My Home/Yard Birdlist

A couple of days ago, I ran into friends Cathy and Ellen who inquired about my home bird list.  How is it that I could possibly have seen 103 birds in my less-than-an-acre yard?   Here is how.  First, I have been recording the bird sightings since 1991.  Second, we have a pond in our backyard which attracts tons of birds including ducks and herons.  We once had a red-shouldered hawk nest high in a tree over our shed.  Third, we have a lot of trees and bushes of all sorts of varieties, and a very "au natural" lawn (ie. no chemicals, lots of weeds and bugs). Fourth, I have feeders going year round.    Fifth, I am sort of obsessed with birds.  I see and hear birds that many people might not notice.  Over the years, I have listened to tapes and CDs of bird calls so my ear is pretty good at picking up birds songs.  I hear a bird and I will think "oh! that is a blue-winged warbler!  I must go find it!".  Or sometimes, I hear a song and I think "oh! I don't know what that bird song is!!! I must go find it".  Off I go with the binoculars, leaving my cereal to get soggy..  Many of the birds have only been spotted once, such as the pileated woodpecker or the yellow-throated vireo.  Some birds have only been heard, such as the owls.  Some birds are seen from my yard but not "in" my yard, such as the chimney swifts and the turkey vultures.  Anyways, it is a long list.  And here it is in case you are interested.

Great Blue heron

Green heron

Carolina Wren

Cardinal

Tufted titmouse

Robin

Blue Jay

Kingfisher

Grackle

Northern Oriole   10

Eastern Pee Wee

Yellow Shafted Flicker

Black-capped Chickadee

Downy Woodpecker

Great Horned Owl (heard)

Screech Owl (heard)

Wood Ducks

Mourning Dove

White-breasted Nuthatch

Canada Geese  20

Junco

House finch

American Crow

Goldfinch

House Sparrow

Brown Creeper

Song Sparrow

Starling

Purple Finch

Redwing Blackbird  30

Cowbird

Fox Sparrow

Phoebe

Mallards

Tree Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

White Throated Sparrow

Rufous-sided Towhee

Ruby crowned Kinglet

Chimney Swift 40

Yellow-rumped warbler

House Wren

Black & White Warbler

Northern Parula                                                           

Catbird

Common Yellowthroat

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Wood Thrush

Hairy Woodpecker

Eastern Kingbird     50

American Redstart 

Cedar Waxwing

Ovenbird (heard)

Mockingbird

Ruby-throated hummingbird

Great-crested Flycatcher

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Turkey vultures (overhead)

Blue-winged Warbler

Yellow Warbler    60

Chestnut-sided Warbler                

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Prairie Warbler

Killdeer

Nighthawk

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Broad-winged Hawk

Merlin

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Common Redpoll   70  (1/7/1994)

Red-breasted Nuthatch 

Red-tailed Hawk

Yellow-throated Warbler

Hooded Merganser

Red-eyed vireo

Northern Waterthrush

Swamp Sparrow

Barred Owl (heard)

Eastern Bluebird

Magnolia warbler    80

Cooper’s hawk  

Barn Swallow

Hermit Thrush

Black-crowned Night Heron

Ring-necked Duck

Blackpoll Warbler

Veery

Pine Siskin

Warbling Vireo

Yellow-billed Cuckoo   90

Turkey 

Ring-billed gull

Canada Warbler

Cormorant

Blackburnian Warbler

Scarlet Tanager

Palm Warbler

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Raven

Pileated Woodpecker   100

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 

Wilson’s Warbler

Pine Warbler (1/27/2015)