Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Bird Watchers

What is your favorite bird?

Mine are Downy Woodpeckers.

Warblers are beautiful little birds, and hummingbirds, and nuthatches. Did we have to choose just one!

I love bluebirds too.

Kingfishers!

Call me boring, but mine is the American Robin. They are such a pleasant bird and actually entertaining to watch. They are so common though, not too many people pay attention to them.

Robins are the little gentlemen of birds.

I like to watch Cardinals.

I like Warblers - one of my favorites is the Common Yellowthroat. The males have that black mask that contrasts with the bright yellow. I just think they are cool looking.

I like Red-Tailed Hawks. We have a stretch of road about a quarter-mile from my house that I can always spot one or two. I have also seen the occasional owl but usually I am in the car and it is near dark so I can't tell the particular species. I go to the beach several times a year and like to watch the roseate spoonbills and scarlet ibis(es?).

Cool thread. I enjoy birdwatching at Medic8r Manor, and the wife and I just put out the first feed of the year, welcoming back our bluebirds. They usually come back around Valentine's Day but are a little early this year.

When I was in Georgia last year, we had a great horned owl patrol our backyard. It was cool to look for him each evening.

Our most common birds here in Virginia (at least the ones I most often notice, as I suspect there are lots of house finches and sparrows around also) are the bluebirds, goldfinches, nuthatches, and chickadees. We have a number of thistle/niger feeders and often get sights like this pic that I pulled off the web:



We also enjoy feeding the ruby-throated hummingbirds and the various woodpeckers we get. I agree that the downy is a cool little bird. I enjoy how they hop around on the tree. We also get their slightly bigger cousins, the hairy woodpecker.

But to actually answer your question, the bird I enjoy seeing - and hearing - the most is the pileated woodpecker. Whenever I hear one's call, I always look out the window to see if I can spot him.

Looks like a Pine Siskin on there amongst the Goldfinches.

As far as Birds of Prey, I like the Cooper's Hawks that hunt the birds around my house. A lot of folks don't "cotton" to that - but hey, Hawks have to eat too?

My favorite is the Cheeseburger bird .

Anyone else heard them?

Speaking of pileated woodpeckers, I saw one up real close on our balcony in Markham years ago. The whole railing shook when he landed on it, man they are huge!! My parents in BC have several pileated woodpeckers in their area that bring their babies around to their suet feeders.

What's the main diet of the pileated woodpecker anyway?

Cool video!

I think the diet of that green snake was woodpecker eggs, sadly. Circle of life, I guess.

I can't see it here at work.

I was staying at the Colquhoun's place a few years ago and I spotted a big noisy pileated woodpecker that landed on a dead tree down near the dock (the tree blew down in a storm later on). I summoned the Colquhouns to come outside and view the pileated. . .

They had never seen one before. I think they're fairly rare in Muskoka. I'd only seen one before up in Georgian Bay.

A young raptor landed on the stern rail of my sailboat last summer, having accidentally dropped his prey into the lake right behind my boat. He couldn't see me and tried a couple of times (unsuccessfully) to pluck the dead bird out of the lake, returning each time to perch on the stern rail. It was really neat watching him from such a close vantage point.

Blue Jays, Bluebirds, Orioles, Cardinals, Purple Martins...too many to name...Blue Jays are my favorite. The property also attracts all different types of swallows, finches, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, bats and even Owls. Owls are cool...

I would have to get the bird book out to name some of the less common birds that appear.

Alan, pileated woodpeckers are quite common around here, so I'd hazard a guess that there's even more up in the Muskoka's.

I haven't seen a Scarlet Tanager for years but I've had a few Baltimore Orioles around here each year. On my biking trail off of the Etobicoke creek I've seen them pulling apart tent caterpiller nests, not for the caterpillers but for their own nesting material.

There are lots of other woodpeckers I see in Muskoka every summer I visit, but the one at Ian and Amie's was the first pileated one I'd seen. Ian said he'd never seen one before and he grew up there. Purely anecdotal, of course, so I guess I should consult Roger Tory Peterson's Birds of North America to check out the range.

We get Scarlet and Summer Tanager nesting around the house. As for Owls, we have Great Horned, Screech and Barred. The Barred Owls often get into a "conversation" during the Spring & Summer. It is one of the few "Bird Things" that my wife enjoys.

One of the more spectacular sights was the Great Blue Heron. I might see them once or twice during the summer months flying away from our pond. I can never see them in the pond since the area around is o'natural and very much overgrown. It's a beautiful thing watching them fly.

Doc, there is a heronry next to Heart Lake in Brampton. Lots of herons around here, but I think they may have abandoned the heronry once the 410 extention was built.

These are badass!

There are some small hawks which frequent the side of the highway (407 for the locals) that runs beside our office. I guess they're hunting for rodents in the grassy areas beside the highway. Small, spindly trees were planted in the grassy area and have never really grown much, presumably due to the road salt.

The hawks come in and land on tree branches which are far too thin to support their weight, so the branch bends down several feet with the birds wobbling and flapping to maintain balance...

Finally, bird watching becomes an action sport.

One of our, me and the wifes, favorite birds are the bluebird. We have had bluebird houses out for a few years now and just last year finally got a house occupied. They had 4 chicks and we were able to observe them for around ten days. After that there is a risk of them trying to take to flight to early.

Hopefully we can have a repeat this year.

I caught these pictures of blue jays feeding on peanuts from the feeder on my parents deck railing.

I was on the deck, about 3 feet away from the jay in the first picture, and I was about 6 feet away, inside the patio door, when I took the rest.

