Blue Jay photo by Dawn Huczek via Creative Commons Having fun birdwatching yet? (Read my last 2 posts for great birdwatching information) Here are 10 species of birds that you might find in your backyard (Eastern and Central US): Robin: Gray on top and orange on belly. Medium sized; bigger than small songbirds and smaller than crows or geese. Like to look for worms on the ground. Cardinal: Males are bright red all over with a black face. Females are brown with a red beak. Both have a crest(a pointy hat shape) on their heads. Cardinals are medium sized. Blue Jay: Blue, white, and black. Medium sized. Has a crest. Chipping sparrow: Small sparrows with brown and white streaks and stripes. Large reddish-brown cap on their heads with white and black next to it. House Finch: Small finch with brown and white streaks. Males have red on their head and belly. Females don’t, but if you see one with a male house finch you can probably assume that she’s a house finch too. Black-capped Chickadee: Small bird. Black cap on head with white face and tan belly. Common Grackle: Medium sized bird. Black, with shiny green and purple head feathers that you can see sometimes. Yellow and black eyes. Canada Goose: Goose with black neck and head, brown back, white belly, and webbed feet. They swim in water. They honk. You can see them flying together in a v shape. Crow: Large and black. Makes classic “caw” sound Vulture: Very large, black, with pink head. Flies in circles.
Get Started With Birdwatching
Photo by Bettina Arrigoni via Creative Commons If you’re interested in birds or you read my last post, you might want to birdwatch. It’s pretty easy to get started, but here are a few tips if you get stuck: Just watch. There are birds everywhere. You just have to look outside. There will probably be some birds. If you want to know what kind of birds they are, you can just look it up on the computer or your phone. Some more advanced things to do are using a field guide and notebook. A field guide can be useful if you just want a physical book to read to identify birds instead of a website or app. A notebook can be fun if you want to write down the birds you see. Bird feeders, houses, and baths help you attract birds to your yard. Bird feeders are also fun because lots of birds can come to them, especially in winter when there is less food. Buy some wild bird food, and then make or buy a feeder, or just spread out the food on the ground and wait for the birds! Bird houses are cool and sometimes work. Make sure to get a good one. It’s really fun to see the parents going in and out of it, and you might even see the babies’ first flights! Bird baths are also nice because you can see the birds bathing and it’s really funny, but make sure you clean out the leaves every once in a while. Binoculars are nice to have and help you see close up. It helps for identifying birds in a flock at a feeder, or just birds that are far away. I hope this helps you get started. Good luck and happy birdwatching!
5 Reasons to Birdwatch
Birdwatching is pretty popular. You might see lots of people walking around with binoculars or cameras, looking at birds. Some put up feeders in their backyards. People can even become professional bird scientists! Have you ever wondered why people watch birds? Here are 5 reasons to birdwatch: 1. Birds are beautiful. With their smooth and colorful feathers, birds stand out from the rest of nature. Some are graceful, some look funny. Birds are so varied. If you think all birds are brown or gray, think again! Birds are all the colors of the rainbow, from a brown sparrow to a rainbow-colored painted bunting. And you can see them almost any time you want! Look out your window the next time you are bored, and see if you can spot a bright red cardinal or a blue jay. 2. Birds have interesting behavior. Have you ever seen a chicken pecking at the dirt, or a sparrow taking a dust bath? What about a vulture ripping up a carcass? All birds do something, or nobody would care about them. If you look, you can see birds being weird or funny, graceful or creepy. It just takes a step out of the house to catch a glimpse of them. A flock of birds having a pool party in your backyard birdbath could make your day. 3. Birdwatching is a fun challenge. Did you know you can make a list of all the birds you have seen? It’s called a life list. You can also try to see all the types of birds that live in your state! It’s a fun challenge. Or just keep a notebook of the birds you see and draw or write about them. 4. You can study them closely. If you like learning new things, you can learn a ton of stuff about birds by observing them and learning more about them online and in books. You could write down the tiniest details about birds in your backyard, or find out fun facts on a website. You could even become a ornithologist, or bird scientist, when you grow up. It’s up to you! 5. It’s something to do besides play video games all day. Does your mom tell you to stop watching TV and do something else? Well, why not birdwatch? It just takes a look out the window. If you want to pick it up a level, make a bird feeder or start a birdwatching notebook. As you can see, there are some great reasons to birdwatch. If you start birdwatching, you can discover more reasons! In my next post I will tell you how to get started watching birds.
