Elizabeth

Hi Dixie. The pictures used as references in this course are found in the PDF available on the main course page. You can also access the PDF through this link. Happy painting!

Hi Debbie. Chirps are just a way to keep track of how active users are in the discussion. They are calculated based on each user's participation–1 point (or chirp) for replying to someone, 5 points for starting a new topic.

You are correct—this is a female Northern Cardinal. Have you tried the Photo ID option in the Merlin app? With a photo as good as this, it would steer you in the right direction. Enjoy the course and happy birding!

@ginbudjim Yes, they are also called Eurasian Goosanders.

Hi Angeleque. Thanks for reaching out. You raise some interesting points. You can find more information about the data collection methods and statistical calculations by reading the original article published in Science. It is available here. If you do not have access to the full article, you can read a draft version here. The calculation about bird mortality by cats comes from this article in Nature. The authors conducted a systematic review to determine the impact of cats on wildlife. Finally, The Washington Post recently highlighted a study showing citizen scientists produce accurate data. Find it here. The research paper itself is also available at this link. I hope these resources answer your questions and help you feel more confident in the data presented. The decline of birds is an ongoing challenge of our times.

@Annekathryn The recommendations for Massachusetts can be found here. While the do-not-feed recommendation has been lifted, Massachusetts suggests finding other ways to attract birds to your yard such as planting native plants, adding water features, and putting up bird houses.

Forum moderator Lee Ann van Leer suggests:

"You can use eBird.org/explore to hone in on where large roosts are being seen in the winter. There is a place on eBird where you can look at the "high count" for a species in a certain state or at the county level. That will let you know where you can find an area to search for a large roost in winter.  In some cities they frequent the same spot every night but in other areas the roots move around from place to place every night and even move to several spots during the course of the night. I was super lucky one year that the local crow roost of several thousands spent  part of two nights at my house! That was amazing to listen to them yammering away much of the night and communicating with each other.  I highly recommend when it is safe to travel, finding a crow roost some winter. It is a great experience."

Give that a try, and let us know if you find a crow roost!

@Annabeth As Laura mentioned, it is a duck, so we can start there. It has a black belly and chestnut chest, with a lighter wing stripe. These features tell us it is a black-bellied whistling-duck. Although Laura thought the legs were orange or yellow, in the photo they appear pink, which is also characteristic of the species. Hope this helps!

Dr. McGowan is good friends with Dr. John Marzluff at UW, but they have only co-authored one paper on crows. In 2020 the American Ornithological Union voted to absorb the Northwestern crow (Corvus caurinus) into the American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos).

You can revisit course content at any time. Go to My Courses, then click on Growing Wild. Scroll down to view the Course Content. Click Expand All to choose the exact topic you want to view. From there you can answer the discussion question. Alternatively, you can go to the discussion board directly. Scroll down on the page and click on Join a Discussion Group. Click on the Growing Wild group, then find the topic you want to comment on. If you have additional issues please contact Customer Service.