Winging it.

[digitS']

What birds are common in your garden?

It is interesting to me that some species are so common in some areas. You can be sure that whatever a situation is in one person's yard and garden, that bird population may be found to be totally absent just a few hundred miles away.

Perhaps, we might be pleased that some species can adapt well to human habitation. Personally, I would have appreciated the humans fitting in a little better with what was already here. I'm confident that indigenous people in North America transformed the environment, notably by fire, so that some animal species flourished, or did not.

I seldom see Wrens. If I would want to, I know of a small creek on the north side of a mountain where I'm likely to find them. The location should have some Brown Creepers and Nuthatches, also. Probably, a Flycatcher, of one sort or another, would be perched overhead. A Towhee might be searching through the underbrush. Of course, there situation right now in January is a mystery to me. I used to visit during a summer afternoon and it was only about a 30 minute walk from my home. Where, 4 of those species would be around, but not the Wrens, then or here.

I now live elsewhere and further from that more natural area and its common summer birds. I'm not likely to see ANY of those here, where single family homes are separated by 50' of altered landscapes. About a mile away, the river courses its way through the valley and I have discovered that there are many more species than those or those few here at home.

What birds are common around your home?

Steve

 

[Nyboy]

Last year I hung a bird feeder outside window next to my desk. This is the 2nd winter feeding, I really enjoy watching the birds. I do see a big difference in breeds of birds, I am sure it is based on feed. last year only used Black oil sunflower seeds, very colorful birds. This year I picked up a 50 pound bag label wild bird seed very cheap. With that I am seeing lots of sparrow and doves, last year none of these. Sorry Steve don't know my bird breeds only very common ones. I still enjoy watching them even if I don't know what they are.

 

[Beekissed]

Most common during garden season are the wrens, flycatchers, yellow finches, and robins. I don't see our bluebirds in the garden, though I wish I did.

Problem is, the garden is where the cats love to hang out, especially if I'm out there and they LOVE my Agribon, for some reason. The birds, wisely, give my garden a wide berth due to my small predator situation.

 

[so lucky]

At the feeding station, we have cardinals, mocking birds, juncos, doves, various sparrows, woodpeckers and chickadees. We have a pileated woodpecker who has been coming to the tree where the suet feeders are, but hasn't come down to feed on them yet, to our knowledge.
In the garden and yard in summer, we have bluebirds, robins, flycatchers, mockingbirds, English sparrows, wrens, gold finches, humming birds. Orioles for a while in late spring. Others I'm sure, but so many of them are just anonymous little birds, without closer inspection. Oh, and red tailed hawks. And the occasional duck and great blue heron near the pond. And green herons. And the occasional bald eagle. And geese flying overhead. And buzzards, and.......

 

[Beekissed]

Oh...I thought he said IN the garden! If we are counting all the birds on the land, we have scads more...all the usual suspects, as described by So Lucky. Just none of those usually frequent the garden here. It's too open, too much human and predator activity close by.

 

[Nyboy]

Lucky you have a cool mix of birds, you are lucky

 

[flowerbug]

@so lucky yes, that sounds pretty familiar to what we have here.

add pheasants, ducks, canadian geese, northern thrashers (my favorite, oh, well, not that i really have one, but these are close), catbird (makes me laugh with their singing), bluebirds, redwing blackbirds, cardinals, blue jays, crows, grackles... i'm sure there's others i'm not listing...

good question.

 

[Nyboy]

The bird that most excited me was a tiny owl. I never saw one in the wild, so happy to see him in my woods

 

[Collector]

The bird that most excited me was a tiny owl. I never saw one in the wild, so happy to see him in my woods

We have had Pygmy owl in our yard here though years ago before we lived here. I thought it was a baby owl that was lost but when I got closer I could see it was a full grown owl.
Steve I think we have a lot of the same birds ,we do have some forest birds come to feeder one I have identified as a pine Siskin
Also stellar jays and black billed magpies. Also get a bunch of ravens in the trees around the house. We get most upland birds here such as pheasants, quail, huns, ruffed grouse, and turkeys. I have also saw great horned owl, several types of hawks once in awhile bald eagles, and I have saw turkey vultures more than once in these woods. There are plenty of other birds I cannot think of right now but enjoy reading what other members here have in their areas.

 

[digitS']

You have Hungarian partridge, @Collector ? Has a neighbor released them? Stellar jays weren't all that uncommon when I lived near the river but I haven't seen them in years. I'd almost as soon not see the Magpies in the garden.

Excitement, @Nyboy , is a Sharp-skinned Hawk tearing thru the bushes after anything with a beating heart!

The California quail were back today but they missed the corncobs that I put out for them. I think the dang squirrel showed up with the recent warmth and carried the cobs into a tree. I really haven't succeeded in feeding the quail nor encouraging them to be daily winter visitors. I have not made the least effort to feed other birds for years. They probably get quite a bit of food off me in the garden so I won't want the lettuce and fruit eaters out there.

The Song Sparrows are a favorite and they nest EVERY year is in a garden neighbor's raspberry/grape jungle. Song Sparrows are native birds yet live in our communities. Their population numbers have declined but they are not yet considered endangered. Cornell says that they have a varied diet.

The neighbor here at home has about a dozen birdhouses on her garage with, maybe, half of them filled with English Sparrows each year. The flock moves into another neighbor's small spruce trees to spend the winter. There were House Finches that would visit before the neighbor put birdhouses all over her garage. The English Sparrows are very aggressive towards the finches and also run off the Chickadees. They don't push the Song Sparrows around so much but I don't see those around often, here at home.

The Juncos apparently do not nest at this elevation but visit on their way somewhere else. American Goldfinches can be in my garden and nesting nearby in substantial numbers but Cornell says that they live on seeds and will "only inadvertently" eat insects . I am always happy to see Chickadees. I bet that they are the top bug killers but the Song Sparrows must be right there with them on that list. I realize that there are some birds that are almost exclusively bug-eaters but I don't know that I've got any other than the Swallows. The Nighthawks are late arrivals in August each year.

Steve