We've just set up a bird feeder in Eastern Massachusetts, in the last two months. How long do we stock it? At some point is there enough local plant and insect food available? When to start back?
@Teresa
Cornell also has a course on learning birds by their songs. It's pretty good. They also have a free app that you use to record a birdsong and upload it to their very large library and it will identify the bird from the song. I've learned a bunch of birdsongs this way
Greetings from Eastern Massachusetts! So great to see how geographically diverse this group is.
Activity 1: The Wall of Birds is amazing on it own, and the interactive feature is truly spectacular. I couldn't possibly pick a favorite. There are so many.
Activity 2: March 11 was the last meeting of my Wednesday morning bird walk group. We were up along the ocean. One of my favorites of the day was the flock of Harlequin Ducks, a member of the waterfowl species. That same week, just before we were asked to stay at home, I bought a bird feeder and a large bag of wild bird food. My feeder has attracted many local passerines; chickadees (our state bird), house sparrows, grackles, dark-eyed juncos, song sparrows, cardinals, house finches, blue jays, white-throated sparrows, tufted titmice, brown-headed cowbird. Hanging around the base are mourning doves and robins. I heard a northern flicker woodpecker, but did not see it. I also heard a red-tailed hawk but didn't see it. Check out the great app BirdNET from Cornell. You can record bird songs and they will match it to their library of bird songs and tell you what it is. And it's free!
Activity 3: I know this is not always a popular bird, but I am really enjoying the grackles. They look more like dinosaurs to me than many of the other birds that visit my feeder. Their colors are beautiful and I love that bright yellow eye.