The other day I was out for an evening amble around my neighborhood, when I walked past and startled a group of eight or nine robins, who promptly took flight. It occurred to me that I hadn’t ever seen that many robins (Turdus migratorius, if you’re scientifically minded, non-American, or a 12 year old boy and snickered at the genus name)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Turdus-migratorius-002.jpg) in one place before.
Idly pondering the subject of common birds, I realized that there are three species that I label in my head as “the most common American birds” - the American robin, the northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), and the blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata). But, in truth, while I frequently see robins and cardinals, I even more frequently see northern mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottis) and mourning doves (Zenaidia macroura). Blue jays actually rank pretty far down the list, after brown thrashers (Toxostoma rufum), chimney swifts (Chaetura pelagica), American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and even red-tailed (Buteo jamaicensis) and red-shouldered (Buteo lineatus) hawks. Not to mention the various sparrows, juncos and vireos that I lump together as “small brown guys”. I see blue jays about as often as I see eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) or towhees (Pipilo erythrophthlamus).
So what birds do you think of as the most common that you see, and what are the actual ones? If it’s an uncommon or unknown species in the US, please link to a photo. And if you want to talk about birds you like - I’m especially fond of mockingbirds - please do!
Over the past 60 years I have seen a dramatic shift in the birds I commonly see. I live south of Los Angeles on the coast. I see more species now than I did when I was younger. Sparrows, pigeons, doves and crows are the mos common. In the winter time I always look forward to the cedar waxwings 3 day visit. Flycatchers and kingbirds are now fairly common while robins seem to be seasonal and not show up every season. Kestrels have all but disappeared. Coopers hawks have become very common where I never saw them at all 20 years ago. Red tail and red shouldered hawks are becoming more rare. Peregrines seem to be making a comeback. We have 3 species of Parrots that are fairly common. Blue jays less common, shrikes almost never seen anymore, mocking birds less common, Starlings have died way back over the last 20 years or so.
Little birds I commonly see in the deserts and mountains seem to be showing up in the city more often today. Owls have all but disappeared. I saw my first group of magpies this year.
We’re not allowed to feed birds April 1 - November 30 because of bears, so I can only report on winter birds. Mourning doves, black-capped chickadees, downy woodpecker, blue jays, crows.
It probably would be more informative if Dopers shared their locations. Or the guests at least, whose locations don’t show above their posts.
I live in Pima County, AZ, just outside of Tucson. The most common birds I see are mourning doves, quail, roadrunners, and hummingbirds. I’ve also seen cardinals and buzzards. The city has lots of common pigeons.
My list matches this, even down to the mallards! We go through 50 pounds of sunflower seed, 25 pounds of shelled corn, 25 pounds of cracked corn, and 25 pounds of raw peanuts each week.
The mallards walk each morning about 150 yards from our pond to the area in our front yard where we put shelled corn. Seasonally the corn gets eaten by deer and turkey, but right now it’s mallard feed.
The bluejays actually wait eagerly on and around the platform feeder where the peanuts are placed. Three pounds of in-the-shell peanuts gone in under a minute.
Our normal population of Downy Woodpeckers must have produced a lot of offspring this year. The little Downys are by far the most frequent visitor to our feeders. It’s not unusual to have 6 at once on the feeders (suet and hulled-sunflower).
Second most common is the Goldfinch. Followed by the Black-Capped Chickadee, Cardinal (seeing a lot more than usual including several juveniles), House Finch, Nuthatch, Hairy Woodpecker, Grey Catbird, Ground Dove, Red-Winged Blackbird (they enjoy the marsh around our pond in the back yard), Blue Bird (we put out meal worms for them), and Blue Jay (we set out peanuts in the shell for them).
Occasionally we see a Northern Flicker enjoying the suet, or a Pileated Woodpecker in the tall trees behind the house.
Yet for the life of me I cannot get the Hummingbirds to visit us.
Are recently fledged Downy Woodpeckers unusually tolerant of humans? When i fill the feeders they move a few feet away, then return before I’m even finished.
There are a lot of mynahs in the neighborhood, and some crows. Doves are numerous. Some tiny little green hummingbird types. Swifts, and some little chirpy guys.
The California state freeway bird.
Scientific name Digitus impudicus - quite common on the freeways around rush hour.
In fact, there’s at least one pair in every car.
Lately, probably whichever species of gull it is that we get locally, but that’s just because my summer job is at a place right on the lake. During the year, it’s almost certainly sparrows. Pigeons used to be a lot more common, but Cleveland now has a healthy hawk population that’s keeping them more under control.
There’s also a type of songbird in the area. Pretty. Dunno what it’s called. Small body with a disproportionately long, thin tail. Sort of gun-metal blue.
