Post: #1

I know it seems a bit , but ever since I was a child I had a backyard feeder and birdhouses. It always had a multitude of different types of birds. If anyone else is an avid birdwatcher/ornithologist, here's the thread for you.

I really do enjoy birdwatching, it really puts all your life's issues into perspective. Watching birds interact with themselves and their environment, along with analyzing their behavior can be very calming, along with listening to their mating songs on a beautiful spring night. There's nothing more relaxing than that. Occasionally I'm able to watch hawks on the hunt, which is spectacular. Even large cities have many different birds, including peregrine falcons which are some of the coolest birds around.


Recently, I've caught a few sightings of the Northern Flicker Woodpecker. Has to be one of the strangest birds I've ever seen. It's the size of a small chicken, has a long beak, yellow underfeathers, it's spotted, and has a really long tongue. The last part was very strange as it would sit at my suet and eat, and suddenly I'd think there was a worm trying to escape. Nope, just it's tongue:



Either way, post your favorite birds to watch.

Post: #2

I pay attention to what's in the trees and try to identify them, but not in a systematic way.

I plan to take it up in retirement, which is soon.

Scotian has recently written that he is interested in the subject.

Post: #3

There's nothing homoerotic about birdwatching hah. No need to worry.

It interests me too. Birdwatching reminds me not to take life so seriously and feel stressed out about all of the little things. It reinforces the belief that we're living on a massive rock floating through space and that there are billions of different human/animal interactions simultaneously occurring every single second.

Which leads me to believe that no one cares about you approaching that particular girl and making a fool out of yourself. No one cares about whatever it is that you're currently choosing to do with your life. No one cares about your public "chauvinistic" blog. There's nothing wrong with pursuing whatever it is that you want to do right at this moment.

We're here to have fun and be free. Like a bird. A non-needy one (Pook).

Post: #4

Do you follow Delicious Tacos on twitter? He's been doing a lot of birdwatching lately (since he had to replace his drinking habit with something, haha) and he posts a lot of photos of it.

Post: #5

I was very lucky to see this one in the wild (had not been seen since a long time in the particular park).

Post: #6

I love sitting at the park and watching crows. I've always wanted a tattoo of a cross tombstone under a willow tree and some sort of soul flying away and turning into a crow. I think it would be really cool.

Post: #7

I'm living in Hawaii and there are some impressive species here. I'm thinking of taking up nature photography as an alternative to drinking. Good photos

Post: #8

I think birdwatching is an interesting pursuit for several reasons. Perhaps the best one is because it gives a person the opportunity to get outside and spend time alone with nature.

Post: #9

Interesting topic. I may share some stories but they're more like a birds in your face type deal.

When I was a kid in New England it was rare to watch a kingfisher descend from a tree once a year. Now in Florida I have Eagles dropping mullet on my house and vultures playing chicken with my car daily. We don't even have pigeons where I live because the other prey birds snatch them up and eat them all.

Post: #10

I'm glad there's so much interest. If you have black capped chickadees in your yard (chances are you do if you live in the northeast), get some black oil sunflower seeds and put them in your hand. Every other bird will fly away from your presence, save for maybe a downy woodpecker, but the chickadees are very curious. They'll scope you out for about 5-10 minutes, then fly to your hand and take a seed. It's a funny feeling, but it's kinda cool. It's also quite easy to train these birds.

They're very common also, so they shouldn't be too difficult to scope out. Google chickadee hand feeding and you get this:

Post: #11

I hate to admit this but when I was a kid I used to trap finches and sell them for 4 dollars each to the pet store then ride my bike across the street to Burger King and eat two doulble cheeses two large fries and a shake

Post: #12

(02-13-2015 08:05 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  I hate to admit this but when I was a kid I used to trap finches and sell them for 4 dollars each to the pet store then ride my bike across the street to Burger King and eat two doulble cheeses two large fries and a shake

So f'ing sweet... thanks for this.

Post: #13

This is something i would be interested in.

Post: #14

(02-13-2015 07:01 PM)Aer Wrote:  I'm glad there's so much interest. If you have black capped chickadees in your yard (chances are you do if you live in the northeast), get some black oil sunflower seeds and put them in your hand. Every other bird will fly away from your presence, save for maybe a downy woodpecker, but the chickadees are very curious. They'll scope you out for about 5-10 minutes, then fly to your hand and take a seed. It's a funny feeling, but it's kinda cool. It's also quite easy to train these birds.

