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Birds In Your Yard/Bird Stories

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snoiduspoitus

Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2002
Messages
326
Location
Minnesota
Basic Beliefs
Atheist
In the last two weeks, I have seen the following birds in or over my yard.

Did a scratchpad while I was grilling. I'm sure I forgot some, but here: (In no particular order.)

Red-Wing Blackbirds
Grackles
Cowbirds
Bluejays
Barn Swallows
Tree Swallows
Flycatchers
House Finches
Yellow Finches
Hairy Woodpeckers
Downy Woodpeckers
Pileated Woodpeckers
Orchard Oriels
Baltimore Oriels
Rose-breasted Grossbeaks
Robins
Brown Thrashers
Yellow-Rumped Warblers
Hummingbirds
Cardinals
Wrens
Catbirds
Chipping Sparrows
Golden-crowed Sparrows
White-crowned Sparrows
Harris Sparrows (They finally showed up)
Mourning Doves
Chickadees

That's what's on the scratchpad. As for fly-overs, I've got Canadian Geese, Turkey Vultures and Ducks. I'll leave it at ducks because if isn't a Mallard, I don't know what it is. Just not into ducks I guess.

Also, the occasional Bald Eagle. Man, you wanna hear Blue Jays get loud? I mean really, really loud? Have a Bald Eagle soar over at 100 feet.

And a couple of years ago, my buddy and I were sitting at the picnic table having a beer after golf and a young Red-tail Hawk was trying to catch birds around the feeder and was chasing sparrows into the lilac bush. Poor thing was probably starving, but it was fun watching nonetheless. Never had a chance.

I don't even call myself a birder. If it ain't in my yard, I'm not driving 300 miles to see it. I've been feeding with a mixture of stuff for years and years, and the birds know it, and it's cool to watch.

Last year while fishing on a remote lake, I saw a small hawk - I first heard the squacking by the Purple Martins - force a Martin down into the water and nabbed it. It singled an individual out and would not allow it to fly upwards. I will never see that in my life again. The other Martins were mobbing screaming at it and it made no difference at all.

Anyone feed birds or have a bird story?
 
Lived next to a creek in a canyon west of Boulder CO for over 20 years. Decided to move to a high mountain valley about 20 years ago, and the worst feeling was knowing how I'd miss the diversity of birds we had in that riparian corridor. We built on 15 acres with about 800' of river frontage, in relative wilderness (since built up some). Anyhow, I started cataloguing bird sightings, using a thin book called "Birds of the ROcky Mountains" or something like that. Within two years, I was out of birds - almost every bird in the book was sighted, and there were birds that weren't even in the book! In casual conversation I told one of our field reps about it, and about two weeks after I got home, this 15 pound (est) package arrived. It was the Audubon Society bird Bible for North America - it's about five inches thick with lots of color plates, cross references etc.. It has been a ton of fun!
Right now, I'm sort of infatuated with our Bluebirds - ever since some Mountain Bluebirds made their home in our horse barn (they're not supposed to do that!) and raised a clutch of 5 babies right in front of our noses. That was the start - I put up several regulation bluebird houses, and now we have bluebirds galore - Mountain Bluebirds on one side of the house, and Western Bluebirds on the other, both building away.

Meanwhile, the Northern Orioles are fighting with the hummingbirds, trying to monopolize the feeders... great blue herons nesting in the cottonwoods by the river and more grosbeaks, juncos, finches, warblers than you can shake a stick at, plus a half dozen kinds of owls and raptors (we had bald eagles two years ago, red-tail hawks, a golden eagle pair and some kestrels this year), woodpeckers (incl Northern Flickers by the scad), kingfishers, pinon and stellers jays, dippers, some kind of ibis that isn't in the book that I can find... I'm not going to re-write that Audubon boat anchor book, but suffice it to say it's a never-ending show all summer.

Like snoiduspoitus I'm no birder and won't travel to see them, but - I do love watching them!
 
Meanwhile, the Northern Orioles are fighting with the hummingbirds, trying to monopolize the feeders..

Hummingbirds vs hummingbirds is quite interesting. One lays claim to the feeder, and all interlopers shall be instantly attacked. Hummingbirds are anything but socialists. That gigantic feeder in the sky? It's mine... all mine.

Nice to hear about all the birds you've seen, and thanks Elixir.

Another true story...

