Bird Watchers

The national wildlife foundation actually tells people to discourage starlings from nesting. And if you find a nest take it apart. They are pesky.

Terri, that's a male Goldfinch!

My dad is a bird nut and we spent hours as kids, crouched into cramped positions, not moving a muscle.

Gina, the big owl you saw was probably a Great Horned.  They are magnificient!

We have Barn Owls around here. I hear them calling regularly. We also have a lot of Flickers, Nuthatches, Stellar's Jays, Scrub Jays, Robins, Rufous Sided Towhees, Starlings, Crows, many kinds of Sparrows, and Swallows as well as others.  We are also on a direct flight path to a wildlife refuge, so have Canadian Honkers going overhead regularly. We also have many, many birds of prey.  There are a lot of Sparrow Hawks, Red Tails, and more.

Love all the photos you guys are posting of the birds.  We get a lot of birds in our backyard due to our neighbor's feeders and his very bird-friendly garden.  They kind of migrate to our yard by way of his.  Our old house had few birds, I think because there were so many outdoor cats on the block. 
 
I used to think it was silly when I'd hear people (usually middle-aged or older) going on and on about the different birds in their feeders and yards.  Now, I'm just as bad (yes, I'm technically middle-aged, so maybe it's an automatic thing once you hit 40???).  I even bought a book so I could look up the names of them.  Doesn't take much to entertain me anymore!  The only thing that kind of bugged me was I planted a Beautyberry (Callicarpa) bush right out my window so I could enjoy the brilliant purple berries in the winter.  I saw them for about 2 days -- the birds picked it clean!!  Oh well, they apparently appreciate "presentation" when they're dining!

I think it's really cool to watch the male birds do their mating song and dance routines in the springtime - they are so determined!  Last night after work I was witnessing a male purple finch doing his thing and it was hilarious - he was singing really loud, bobbing up and down, hopping around!
 
Anybody ever notice that the male cardinals will give seed to the females?  And I've noticed that the male cardinals will bring the babies with him to teach them when they are getting close to leaving the nest.  Totally awesome!

We have a bird feeder at work and I love watching the cardinals!  We have a pair that come back every year that we named Carlos & Carla and Carlos is always feeding Carla - so cute.  It looks like he picks thru the seeds to find the right one and then presents it to her! 
 
Have also seen a juvenile red-wing hawk show up, finches, nuthatchers, downy wood peckers, painted buntings, bobolinks, northern waterthrush, blue jays, mocking birds, mourning doves & ring necked doves.  
 
Can you tell I like finding ways to waste time at work []

I don't know if you saw my cardnal pics but here they are again. They are always hanging on my screen window.

male

ORIGINAL: tacran
I used to think it was silly when I'd hear people (usually middle-aged or older) going on and on about the different birds in their feeders and yards. Now, I'm just as bad (yes, I'm technically middle-aged, so maybe it's an automatic thing once you hit 40???).

Nope. [] I'm (only) 27 and I have a bunch of bird feeders in my yard. [] I get the best luck with black sunflower seed and thistle. Here's a pic of Rupert, the mighty squirrel hunter...

I did have mixed seed in the feeder in that photo. I thought it was a good idea at the time. Turns out, the birds will just pick out the seed they don't want and drop it on the deck, making a big mess. [8|]

I am not 40 yet either, so I don't know that it's automatic.  Besides, I am being dragged into this birdwatching thing kicking and screaming...(mother-in-law loves it and thinks that I need to do it too, there in itself is enough reason to not want to bird-watch  [:'(])  but I am getting a kick out of watching them at the feeders in the am while drink my coffee....so don't anyone tell her that I like this!!!!!!!

I love the picks of the cardinals, we have a pair here, not sure if they are a "couple" but we have a male and a female.  I think that the Goldfinches are a so pretty!!!  There are some birds you guys mentioned that I have no idea what they are, Rufous Sided Towhees???  I'll have to look them up.
 
Janice, LOVE that picture of Rupert!!!

So, does anyone have any suggestions on how to discourage starlings and cowbirds???  They are sooooo rude and pesky!

Janice, I love that picture of Rupert and the squirrel - it's like a greeting card! 
 
We don't have cardinals here (Oregon).  I used to love seeing them back home in Connecticut.  We have a lot of goldfinches here, as well as other "tiny" birds.  I have a tree outside my window at work, and there's a little brown bird that often sits right on the gutter below my window and sings away.  It's so cute. 
 
I loved that story about Carla and Carlos!  How cute is that??  Sweet little couple!
 
And Terri, how courageous of you to admit enjoying something your mother-in-law suggested.  Definitely something to keep hush-hush!!  []

Discouraging Starlings
It's not hard to tell when your yard has European Starlings visiting. These black birds with yellow beaks are loud and often travel in numbers. Their squeaky discordant calls have been known to wake up a peaceful sleeper.
These birds are not only an irritant for humans. They are native to Europe, and so they compete with native birds for nesting sites. They especially like old woodpecker homes.
One way to discourage these birds from your habitat is to disturb their nesting sites. According to bird expert George H. Harrison, "they are not a native species (were introduced from Europe), [so] they are not protected by laws, and can be dealt with accordingly."
Watch your nesting boxes for activity on a regular basis, and if you see starlings starting to nest, immediately remove any nest material that is brought by these species. Hopefully you can catch them before they lay eggs. Starling nests usually contain 4-6 pale blue eggs.
If you don't have the heart to move their nests, you can discourage them by offering food that is not attractive to them. A tube feeder with small feeding holes and niger or thistle seed looks great to finches, but starlings don't like it. They can't get their beaks in to feed.
"There are tube feeders with the perches above the ports, which requires the birds to hang upside down to feed. Starlings will not do this," says Harrison. "They will not eat safflower seed, either."
Choose any feeders that require birds to hang upside down to feed. Some suet feeders have a roof over top and are only open on the bottom.
For the nesting boxes that you prepare for woodpeckers, another suggestion is to put a small mirror inside, opposite the entrance.
"The starling sees its reflection when it is at the entrance. This may scare the starling away, but it may also scare the woodpeckers," says Harrison. "Worth a try, however."
For other nesting boxes, one idea is to have a smaller hole, about 1 1/8", which can accommodate many songbirds, but will keep out starlings and House Sparrows
 
This came from the National Wildlife Web site

Rupert, you da' man!  You're so cute I wanna kiss you, too!

My Mom's Robin Nest has 4 chicks now! Here they are:
 
 

I grew up in a birding family. My grandfather was the president of the Audubon Society of Detroit (or maybe Grosse Pointe--yes, he was a landscape architect and amateur naturalist). My father continued teaching us about birds and I grew up looking for birds all the time.

I wish I'd kept a life list but stopped when I was young.

Before I got on the airplane to go to Albuquerque a week ago an immature bald eagle (it's early for eagles here) flew right next to me, and then as I drove up the road, a harrier (aka marsh hawk) flew up and landed on a light post arm and held his wings out and looked at me as I drove under it. Sure was a nice send-off! I figured I'd have good flights and a good trip and sure enough, I did.

We have ptarmigan up here, chickadee(dee dees), sparrows, hairy and downy woodpeckers, flickers, red polls, lots of others. There's a really neat place here called the Bird Observatory that does camps for kids and lots of classes and bird education.http://www.alaskabird.org I did an article on them once for the newspaper, but I love their classes. They have one called "Identifying all those Little Birds."

Sofia says to tell Rupert that he missed his chance, and that she would have gotten that riffen ruffen squirrel!! (I think she would have tried, anyway, she spends all summer trying!)