# What birds do you most frequently see? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 1, 2015, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702 "2015-08-01T03:40:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/41 "2015-08-02T14:21:08Z")
New England. It varies a lot according to the time of year and whether my feeder is stocked or not. Right now, the most common yard birds are probably house sparrows, crows, goldfinch, and, surprisingly, hummingbirds, thanks to a couple of well-attended feeders. A bit earlier this summer when I still had the suet cakes out, you could add catbirds, downy woodpeckers, and grackles. Still earlier in the spring, cardinals, juncos, tufted titmouse, house finches, and nuthatches. One hungry Cooper’s hawk. And, for about fifteen minutes, a screech owl checked out my boxes, but rejected them and moved on. Much more occasional: hairy woodpecker, red bellied woodpecker, and blue jay. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/42 "2015-08-02T14:32:15Z")
The ospreys out in front of our work raised one chick to fledgling this year. Never saw more than one little head up there-we had 2 each of the previous two years, and once in each year I thought I saw 3 heads (but just once each). He’s been hanging around the parking lot still tho for a solid month now-saw him yesterday. Our kids named him “Charlie”… ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/43 "2015-08-02T15:10:57Z")
Around our house in Santa Clara, north of San Jose, from most common to least common I see: American Crow, Mourning Dove, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, Black Phoebe, House Finch, Anna’s Hummingbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle), Herring Gull, American Robin, Nutall’s Woodpecker, Berwick’s Wren, California Towhee, Western Scrub-Jay, Turkey Vulture. Changes over time of course, and the list is very different even a block away around the creek, but for our yard, this is what I most often see. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/44 "2015-08-02T16:19:35Z")
What I see in my yard are mostly sparrows, finches, and sometimes chickadees. Occasionally I see cardinals or jays, which are more exciting. There are crows in the neighborhood, but they don’t come inside my fence often since they’re big birds and it’s a very small yard. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/45 "2015-08-02T17:20:18Z")
There was a woodpecker this morning. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/46 "2015-08-02T17:27:22Z")
Southern New Hampshire: black-capped chickadees, tufted titmice, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, cardinals, and white-breasted nuthatches. Sometimes we see other types of woodpeckers, brown creepers, robins, and mourning doves too. In the winter we’ll see black-eyed juncos, and all summer there are hummingbirds here. For the first time this spring we had a huge amount of goldfinches and purple finches, but they’re gone for now. I only see sparrows of any type, pigeons, and grackles in cities. Pigeons I get, though I’m not sure why there are no sparrows around here. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/47 "2015-08-02T17:56:52Z")
On a daily basis, I see American crows, gulls (Western and California), sparrows (English and white-crowned), dark-eyed juncos and pigeons. I also hear, if not see, the neighborhood scrub jays. At least once a week I’ll see or hear the gulls and/or crows harassing a bald eagle, hawk or falcon. In this area American robins, Anna’s hummingbirds, bushtits, purple finches, Canada geese, European starlings, mallard ducks and Northern (red-shafted) flickers are all very common, among many others. An interesting note about Anna’s hummingbirds. Unlike most hummers, their flight is silent. If they’re not vocalizing, they’re real stealth birds. I used to have geranium on my windowsill and one day I was looking at it. When I looked up, I was surprised and happy to see an Anna’s hummingbird staring at me from not more than two feet away. I had no idea that I had company until that moment. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/48 "2015-08-02T18:07:26Z")
In no particular order: Seagulls, small green parrots, white ibis, Muscovy ducks, white egrets, grey herons, and generic brown tweety birds (sparrows?). Plus some nondescript black or blue-black medium-sized birds I \*think \*are grackles. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/49 "2015-08-02T18:09:14Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > … 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. … You set out 500 lbs of bird food a month?? 12 months a year? To feed wildlife that otherwise eats what it can forage? Why? At what cost? Color me baffled. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/50 "2015-08-02T18:46:31Z")
My place is lousy with quail. We also have a bunch of little red and yellow headed finchy guys. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/51 "2015-08-02T19:21:03Z")