Fishing on another quiet lake. A Bald Eagle is flying to its nest with a catch between its talons.

Two Turkey Vultures fly into the nest as son as it lands and totally intimidate the Bald Eagle into releasing its catch. I mean totally bullied a Bald Eagle. The eagle flew off and the vultures very much enjoyed its catch.

Has anyone seen a Roadrunner? I'd like to see one of those. They somehow strike me as Brown Thrashers on steroids.
 
The tale of Granny Grackle

A few years ago, we tried to do some gardening. This meant a daily morning watering of the garden with a garden hose. We have grackles here. And when watering the garden, there was one grackle that always came running. This grackle was a female that was a bit bedraggled and was probably old in bird years. I nicknamed here Granny Grackle. Granny grackle loved being sprinkled with the hose. She'd run to where ever the hose was aimed and obviously enjoyed the experienced immensely. I usually made sure she got a good shower which she obviously loved. Every morning when I came out to water the garden, Granny was waiting for me. This went on for some months, it obviously made her day for her. Then one morning I didn't see Granny. I found her body, in the garden, dead. She had obviously breather her last, almost surely died of old age. I gave her a good burial, and after this, the daily watering wasn't quite the same. She didn't have much fear of me, and was as close as I had of a pet. No other grackle behaved like this, though there were a lot of them in our yard. I still get a bit sad thinking about it. I hope she is in Grackle heaven getting lots of showers.
 
snoiduspoitus said:
Hummingbirds vs hummingbirds is quite interesting. One lays claim to the feeder, and all interlopers shall be instantly attacked.
Click to expand...

No lie! We put up three feeders just to confuse them (two with larger holes that make them accessible to orioles, finches and the occasional downy woodpecker), but by mid-summer it's cacophony of hummer fights, regardless. Right now they're still arriving so there is relative peace in the valley, but the orioles can drink about 24 ounces a day, and they brook no interference...

Another true story...

Fishing on another quiet lake. A Bald Eagle is flying to its nest with a catch between its talons.

Two Turkey Vultures fly into the nest as son as it lands and totally intimidate the Bald Eagle into releasing its catch. I mean totally bullied a Bald Eagle. The eagle flew off and the vultures very much enjoyed its catch.
Click to expand...

That is just ... wow. What a spectacle!

I'll dredge this one up for you, that happened a couple of years ago.

Riding home from a place a couple of miles away, we (me and my horse, Seven) took a little shortcut that involved scrambling up an embankment for about 50 feet. It's steep grassy slope, almost at the limit of what the horse can safely do, but we'd done it before. As we got almost to the top, an owl - not one of our great horned owls thank god - flew out less than 2 feet from my horse's front left foot. I thought we were gong down, but instead of starting, Steven didn't react at all. Just stopped, frozen. Once my heart rate was under control I urged Seven to take the last couple of step up the embankment, but instead of lunging up to the ledge as I'd expect, he took one tiny ginger step - and the mate whooshed right out from under us. The two owls were nesting on that bank. I hope we didn't wreck their homestead....
 
Brisbane has a pretty varied bird life, as we are at the border between tropical and temperate climate.

There's a pair of Pied Wagtails who have adopted my backyard as their own - they like the insects that are attracted by the compost bins. We also have resident top-knot pigeons, magpie larks, and in the front yard, a family of Australian magpies (which are nothing like European magpies).

Regular visitors include long-billed corellas (which are not native to this part of Australia, but have established here in large numbers from escaped pets), sulphur-crested cockatoos, tawny frogmouths, rainbow lorikeets, blue wrens, noisy miners, butcher birds, indian mynas, and blue-faced honeyeaters (who love the boganvillea flowers, and are very adept at avoiding its vicious thorns).

That's just off the top of my head - I don't keep a record of sightings, and there are certainly many other species that are occasional visitors to our little patch.
 
I admit I would love to see some of those birds but they're probably not going to show up at my feeders in Minnesota.
 
snoiduspoitus said:
Meanwhile, the Northern Orioles are fighting with the hummingbirds, trying to monopolize the feeders..

Hummingbirds vs hummingbirds is quite interesting. One lays claim to the feeder, and all interlopers shall be instantly attacked. Hummingbirds are anything but socialists. That gigantic feeder in the sky? It's mine... all mine.
Click to expand...
Mine, mine, mine....oye. We also have a pair of Steller Jay's who think they own our yard each spring, at least against many of the other similar sized birds like scrub Jays and Flickers. The Robins are tolerated for some reason. I even saw one engage in physical aerial combat with a Scrub Jay with feathers floating down.


