...Double Short Caw. A series of caws delivered in pairs, so that interval within a pair is smaller than between pairs. Often associated with territorial bouts, Countercawing, directed out of the territory, and particularly with the beginning of chasing bouts. Function as call-to-arms vocalizations for family members (Parr 1997). Corresponds to Chamberlain and Cornwell's (Chamberlain and Cornwell 1971) Alert Call....>> Those are just a couple excerpts but subscribers to Birds of the World can see the full account. Birds of the World American Crow vocalizations

@Chelsea This is a good point you mention.  Kevin McGowan has a "Rule of Three" when it comes to bird ID and part of that is to try to find at least three distinguishing characteristics when making a bird identification as relying on just one feature will rarely work.