Those are some awesome pictures you captured wheelz! Such a beautiful bird! Thank you for sharing.

I was down at the point at Oak Island last year. There is a sandbar that is submerged at high tide but otherwise occuppied by Pelicans, Skimmers, waders etc. I was watching through binocs and had just turned away to go get my scope when all hell broke loose. I thought that maybe some kids had gotten over to the bar.... I looked back and every bird had taken flight - maybe 400 birds. All except one. When I looked back at the lone shape I could see still on the bar it was a Peregrine that had just nailed a Laughing Gull. I ran and grabbed the scope and watched the dinner show. Took 20 minutes and he/she ate everything except the head, spine and feet. Awesome.

Thanks, bud.

Cam,
Those are excellent close ups of the jays. As a side note, your parents would attract a greater variety of birds if they were using raw, shelled peanuts. Woodpeckers, titmice, wrens & nuthatches love 'em.......Rob

Cool pics, Cam. I can no longer keep food in my bird feeder since my cat has become such a good birder. It seems cruel to lure them in and then watch Max tear them apart. Plus, I am the one that has to finish off/dispose of the birds after he tears their wings off.

We have a cat too....left over from my daughters's teenage years. The Cat is a stone cold killer. She always decapitates her victims and sometimes devours the edible parts. On a given day a couple of years back, while weeding in the front garden, I found a lizard, frog, squirrel, wren and chipmunk - all missing their heads.....

Busy kitty.

I just keep mine indoors all the time.

I'm afraid that I would end up decapitated.

Once an outdoor cat, always an outdoor cat, I think. The litter box is the worst part, not because of odor, I use the clumping kind that covers up all odors, but because of the dust. That dust can go everywhere if not contained. Right now it's in the bathroom under an unused vanity, so most of the dust gets contained except for a single side that's opened.

This is article about man being charged with animal cruelty after his dog kills a raccoon.

Thanks again, guys.

Rob, thanks for the tip .

David, good call on removing the food from the feeder !

Better not let that DA go on a racoon hunt - although I am sure that most racoon hunts are carried out in a humane, politically correct way....

Let's be sensitive, now; it's called a raccoon search .

South of Boston there is a large state park called Blue Hills Reservation. I see Pileated Woodpeckers there sometimes. But at a distance.

I love all woodpeckers. I once had a Northern Flicker at my birdfeeder and I almost fainted.

Then the next time you come to my house, I'll have a pillow ready for your head and some laundry basket socks to bring you back.

We have had a resident pair of Northern Flickers for a few years. Come over. Bring your epilepsy helmet.

Second the pillow comment. I have Flickers, Red Bellies, Downies, Hairies, Pileated - about 10 miles from the house I can show you Red Headed and maybe 75-100 miles we have the Red Cockaded. Can I have a Tim the Toolman aaugh,aaugh,aaugh?

Ornitharian Braggart!

"A man's gotto know his limitations"

The tufted titmouse is another one of my local favorites.

I would imagine that Mr. Bukowinski and Mr. Chenoweth would each like it too, as it's distinctive call is described as "Peter Peter Peter".

I got into birds when I was a little kid. It still is one of our reg's and one of my faves, but I could never use its name when sharing my enthusiasm with my mother.

Binky Brown, indeed!

I would think the Canadians around here would like the White Throated Sparrow. It's song is characterized as "O Canada, Canada, Canada"

They well might-----if it had time sing at all before they grabbed it out of a shrub and stuffed it in their pie holes.

Speaking of sparrows....when I was a kid, sparrows were everywhere and I only rarely saw goldfinches but now the sparrows seem outnumbered by the goldfinches. Maybe somebody IS stuffing their pie hole with sparrows .

A couple hours ago, my dad took this picture (excuse the quality) of a swan swimming on the lake by their dock (Chemong Lake). It's the first time we've ever seen one at the house. I did some research and I postulate that it's a Mute Swan . My dad said it was absolutely gorgeous.

Did he talk to the swan?

I used to love Swans until the day I saw two of them rampage killing ducklings. It was horrible.

That's no swan. That's the gubbmint trying to pull one over on you! It's the Chemong Lake monster. Look at the evidence!

It was later on in the afternoon, and my dad does enjoy his beer, so only he will know that answer. It's definitely not improbable though, Dan .



I already swam the entire lake thoroughly last year, and you bring this up again?! I guess I'm donning my scuba diving gear next week, just for you, Ken!

That will be it though!

My Goldfinches came back yesterday and this morning I had a Snow Bunting sitting on the ground under the feeder. First time for that little guy. Very cute.

"MY" goldfinches?
Those are OURS! They were just slumming a coupla miles from home.

"slumming" = eating seeds drenched in bacon fat

Slumming would be "seeds drenched in Miracle Whip", eaten in front of the TV.

Man, now I want a big bowl of bacon fat covered in Miracle Whip.

That's not a guy. It's a frog-shaped snot bubble.

Are you TRYING to make me get sick again?

First of all, Kishen Mein Tuchas, that's no swan, that White Devil is the Loch Ness Monster.

I love Goldfinches. They fly in front of you when you bike. They dip and rise, dip and rise.

I saw a beautiful blue parrot today on a local golf course.

I think I may have posted this little guy last year. We have a feeder outside our dining room window that has been dubbed "Hummingbird TV" for our inside cat. Our outdoor cat pays no attention. He seems to have lost interest in birds that are a.) more than twice his size or b.) fly faster than 60 mph.