Bird Nerds Here

[A Boy Named Seo]

Who's a birder around here? Metirish, for sure. And I think I saw Willets on IG using the same app I use to keep track of bird sightings? I'm super new to it (mi novia is hardcore and just bought me some binoculars) but I'm even noticing little gray birds a bit more. Coolest bird you've seen somewhere? If you haven't added the Greater Roadrunner to your Merlin list, drive through Albuquerque, they're hard to miss.

[metirish]

Man I would love to see a roadrunner.... Spring migration is under way in the North East, seeing lots of sparrows and Red-winged Blackbirds coming through... Males come first...

Certainly for me Great Horned owls are always cool to see , but the various warblers are really amazing in the spring and summer

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm not a birder, but I easily could be. I've seen bald eagles in the wild a few times, most impressively (and unexpectedly) one day while driving home from work.

I've seen penguins and ostriches in the wild in South Africa, but I don't know if that would count.

[metirish]

They certainly count , would love to do a trip like that

[Benjamin Grimm]

Oh, and toucans in Argentina!

And pigeons in Manhattan!

[A Boy Named Seo]

We saw a couple Roseate Spoonbills in Belize recently and those felt so exotic and different from the roadrunners we see every day in NM.

Sandhill Cranes come and winter here and it's pretty awesome to drive or hike around and see big groups of them just hanging out near the Rio Grande (their temporary crane pool). They should be heading back north any minute now, if they haven't started already.

[Fman99]

I live in a great part of the US for bald eagle watching as they are known to do quite a bit of spring roosting around Onondaga Lake. I see them all the time while running in the park.

I got great video in my backyard of a pileated woodpecker, devouring an old tree stump at our previous residence. IG link in a bit...

[metirish]

I've only seen the Pileated Woodpecker a few times , certainly more prominent upstate , causes a stir when they are in NYC , amazing birds

[kcmets]

I enjoy the birds here and we have a lot of them. I'm in the woods pretty
much every day so I kinda take them for granted. The eagles have made
a remarkable comeback here and I see them often. We have some blue
jays living in a holly bush. Sorta ornery, thinking of raising the rent.

[whippoorwill]

I love birds too.
My favorite are blackbirds; I saw one yesterday with much more red in its wing than I ever have before.

See woodpeckers quite often.

Tons of cardinals and blue jays and my little
Teacher teacher teacher—jordy jordy jordy birds!

Also love catbirds and cowbirds.

I could go on…

One thing I never see is whippoorwills lol

[Fman99]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CO8pXaOLzab/

[dinosaur jesus]

I used to see those woodpeckers when I lived in rural Ohio. But what I saw most there were turkey vultures. They would hang out by the state highway, waiting for road kill. Or the interstate, where they were likely to become roadkill themselves. One time I found a dismembered raccoon that they'd dropped in the backyard. And when I went out there the next day, wondering what the hell I was going to do with a dismembered raccoon, it was gone. They'd taken it somewhere else to finish. They're not pretty, but they do good work.

[The Hot Corner]

I have 3 bird feeders in the back yard. Several varieties of finches, chickadee, and titmouse are the most common visitors. Cardinal, Blue Jays, Doves and robins are prevalent. Red Bellied woodpeckers, Downy woodpeckers and nut hatchers make appearances as well. My favorites though are the Bluebirds that took over the bird house in the back yard 5-6 years ago. They are beautiful, but pretty vicious as they refuse to allow any other bird species to reside in the bird house.

I enjoy reading on my deck while listening and watching the birds as they come and go. I guess I'm a bit of a bird nerd.

[A Boy Named Seo]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CO8pXaOLzab/

That looks like a big ass woodpecker. I don't think I've seen one not in a tree.

I have 3 bird feeders in the back yard. Several varieties of finches, chickadee, and titmouse are the most common visitors. Cardinal, Blue Jays, Doves and robins are prevalent. Red Bellied woodpeckers, Downy woodpeckers and nut hatchers make appearances as well. My favorites though are the Bluebirds that took over the bird house in the back yard 5-6 years ago. They are beautiful, but pretty vicious as they refuse to allow any other bird species to reside in the bird house.

I enjoy reading on my deck while listening and watching the birds as they come and go. I guess I'm a bit of a bird nerd.

We have a lot of those at our feeders, too. But no cardinals or blue jays or other major league team mascots. We have a few hummingbird feeders we keep closer to the house and see a lot of ruby throated and black-chinned. I love those little guys.

[metirish]

The Pileated Woodpecker is North America's biggest woodpecker

Here is a great article on the maybe extinct, the mythical Ivory-billed Woodpecker

https://theconversation.com/the-lord-go ... yet-169793

[A Boy Named Seo]

The Pileated Woodpecker is North America's biggest woodpecker

Here is a great article on the maybe extinct, the mythical Ivory-billed Woodpecker

https://theconversation.com/the-lord-go ... yet-169793

That was fascinating. I say let's throw some Sean Penn money behind a documentary and find that damn bird.

[metirish]

Yes we really need a doc on it, anyway here is an amazing book worth checking out about the search for the world's biggest owl

https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproj ... nary-quest

[MFS62]

Later

[kcmets]

Hope my fellow forum ornithologists find this as helpful as I did...

[whippoorwill]

That’s really helpful!

I saw the one in the lower right hand corner on Gardeners World the other night and wondered what it was; now I know!

[MFS62]

I had a friend who called every bird a pigeon.
But that works for me.

Later

[kcmets]

I guess I was bird nerd long before I thought of such things...

My Boy Scout Flow Chart
Council - Westchester-Putnam, NY
Troop - 79, Buchanan, NY
Patrol - Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers

[metirish]

That's a great shot , amazing birds , they'd absolutely ruin a tree in short order

[whippoorwill]

Couple of dead trees I can see from our kitchen window that the woodpeckers love.

That’s why I hate people cutting down trees…they are a source of bird watching

[kcmets]

That's a great shot

It is, looks like it's posing and eyeballin' the camera.