# Look out your window! What birds can you see? Redux **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278 "2006-05-03T19:23:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/21 "2006-05-04T01:55:22Z")
Today, the following visited my birdfeeder: western scrub jay mourning dove American crow white crowned sparrow ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/22 "2006-05-04T01:56:59Z")
Oh, and a rufous hummingbird the other day! ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/23 "2006-05-04T01:59:54Z")
Regulars in the yard: Chipping Sparrows House Sparrows House Finches Mourning Doves White Winged Doves Robins Pigeons Seen less frequently: White Crowned Sparrow Scrub Jay Crow Bushtit Nuthatch Canyon Towhee Ladder Backed Woodpecker Flicker Western Tanager Inca Dove Grackle And once I saw a roadrunner in a neighbor’s yard. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/24 "2006-05-04T02:56:00Z")
Outside, I see mourning doves the most. Hear them the most too. Seagulls, various songbirds, those adorable grey birds that lift their wings when they rest, up and down, up and down, red-tailed hawks and crows are also very common. Inside, I hear my finches and my tiels. My baby boy is learning how to say “pretty bird”. I’d rather listen to him than music. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/25 "2006-05-04T03:50:27Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > … > And once I saw a roadrunner in a neighbor’s yard. Oooooh! I can’t see any right now because it’s dark. I did see a Nanday Conure earlier today, not that unusual though. Quaker Parrots and Nandays are pretty well-established exotics here. On an average day there’s Mockingbirds, mourning and ringneck doves, pigeons, sparrows and starlings. All the interesting birds seem to have packed up and moved. Then again I live in a citified area so these are the birds that are used to people. I was going to put a bird feeder in my backyard this year but my neighbors seem to have replaced their previous unspayed, unneutered, outdoor only mangy, rangey cats that disappeared last year with some new ones who despite my dog seem to like to come into my yard so I guess that means no bird feeder which would just become a cat feeder. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/26 "2006-05-04T11:41:38Z")
Oh, that reminds me there is a flock of Quakers around here too, although I haven’t seen them in a while. Haven’t seen Nandays, though - I’ll have to start looking. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/27 "2006-05-04T15:28:24Z")
Right now (well, a few minutes ago), nothing but Canada Geese - I’m at work and there’s a pond nearby. At home, over the past day or so: Cardinals (male and female) Little brown sparrow-y things (house finches?) Brown-headed cowbirds (how now?) Robins Mourning doves/pigeons Goldfinches (me loves me thistle feeder) Squirrels (ok, they don’t have wings but they eat the spillage from the bird feeder so… 🙂 ) And not in the backyard but overhead: Crows Some sort of hawk/falcon ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/28 "2006-05-04T20:04:11Z")
On one pole in my backyard, I have 2 suet boxes, a sunflower seed feeder (squirrel-proof, ha), and two mixed-seed feeders. The new arrivals: A few red-winged blackbirds Brown-headed cowbirds The grackles arrived 2 or 3 weeks ago. Birds of prey: Occasionally, I see kestrels and red-tailed hawks. There’s a family of screech owls living in the woods across the street. We hear them every evening, and it’s a thrill to see them working. Yow, what a powerful bird! The routine customers: Every morning we see a (red cockaded?) woodpecker for a short time. Black-capped chickadees and blue jays swoop in to get one seed, fly off to crack it open on a tree branch, then back again. Mourning doves feed on the ground. They don’t spook easily, because they have a quick take-off. Robins are bug-eaters, so they work the lawn. Oddly, we don’t get a lot of starlings. The cardinals drop by, one watching while the other feeds. Bright goldfinches stop in, grab a bite, sorry, gotta go. The majority are nervous crowds of English sparrows and house finches. They swoop in as a group to chow down, then they spook for no apparent reason, fleeing to the hedge. Oh, and the squirrels. The younger ones eat on the ground, eating what the birds scatter. The older, fatter, bolder ones climb the pole to raid the “NoNo” feeder. Hooking their hind legs on the bail at the top, they hang upside down and stuff themselves with sunflower seed. The panicky sparrows come and go, but the fearless squirrels calmly continue the banquet, unperturbed. They know they can outrun a cat to the tree (and probably kick the cat’s furry butt,) so why worry? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/29 "2006-05-04T20:16:27Z")
> [@Tikki](#): > > Dang! Bushtits, not titmice. :smack: Yeah, I always get my tits mixed up. Out our windows, we see the occasional falcon & bald eagle, cardinals, bluebirds, pigeons dangitall, and a whole flock of little brown twittery things. Probably some kind of bird but I’m not sure what. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/30 "2006-05-04T20:17:41Z")
Turkey vultures and black vultures. Must be matin’ season ‘cause they’ve been pretty active the last couple o’ weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/31 "2006-05-04T20:39:25Z")
We see: robins cardinals blue jays (there’s a fight going on right now!) grackles brown-headed cowbirds goldfinches downy woodpeckers a pileated woodpecker a northern flicker (only once) chickadees sparrows red-winged blackbirds mourning doves starlings And I saw a new one today. I think it may have been an indigo bunting - small and very bright blue all over. Last year we had either a purple or house finch, too. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/32 "2006-05-04T22:25:06Z")
Upon further inspection (with the binoculars), we have evening grosbeaks and a rose-breasted grosbeak. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/33 "2006-05-05T11:02:20Z")
I live in the city, but in the last 5 minutes I’ve been outside and seen: Pied Crows Cape Robin Cape Whiteye Herring Gulls Redwing Starlings Feral Pigeons ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/34 "2006-05-05T11:49:58Z")
It is fun reading lists of birds I don’t know. But I see at least one other non-American has written in, so I will too. Melbourne, Southern Australika, on the bird table before dark - three species of colourful, noisy parrots: Galahs Crimson Rosellas Suphur Crested cockatoos on the salvias, my favourites: Eastern Spinebills Out the other windown, around the pond: white faced heron fire-tailed finch (flock) Little Thornbill (flock with finches) Would love to have hummingbirds, but we don’t. Lynne ---
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2006, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/35 "2006-05-06T01:54:51Z")
Great Egret Cattle Egret Great Blue Heron Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Sandhill Crane White Ibis Anhinga Banded Cormorant Mallards Muscovy Duck Wood Duck Common Moorhen Boat-Tailed Grackle Common Grackle Crow Red-Winged Blackbird Blue Jay Cardinal Mockingbird Turkey Vulture Black Vulture Red-Tailed Hawk Chimney Swift ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/36 "2006-05-08T16:09:54Z")
Adding to my own list, seen in the past 24 hours: a pair of wild turkeys (along the road a few miles from here) Several gray catbirds at the suet feeder Bluejay (at suiet feeder, and regular feeder). ---
**Author:** ![welby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@welby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/welby)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/37 "2006-05-08T16:47:06Z")
I’m in a basement and have one of those high windows that looks out on a corridor, really it looks more UP on the corridor. I don’t see any birds. But I do see lots of chicks. . . . I love working at a college. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278/38 "2006-05-08T18:14:00Z")
I see a hawk and a buzzard. I’m up on the 29th floor of an office building and the two of them just came flying by. Or I guess I should say coasting, as they were obviously riding the air currents. For such an ugly-ass bird, that buzzard sure can fly gracefully! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-out-your-window-what-birds-can-you-see-redux/355278.md?page=1)