# What's the most interesting bird you saw today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 19, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811 "2016-06-19T20:04:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/81 "2016-06-29T21:04:31Z")
Inca dove (heard – rarely seen without diligent search), while walking to supermarket. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/82 "2016-06-29T21:50:15Z")
Thread is full of good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/83 "2016-06-30T00:49:33Z")
Yes great thread and postings, too cool!!! Thank you everyone for posting and the great stories. “The older I get, the more birds I watch” bumper sticker…(in addition to “I brake for rocks” ha nother hobby)😃 Upon re-reading the thread, a little slower,:o in addition to noticing all the neat things I missed the first time:o I noticed Septimus posted about hoopoes, which I have never heard of…so I googled around…and wow! what a wild looking bird. You could have described them and I wouldn’t believe the description. Looking like that missing link between dinosaurs and birds!!! Especially when their head crowns are erect!! I also noticed that Septimus had posted a thread about these very same birds. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=782485](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=782485) ---
**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:** [July 1, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/84 "2016-07-01T16:38:49Z")
[Barn swallow chicks.](http://s681.photobucket.com/user/kayaker01/media/barnswallos_zps93zgamgq.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0) Always hungry. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/85 "2016-07-01T17:08:42Z")
So far this morning I’ve had a robin, a black phoebe, and a biiiig family of chickadees in the bird-bath. The chestnut-backed chickadees are raising their third nestful this spring, the youngsters have fledged, but the parents are still feeding them. Two of the babies are figuring out how to bathe right now. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/86 "2016-07-02T15:34:57Z")
> [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](#): > > I noticed Septimus posted about hoopoes, which I have never heard of…so I googled around…and wow! what a wild looking bird. > You could have described them and I wouldn’t believe the description. Looking like that missing link between dinosaurs and birds!!! Especially when their head crowns are erect!! I placed some images of our hoopoes at [Postimage.org](http://Postimage.org) and was about to post some more … but noticed the earlier photos were gone. ☹ (I guess that means no one viewed them for a few years.) I’ve got images of them posted at my own real-named website and Facebook, but can’t link to _him_. (We various dissociative identities all know about each other, but _He doesn’t know about Us._ :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/87 "2016-07-02T21:55:56Z")
Nothing egregiously uncommon, but there were a number of yellow finches in the street when I was driving home from the gas station. I hit the brakes and they flew off. I was just happy to see them because I haven’t seen them in my backyard this year. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/88 "2016-07-05T00:40:12Z")
Went out whale-watching the other day, most notably saw- Cassin’s Auklet ( two, separately ), Brown Booby ( a pair together, appropriately 😉 ), Pink-Footed and Sooty Sheerwater ( several, mostly the second ) Tufted Puffin ( several ), Pigeon Guillemots ( a moderate number ), Heerman’s and breeding Western Gulls ( many + chicks ), Pelagic and Brandt’s Cormorant ( many of the second ), and approximately umpteen million nesting, feeding, flying and just generally loitering about Common Murres ( well, more like 100,000-200,000 ). Plus three species of cetaceans and 4 ( possibly 5, if I am parsing a blurry, distant picture correctly ) species of pinnipeds. A pretty good day, though not a terribly comfortable or pretty one. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/89 "2016-07-05T01:22:05Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > A pretty good day, though not a terribly comfortable or pretty one. Nice trip! Did you go to the Farallons? Puffins are a favourite, I’ve only seen the Tufteds once on a veeeerrrry rough Farallons trip. I would love to see them again, and their Horned brethren. That would mean Alaska, though. Did you ever see the vagrant [Northern Gannet](http://alcatrazinterns.tumblr.com/post/82930133390/looking-for-love-in-all-the-wrong-places)? Poor lost chap. We saw him last year. Looks like no recent sightings on ebird, wonder if he ever found his way home? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/90 "2016-07-05T03:15:26Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Nice trip! Did you go to the Farallons? Yep. Sun threatened to come out, but never quite made it. Wasn’t the roughest trip I’ve been on by a long shot, but still a little breezy and bouncy. One poor family ( father, mother, young daughter ) were completely out of it with motion sickness for basically the entire day. My meager photography also suffered badly - many blurry pictures of water and air ;). > [@](#): > > Puffins are a favourite, I’ve only seen the Tufteds once on a veeeerrrry rough Farallons trip. Same - we saw a few high on the cliffs on South Island and I had one clear chance to get a shot of one in the water but blew it. > [@](#): > > Did you ever see the vagrant [Northern Gannet](http://alcatrazinterns.tumblr.com/post/82930133390/looking-for-love-in-all-the-wrong-places)? Poor lost chap. We saw him last year. Looks like no recent sightings on ebird, wonder if he ever found his way home? No citing when I went out, sadly. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/91 "2016-07-05T03:33:14Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > approximately umpteen million nesting, feeding, flying and just generally loitering about Common Murres ( well, more like 100,000-200,000 ). One [Murre](https://postimg.org/image/uttsedzip/). Many [Murre](https://postimg.org/image/bgzmsorvr/) ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/92 "2016-07-08T00:19:50Z")
Yepper, lots. I always wonder if it takes smell, vision and physical location to find their chicks if they wander off? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/93 "2016-07-08T03:08:17Z")
Red-bellied woodpecker, heard only. Probably the most common and widespread North American woodpecker, but the only one I ever hear around here is by my bus stop. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/94 "2016-07-14T06:24:27Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Yepper, lots. > > I always wonder if it takes smell, vision and physical location to find their chicks if they wander off? Birds can’t really smell much. It’s mostly by sound, I think - they recognize one another’s calls. That’s why they’re so noisy 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/95 "2016-07-16T03:37:28Z")
At least two Swallowtailed kites were lilting over my office most of the day. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/96 "2016-07-16T15:45:46Z")
I saw a willow goldfinch yesterday, it’s the state bird of Washington. I haved lived in this state all my 59 years. It’s the second time I have ever seen one. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/97 "2016-07-16T16:10:13Z")
[http://edmontonnatureclub.org/uploads/3/2/2/8/3228080/enc\_pelagic\_trip\_information\_package\_may.pdf](http://edmontonnatureclub.org/uploads/3/2/2/8/3228080/enc_pelagic_trip_information_package_may.pdf) I’m considering going on this trip in September. Ucluelet is about 1.5 hours away now that I’m living on Vancouver Island so I don’t have to worry about accommodations. I’m more interested in song birds than shore/water birds but I’ve never seen an albatross which I’ve always wanted to see. I’m the only birder I know so I don’t have anyone to go with though. Haven’t decided yet! ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/98 "2016-07-16T18:30:33Z")
Most interesting to me was the Common kingfisher I saw earlier. They’re not exactly rare, but it was almost in the city centre, and I’ve not seen one there for about two years. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/99 "2024-08-11T21:31:58Z")
Reviving this thread not for myself but my sister, who is an avid and dedicated bird watcher. This past week she traveled to central Kansas. One of her stops was at the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. There she sighted, and confirmed with a photograph online, a roseate spoonbill. This is very rare for Kansas and the last confirmed sighting was in 2017. To coin a phrase this is quite a feather in her cap. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811/100 "2024-08-12T01:58:55Z")
Congrats to your sister!! For myself, the most interesting bird sighting this week was a few entirely unremarkable and locally abundant American Goldfinch. They sure are perty, though, so I’m not complaining. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-bird-you-saw-today/757811.md?page=4)