A few at our feeder - using my Canon superzoom..includes one of our favorites

[NRaleighLiberal]

The red headed woodpecker now visits throughout the day, which really delights us!

[procon]

1. Very pretty! The grey one is my favorite. nt

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. catbird - you can see his brown butt feathers!

[procon]

3. Thanks, there's nothing like any of them here in my So Calf desert.

We have sparrows, some sort of little finches with yellow breasts, starlings and crows. Occasionally I get the odd mockingbird, and seasonally there are mourning doves, quail and roadrunners.

[Old Crow]

5. The correct ornithological term for those...

... is tuckus feathers.

[MFM008]

9. As in get your tuckus

Over here!

[burrowowl]

4. Very nice!

Good shots!

[CatMor]

6. Beautiful birds and great photos

[Auntie Bush]

7. Such great shots. Nt

[ailsagirl]

8. Catbird!

I see that the same type of "rusty patch" is under the tail of the California Towhee-- tho' no relation

[Grammy23]

10. Thanks for the photos of the birdies gracing your yard!

In the midst of all the terrible things going on in the world, we need to remind ourselves of the good things all around us. I watched a sparrow eating at the Squirrel Buster feeder we got out of necessity because the squirrels were sucking our other feeder dry in a matter of hours! I would fill up the feeder and the word spread like wildfire among the squirrels to come to the free buffet. The poor birds barely had a chance except for the stuff the squirrels knocked to the ground in their eagerness to empty the feeder as quickly as they could.

The sparrow was having a fine, large time wallowing the seed around in his beak until the hull fell off. There are cardinals that come to that feeder, too, and a finch once in a while. The mourning doves stay low and sweep up things on the ground. Once the squirrels got the gist of how the new feeder works, they don't even attempt to raid it. We keep the old feeder filled and scatter a good bit on the ground so the squirrels still get plenty and, with the acorns they bury, never run out of food.

We need to keep some perspective on a very serious time and I saw your photos at just the right time to remind me of the good that is literally sitting in my backyard (and apparently yours, too) every single day. Thanks!

[NRaleighLiberal]

11. since the extreme heat has eased, my wife and I spend breakfast, lunch and dinner on the deck

watching the complex, fascinating dance that so many birds do - hummingbirds whirring by, a family of 6 bluebirds (mom and dad and kids) covering the two suet blocks, goldfinch, house finch - and on and on. It is transfixing - it is yoga for the mind, takes us out of the intractable world mess and into nature.

Little do those birds know the joy that they are giving us just by visiting and eating at our feeder....

thanks for your kind and wise words!

[Roy Rolling]

12. Thanks

Now that laugh and song is playing over and over in my head. LOL

[hibbing]

13. awesome

My hope is to revamp my backyard, I have a boring big lawn that I hate to water and is half weeds. I need to have some bigger projects in the yard done first before I can replace my lawn with native plants and hopefully get a lot more wildlife. Right now I have some blooming perennials in the back of the yard that do attract a lot of bees and butterflies. I have been researching and it seems like I need to hire a professional to plan it....blah.

I loved the pictures.


Peace

[zentrum]

14. Thanks.

[NBachers]

15. Thank you for these exquisite pictures. Nature can heal

[Bob Loblaw]

16. Is that a brown thrasher?

nt

[NRaleighLiberal]

17. yes. first time I've captured the yellow eyes well

(reminds me of that holiday movie - "he had yellow eyes. really - YELLOW EYES!).

Farkus bird?

[Bob Loblaw]

18. When you spot his toady

Grover Dill, let me know. By his green teeth shall ye know him.

With the catbird and "Farkus" you must have a nice hedgerow or brushy habitat. Any mockingbirds to complete the trifecta?

[NRaleighLiberal]

19. yes, our back yard has tall azaleas and beauty berry - Mockingbirds show up

eventually. Mourning dove, towhee, chipping sparrow, chickadee, cardinals, brown headed and white breasted nuthatch, titmice, goldfinch, house finch, purple finch, Hummers (to our feeder or salvia), downy and red bellied woodpeckers and flickers, blue jays, crows (on occasion), summer tanager are the main daily visitors (in addition to the three pictured), and lots of bluebirds (had a full family - 6 - on our suet yesterday at one time).

[Bob Loblaw]

20. Nice assortment

We're on a 2 acre pond and get a very different set of birds. Canada geese, great blue herons, green herons and mallards which both nest here, kingfishers, and various migrating water birds including grebes, mergansers, buffleheads and once a northern shoveler. Red tailed hawks and sharp shinned hawks are frequent visitors as well. We'd like to feed the perching birds but between the chipmunks and the geese the yard would be a mess.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your photos and list. Keep up the nice work.

[NRaleighLiberal]

21. well, my friend, thanks for your contribution to this thread - a little break in the horrors

going on around us.

Birds are lucky they don't have to be aware of what we are up against!

By the way - I love warblers - hear them often, see them rarely - I'd love to get good looks at them. We've had a few pass through - black throated green, black throated blue, redstart, yellowthroat, pine and myrtle - and hear the ovenbird and prarie.

[Bob Loblaw]

22. You're welcome

It has been a nice distraction

We have some warblers pass thru northern Indiana in the spring but they're elusive and rarely around long. I could include the yellow rumped, magnolia and tennessee among their number though. I feel sorry for those who don't take notice of these beautiful creatures among us.