Kiwi Birdwatchers Thread

[Bluebird]

Here's a thread where you can talk about your favorite birds, any rare or interesting species that you've recently seen, and just birds in general.
Today in my backyard I saw a Brown Creeper (Certhia Americana)

Spoiler

These tiny birds have an interesting method of finding food. They always start at the base of a tree, spiraling upward looking for bugs and spiders, than once they reach the top they fly down to another and start over again. Another cool fact is that their nests are built behind peeling strips of bark on dead trees and use spider silk to anchor it.

 

[Bugaboo]

We like to feed hummingbirds, at our feeder one day I saw a pair of Bullock's Orioles (male and female) who flew in, looked and me and flew away.

Male

Female
Orioles like drinking nectar and will either try and sip from a hummingbird feeder or tip it and then drink nectar that falls out
Hummingbirds are a common sight in the garden because we always have a feeder out for them.

Sometimes they'll perch on the Japanese Maple and start peeping at you if the feeder is empty

 

[Red]

I went to Florida recently and saw a shitton of cool birds like moorhens and wood storks, unfortunately I didn't see my target bird-- a frigatebird. I went too late in the year for them to be around. They're my favorite birds.

YES HALLO I AM HERE FOR THE SEKS

I also live about an hour away from a sanctuary which has a breeding colony of whooping cranes, though I've never been lucky enough to see one. I've seen lots of other cool birds there though, like a juvenile sandhill that walked right up to the car. It's one of the top birding spots in the world, every time I have the chance to go I see something new.

I also can't forget to mention all the cuties we get at the bird feeder. Goldfinches, sparrows, junkos, nuthatches, and occasionally a beautiful red-bellied woodpecker female. She's been coming here for a few years, I think she has a nesting site somewhere.

 

[Bluebird]

We like to feed hummingbirds, at our feeder one day I saw a pair of Bullock's Orioles (male and female) who flew in, looked and me and flew away.

Male

Female
Orioles like drinking nectar and will either try and sip from a hummingbird feeder or tip it and then drink nectar that falls out
Hummingbirds are a common sight in the garden because we always have a feeder out for them.

Sometimes they'll perch on the Japanese Maple and start peeping at you if the feeder is empty

I tried setting out orange slices for the baltimore orioles i heard singing up in the trees this summer, but they werent interested and the oranges just got mouldy...

I went to Florida recently and saw a shitton of cool birds like moorhens and wood storks, unfortunately I didn't see my target bird-- a frigatebird. I went too late in the year for them to be around. They're my favorite birds.

YES HALLO I AM HERE FOR THE SEKS

I also live about an hour away from a sanctuary which has a breeding colony of whooping cranes, though I've never been lucky enough to see one. I've seen lots of other cool birds there though, like a juvenile sandhill that walked right up to the car. It's one of the top birding spots in the world, every time I have the chance to go I see something new.

I also can't forget to mention all the cuties we get at the bird feeder. Goldfinches, sparrows, junkos, nuthatches, and occasionally a beautiful red-bellied woodpecker female. She's been coming here for a few years, I think she has a nesting site somewhere.

The juncos are here in MA and im hoping that the pine siskins show up again this winter, but they have erratic migration patterns. Im dissapointed that no purple finches have visited my feeders yet, as they did last fall and spring.

The males are beautiful.

 

[Bugaboo]

I tried setting out orange slices for the baltimore orioles i heard singing up in the trees this summer, but they werent interested and the oranges just got mouldy...

The juncos are here in MA and im hoping that the pine siskins show up again this winter, but they have erratic migration patterns. Im dissapointed that no purple finches have visited my feeders yet, as they did last fall and spring.

The males are beautiful.

I'd get an actual oriole feeder and fill it with nectar (I think the recipe is 4 parts water to 1 part white sugar but I'll have to double check. You bring it to a boil and fill the feeder when it's cooled, this stops the growth of dangerous bacteria)

 

[observer]

Do see a lot of Australian bush turkeys out the back of my house, sometimes getting swooped my magpies or noisey minors. I'll get a photo next time I see them

 

[Bugaboo]

I bought a suet cake and a suet cage and hung it on a chain from the gazebo frame.
It's got peanuts in it so I hope blue jays will come because I see them around the neighborhood sometimes.
I also want to offer dried mealworms but I'll need a platform thing with a roof to keep them dry so they don't get moldy and make the birds sick

 

[Ravenor]

I'm not a twitcher but my two favorite birds are:
Golden Pheasant:

I just to keep a few when I trained as a Gamekeeper, £100 fine if you shot one. Stunning birds to look at and a bit smarter than your average Pheasant.

Juan Ferandez Tit-Tyrant:

I have never seen one in person but the name just makes me giggle.

 

[Bluebird]

I bought a suet cake and a suet cage and hung it on a chain from the gazebo frame.
It's got peanuts in it so I hope blue jays will come because I see them around the neighborhood sometimes.
I also want to offer dried mealworms but I'll need a platform thing with a roof to keep them dry so they don't get moldy and make the birds sick

I put out mealworms mixed with peanuts in a droll yankee x-1 seed saver feeder on a shepherds hook hanger.

I only fill it once a week as a special treat for the birds, since dried mealworms are so expensive.

 

[RV 229]

I've got one of these living inside of my apartment. Judging by google images, their natural habitat appears to be people's houses.

On a serious note, my favorite wild birds to watch are any kind of corvids. I like seeing blue jays chase off hawks or crows standing around practicing various bird calls.

 

[Bugaboo]

I think I am going to buy my own live mealworms (from the guy I buy crickets from) euthanize them in the freezer (this is the kindest way to kill an arthropod, they go dormant and feel no pain as they freeze) and then dehydrate them myself with a dehydrator
That way the only thing in them is mealworm
Edit: ok nevermind my mother will not let me feeds the birds because she thinks it's going to make a mess and attract raccoons and shit

 

[Bluebird]

Edit: ok nevermind my mother will not let me feeds the birds because she thinks it's going to make a mess and attract raccoons and shit

I think that suet (fat and peanuts? yum!) on a climbable surface would be more of a raccoon magnet than dead mealworms. Also, the birds are unlikly to drop them on the ground for raccoons to find. They would rather eat them instead of dropping them and puting out only a small handful of worms a day would let the birds eat them all before nightfall. Unfortunately, theres no way to prevent birdshit around birdfeeders.

 

[Bugaboo]

Alright so operation suet feeder v1 was a no go because the wind opened the cage and the cake plopped on the ground one morning, I go out to get it later in the day and it's gone (probably raccoons) so I buy suet cake v2 and this time I use plastic zip ties to secure the cage closed so neither man nor beast may open it now.

 

[MrJokerRager]

Here are some free bird watching cameras setup.

 

[MrJokerRager]

 

[MrJokerRager]

This thread needs to be merged with the other giant bird thread.

 

[solidago nemoralis]

necroing this thread but whatever

One of the best birding accomplishments was seeing an orange fronted parakeet down in a trip to Mexico I took several years ago. The little guy even posed for me

 

[MrJokerRager]

Any mods please combine this thread with the other thread.

https://kiwifarms.pa/threads/the-bird-thread.39738/

Also livestream of Barn Owls.

And footage of some kestrals.

 

[Ophelia Jones]

I'm a huge fan of birds. My favourites are Australian Magpies and Fairy Wrens.

The magpies are extremely smart and protective of their territory (they swoop during mating season) But they can become super friendly with you (take food from your hands, remember your face, learn/ classical conditioning, etc.) and if they do, they won't swoop you.

Wrens are small and quick so taking pictures of them is pretty hard but they're absolutely beautiful.