new bird

shows up at my house yesterday! man it is so pretty and I have never seen one like this before. it is called an indigo bunting. wow!

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAbou..._dtl.html#food

WOW!! What a beautiful bird!!

What a pretty bird. I found it interesting that they travel at night and use the stars to navigate. Thank you for sharing.

Gorgeous bird! What a treat for you ((((((((((((( bebop ))))))))))))


sabby

I love the variety of birds around me. I use my front "lawn" (all of about 6 feet by 6 feet, LOL) as a bird feeder, have a bin I keep out there with seed. I think I like the juncos best.

Do you keep any sort of list of what birds you see, etc. bebop? I thought I'd miss my large, acre/wooded yard but I don't as I have plenty of birds and it's nice seeing old favorites as well as new ones.

you are very welcome everyone. this is the first time I have ever seen one of these birds in my life!

perna so far I have seen cardinals, american gold finches, wrens and doves. all in my tree right in front of my porch. I am so enjoying sitting there or in my living room watching them! I will post a link to the finches. get ready! hehehe

http://www.finchworld.com/Birds/Finc...ican/index.htm

Bebop

My sister is a wildlife scientist down in Texas (I'm in Chicago). I had an indoor bird (cockatiel) but never paid attention to the birds outside. Years ago, she sent me a copy of a Field Guide to the Birds of North America, and I've been hooked on bird watching ever since. It kinda sucks now because I'm losing my eyesight - still hard for me to identify based on sound. I'm grateful when they perch close to the window and pose for me.

I had an indigo bunting in my backyard several years ago. They really are beautiful birds. Haven't seen one since.

Enjoy your winged friends. They are so entertaining, and it's fun to get to know them.

I had another new bird show up but no idea what it is. it has a darker red head but brown body. need to look that up!

I am so sorry you are losing your sight. we really do enjoy the birds. we have the feeders in the tree right in front of my porch so it is easy to see them.

If you don't already have a copy of the Field Guide, I suggest you get one. It makes it easy to identify the birds, and you learn a little about each one as you spot them. You can check them off on the index list in the back. Even with my bad vision, I still take my Field Guide along with me when I travel places - you never know.

By marking the date/time/location of sightings over the years, you can almost predict to the day a certain type of migrating bird will show up. I've had a Rose-breasted Grosbeak show up in my back yard on or about May 12th for quite a few years now. Even when I don't see him, I can hear him now. He sounds a bit like a Robin, but with a little more oomph in his song.

I was in the front of the house with my husband a while back and we heard a loud bang out back. I was afraid maybe the gutter had fallen off again.

Right outside the back window was a Cooper's Hawk standing on his prey - a mourning dove, with a pile of feathers in the grass around them. He must have slammed the bird into the house. I felt kind of bad because my husband really likes those mourning doves. In the winter, they follow him around like chickens as he spreads out bird food for them. Oh well, at least it was quick. The hawk looked pleased with his catch.

My husband said it didn't bother him. He said the rest of the mourning doves were probably out front saying "Hey, didn't Ralph say he was coming right back?"

It sure gets quiet around here when the hawk is around.

poor bird! I still have not found this bird online anywhere. only saw it yesterday. it has a deep almost brown head with light brown body. very pretty too!

Oh Kathy, I am so sorry that you are losing your sight too. I smiled when you mentioned the Rose Breasted Grosbeak, I love that bird and will always remember it as my first "exotic" bird sighting at my bird feeder. Kind of like you Bebop seeing an indigo bunting for the first time. Pretty exciting!!!

Kathy, have you thought of getting one of those Bird books that contain a CD? It gives you the picture of the bird, but on the CD it states the name of the bird and gives you its' call. I have seen them at the 1/2 Price Bookstore, but I am not sure of the cost. Let me know if you are interested. The only calls I can really recognize are of the cardinal, jay bird and the chickadee. But I am working on it...

Have fun bird watching Bebop, isn't it great!!

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bebop said:
poor bird! I still have not found this bird online anywhere. only saw it yesterday. it has a deep almost brown head with light brown body. very pretty too!

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How big was it? When looking up birds make sure you check the juvenile versions too. Some young birds have very different coloring when they are young.