They're very common also, so they shouldn't be too difficult to scope out. Google chickadee hand feeding and you get this:

This sounds awesome.

Too bad I have to wait a few months until the weather warms up. It was -30 this morning here..

Post: #15

(02-13-2015 08:13 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

(02-13-2015 08:05 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  I hate to admit this but when I was a kid I used to trap finches and sell them for 4 dollars each to the pet store then ride my bike across the street to Burger King and eat two doulble cheeses two large fries and a shake

So f'ing sweet... thanks for this.

Why?

Post: #16

(02-13-2015 09:07 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  

(02-13-2015 08:13 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

(02-13-2015 08:05 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  I hate to admit this but when I was a kid I used to trap finches and sell them for 4 dollars each to the pet store then ride my bike across the street to Burger King and eat two doulble cheeses two large fries and a shake

So f'ing sweet... thanks for this.

Why?

It's just an extremely pure image and activity Mech. Those finch sponsored fries must have tasted damned good to a kid after a ride... I love reading about things like that.

Post: #17

Kick? and Scotian are two huge birdwatchers

Post: #18

If you live in North America, this guide gives you calls and location. It's a must have for birdwatchers.

http://www.audubon.org/field-guide

Regarding the chickadees, they tend to come out in cold weather also in the presence of food. Most birds have interesting mechanisms to keep warm in the dead of winter. In terms of feeders, you should have one with seeds and cracked corn, and one with suet and animal fat to attract really interesting birds. If you're in the northeast, you'll get Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Flickers(above) Downy Woodpeckers, the occasional starling, and some other nifty birds.

My yard (due to the feeders), has none less than 12 different varieties of birds.

And don't be fooled, most birds are more active in the winter than the summer due to lack of available food. You'll be able to coax more birds to feeders in winter.


Maybe I'll drop a guide on bird feeders and bird watching in the future. There seems to be enough interest.

Post: #19

Yeah I'd like to take this up as a hobby too. I love spending time alone in nature and we really do have some beautiful birds here in Australia.

Post: #20

Anyone have Bluejays in their yard? Those birds are pretty but MEAN. They funny thing is, they will sometime protect the smaller birds.

When I was kid my cat used to catch birds in the yard, but sometime the bluejays would see him and attack him before he could get the smaller birds. They were actually swooping down and pecking at him! I had to go out and chase them away.

Post: #21

(02-14-2015 09:14 AM)NovaVirtu Wrote:  Anyone have Bluejays in their yard? Those birds are pretty but MEAN. They funny thing is, they will sometime protect the smaller birds.

When I was kid my cat used to catch birds in the yard, but sometime the bluejays would see him and attack him before he could get the smaller birds. They were actually swooping down and pecking at him! I had to go out and chase them away.

Blue jays are very territorial birds, if a hawk or a cat comes within their territory they'll attack it no matter what. Same goes for the northern mockingbird, who has been known to attack humans also if they stray too close to a nest. They're great natural defense from predators.

Post: #22

In the past few years, bald eagles have moved into the small town where I grew up, roosting in the trees by the river. You can sometimes be driving across the bridge over this river, and have an eagle flying along side, just on the other side of the railing from the car.

I bought a camera with a built in 16x zoom, just to get some pictures of the eagles. However, 16x is really not very much. The eagle is still very small in the image, and is pixelated if you zoom to see it more closely. I'd love to have a camera setup to take pictures like the ones in the thread above. I expect these pics were taken with better than a 100x lens.

I've taken some pictures of birds out the window and got good close up shots. Got a bunch of pics of hummingbirds at a feeder one time like this. However, now that I've caught this bug, what I really like to have a high zoom lens, and get pics of not only birds, but other wildlife, close up shots of bands on stage, etc.

Post: #23

So I have a couple of those giant woodpeckers living in my yard..

When they have eggs? or chicks they turn my house into the terror dome.

Apparently, when they see their reflection in your windows they view it as a threat... So what do they do??????

Smash into your windows all day and night!! When I say smash I mean smash at full speed.

Post: #24

(09-12-2012 02:55 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  

This will also serve as the "coming out of the closet" thread.

Post: #25

I watch birds.