Michigan, near Lake Superior. In my yard: Nuthatches (red and white), goldfinches, chickadees, woodpeckers (downy, hairy, pileated), every once in a while a sapsucker or brown creeper. Juncos, bluejays, robins. Up in the sky are seagulls, turkey vultures, and broadwing hawks. Mallards in the creek. We’ve had a barred owl visit us every once in a while, too. There’s white-throated sparrows, veeries, and winter wrens, but I more hear them than see them. Around town: more seagulls, pigeons, and saw an indigo bunting at a friend’s house last month. Waxwings (cedar and bohemian), finches (purple, house), sparrows. Mourning doves. Mergansers, cormorants in the lake. Great blue herons, grackles, more robins. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/52 "2015-08-02T19:48:15Z")
NE Indiana: robins, cardinals, blue jays, finches (tons of house and purple but strangely very few yellow), sparrows (house, song, and chipping), ruby-throated hummingbirds, nuthatches, chickadees, juncos, wrens, and catbirds. I hear woodpeckers and mockingbirds but rarely see them. I also get the occasional hawk, not sure if it’s red-tailed or Cooper’s. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/53 "2015-08-02T20:12:39Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Around my house, or on my way to or at work: Black Vulture, Yellow-headed Caracara, Clay-colored Thrush, Tropical Mockingbird, Brown Pelican, Magnificent Frigatebird, Laughing Gull, Neotropic Cormorant, Yellow-crowned Amazon Parrot, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Garden Emerald, Barred Antshrike, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Streaked Saltator, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Saffron Finch, Variable Seedeater, Rock Pigeon, House Sparrow. On rare occasions Keel-billed Toucan. Y’know, when I started this thread, I thought to myself “Sooner or later **Colibri** ’s gonna pop into the thread and blow us all away.” ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/54 "2015-08-02T23:13:40Z")
Lots of small ones like robins, bluebirds and we have a few humming birds also. The ones i actually make a point to try and see are a red tailed hawk, and a pleated woodpecker which is more heard than seen. Southern new Hampshire near the coast. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/55 "2015-08-03T00:29:00Z")
Eastern Washington, suburban area: At my house and my office about a mile away, I see see sparrows, robins, and crows daily. In fact, there are small flocks of crows in both places. On a less frequent basis, I see quail flocks in my neighborhood and by my office. Also, a few well-fed wild turkeys have shown up in the office parking lot. Outside of home and work, I usually see seagulls hanging out in the parking lots of at least one fast food place and supermarket. There are pigeons flocking in railroad underpasses and magpies close to the river where you can also find a colony of Canada Geese that live there year-round. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/56 "2015-08-03T00:30:26Z")
Doves and cardinals-eating the seeds I throw onto my front lawn. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/57 "2015-08-03T11:24:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > You set out 500 lbs of bird food a month?? 12 months a year? To feed wildlife that otherwise eats what it can forage? > > Why? At what cost? Color me baffled. Yeah, it’s kind of my gf’s hobby; it’s her $$ and it makes her happy. The peanuts are pricey (raw in shell), everything else is “reasonable”. And the deer would otherwise “forage” our landscaping! The corn attracts ducks to our pond and supports their reproductive efforts (cute ducklings). Feeding wild turkeys regularly leads to them adding our property to their daily stops; same with deer. It’s nice to eat breakfast while watching deer and turkeys interacting as they eat theirs. We live in the middle of nowhere, and it is really nice sitting outside with birds/squirrels/chipmunks/etc romping about, almost Disneyesque. The only time I question it is when we go away for a week or two and pay a house/pet sitter whose fee includes thirty minutes a day for feeding wildlife. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/58 "2015-08-03T16:49:41Z")
IBIS, Flocks of them! ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/59 "2015-08-03T20:26:02Z")
> [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > An interesting note about Anna’s hummingbirds. Unlike most hummers, their flight is silent. If they’re not vocalizing, they’re real stealth birds. I used to have geranium on my windowsill and one day I was looking at it. When I looked up, I was surprised and happy to see an Anna’s hummingbird staring at me from not more than two feet away. We’ll have to check this out with Colibri, but in my experience, hummingbirds seem to have some control over the amount of noise they make. Sometimes the ruby-throated hummers I see are quite stealthy and sometimes it sounds like the world’s most ill-tempered wasp is hovering just over your head. So I’m wondering if their “hum” is a bit of a threat display/bluff that they can amp up if they’re feeling feisty. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702/60 "2015-08-03T21:35:07Z")
Titmice, black-capped chickadees, Carolina wrens, cardinals, mourning doves, goldfinches, house finches, and Downey woodpeckers. Intown Atlanta [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-do-you-most-frequently-see/726702.md?page=4)