Also when looking at a new bird pay attention to its' beak. Sometimes that will help you narrow down what you are looking for in certain books.

Have fun

I love watching the birds at my mom's house. She has several feeders and lives in the woods so she gets lots of different kinds. I don't have a feeder here at my apartment I don't know if its allowed.

Jbug

Danialla I am having fun watching them. right now the finches have taken over around here lol. the cardnials have kind of backed off for a bit for now. the finches are kind of agressive and chase other birds away from the food.

Danialla - it sucks, don't it?

I'm the same way. It's easy to remember the calls of common birds, but it's hard for me to remember the call of those I've only heard on tape. There's no personal connection for me.

I was out in the woods with my husband one day. He'd spot birds with the binoculars and describe them to me. He was describing some Chickadees to me, but insisted they weren't Chickadees. I knew they were because I could hear them off in the distance where he was looking.

I finally told him we'll have to agree to disagree because they were too far away for me to see. Just at that moment, a Chickadee few over and perched on a branch right where we were sitting. My husband said I don't play fair. He said either I have all the wild birds trained to my command - or he's married to Snow White.

bebop

I hope you'll be able to figure out what type of bird you found in your yard.

I have a friend who has a Coopers Hawk in his area too. He was sitting outside with a young boy who's been helping him lately, and wanted to entertain the kid. He said "Watch this."

My friend got up from his chair and walked around a big evergreen tree where he knew all the sparrows were hiding. All at once, a huge crowd of sparrows flew out of the tree. The boy was amazed at the sight, but his eyes nearly popped out of his head when the Coopers Hawk swooped down into the crowd and grabbed one.

The boy said to him "How did you do that?" My friend replied, "Team work."

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KathyM said:
I was out in the woods with my husband one day. He'd spot birds with the binoculars and describe them to me. He was describing some Chickadees to me, but insisted they weren't Chickadees. I knew they were because I could hear them off in the distance where he was looking.

I finally told him we'll have to agree to disagree because they were too far away for me to see. Just at that moment, a Chickadee few over and perched on a branch right where we were sitting. My husband said I don't play fair. He said either I have all the wild birds trained to my command - or he's married to Snow White.

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This made me laugh.....thanks to you and your husband

The chickadees have the most distictive call for me. But I can always tell if a hawk is in the yard because the song birds are quiet, and the blue jays become so loud they are obnoxious. The blue Jays really like to bother the hawk also, they seem to fly at him & make a lot of noise. He usually just sits there with an eye on his next meal.

We also have a pond in the backyard, so we get 2 different kinds of Herons. The blues are very large, majestic birds, but quiet. The greens are smaller, but boy can they make noise.

Daniala

Oooooh HERONS! I love them - I've never seen or heard a green.

Several years ago my sister and I took a "sisters getaway" to Washington Island, WI because she's so concerned about my health. We stayed in a little cabin together. It made me laugh though because she made me stand out in the cold and rain to smoke my cigarette - wouldn't even let me use the screened in porch!

I was looking forward to a good night's sleep away from it all, but I kept hearing a strange rhythmic sound off in the distance. It didn't sound like wildlife and it was driving me nuts, so I went out to investigate. It was a smoke alarm beeping in an empty cabin down the road, but I was unable to reach the alarm.

There was no way I could sleep with that beeping, so I headed down to the shoreline to watch the sunrise. I sat quietly in a chair - cold and soaked to the bones.

I didn't realize a Great Blue Heron was in the weeds nearby munching on a huge fish until another one approached the shoreline and they started fighting. He was able to defend his catch and get back to his meal.

As miserable as I was, it felt like such an honor to witness this bit of nature only a few feet away from me.

I was in Hilton Head SC last month and we went to a park out on a marshy type area. the blue heron was just awesome! we took some pics but the camera died at the wrong time. I have a couple but you can just barely make out the birds in there. such a shame I didn't get better ones.

I love the herons also, the blues are so striking and very interesting to watch fly in and out of the area.

My neatest birds to date though are my Pialated Woodpeckers, they are huge and look like Woody Woodpecker from the old cartoon.

I don't really know what their call is, but when they are pecking it is incredibly loud. They can take out chunks of trees in no time flat, and the phone company in our area has to put up a new pole if a pialated gets ahold one.