Has anyone seen a Roadrunner? I'd like to see one of those. They somehow strike me as Brown Thrashers on steroids.
Click to expand...
Yep, grew up around them. They are pretty cool. Though the coveys of Gambels Quails are also fun to watch run from shrubbery to another.

A couple years ago, while mountain biking I must have gotten in the middle of a couple spotted owls feeding. They were cool to watch from about 50 feet away for a few minutes.
 
Yesterday, we mowed the yard and then bar-b-qued a chicken. I sat in a chair and watched the fire as it cooked. When the yard gets mowed, the neighborhood grackles like to come in and forage for insects. The low grass makes it easy for them. Meanwhile, we have a neighborhood cat, a small black cat that sometimes climbs the fence and hangs out in our back yard. So here she comes, and starts stalking grackles. Since there isn't much place to hide, the grackles can easily see her, and avoid her. They simply fly out of her immediate range and resume grubbing for insects. after 15 minutes, our cat gives up and climbs the fence. Big hunter cat fail.

Meanwhile some younger grackles, that are as big or bigger then their mothers, trail their mothers, mouths wide open, shrieking for food.

Along with the grackles, we had a lot of wasps patrolling, looking for insects themselves. Paper wasps and mud daubers. Very early in the morning, the Inca doves forage in the yard.
 
My parents have been feeding the birds in their front yard for years. They live just south of us, in the hinterlandish area of the Gold Coast. They set up the feeders some 25+ years ago and have their regulars. The feeders are perched in, and under, the branches of a gum tree. All the bark is removed from the tops of the larger branches as that is where they roost.

Every morning, my parents take a scoop of wild bird seed and fill the feeder. The cockatoos, corollas, galahs, pigeons, magpies, and others, all come for their feed. My parents watch them each morning while they drink their coffee and read the morning papers. If they are ever away, the neighbour feeds them. The food is kept in an old esky, with a rock on top of it, as the cockatoos worked out where the food was kept and would push the lid off and help themselves.

It makes a nice routine for them. If they ever moved in with us, a feeder would need to be erected, that's for sure. :)
 
Cutting through a meadow from the neighbor's house after midnight. Not even a moon. Dead dark. Damn near - and I mean damn near - stepped on a pheasant.

Trust me... having a big bird damn near hit you in the face our of nowhere really wakes you up.

If I was any older, I think I'd be dead.

Talk about massive WTF adrenaline, that's it.
 
I also had a finch make a nest in the wreath on the front door. The female laid eggs - sat on them and when the eggs hatched she and dad abandoned them for several days. They then came back and fed them for awhile, there was a dead one that got dumped out of the nest. The family cat finally got the rest.
 
starwater said:
I've seen a roadrunner. Very much running down a dirt road.
Click to expand...

starwater said:
I also had a finch make a nest in the wreath on the front door. The female laid eggs - sat on them and when the eggs hatched she and dad abandoned them for several days. They then came back and fed them for awhile, there was a dead one that got dumped out of the nest. The family cat finally got the rest.
Click to expand...
Lots of roadrunners here in Albuquerque, though they seem to prefer certain sections of town over others. My friend Vicki has one that makes regular rounds through her yard, looking for lizards. She also has a house finch nest in a wreath hung next to her front door. It currently holds three partially fledged chicks.
Do finches have a thing for wreathes?
 
starwater said:
I've seen a roadrunner. Very much running down a dirt road.
Click to expand...

Who would a thunk it.

Ok, another bird story... (I was not present so I will have to accept eye-witness testimony)

Buddy of mine is driving down the road and comes across a bald eagle that makes no attempt to fly away. Figures something's wrong so stops and backs up. Gets out of the car and approaches said eagle. Gets within feet of it and it flies -with a really bad wing - 60 feet into a brushy swamp area.

Said it's just as well, because he had no idea what he was going to do if he caught it.

I'm not exactly a raptor specialist myself. I have a feeling a massive injured bird like that could pluck your eyeball out or otherwise put a hurt on you in a hurry without some kind of protection.
 
snoiduspoitus said:
starwater said:
I've seen a roadrunner. Very much running down a dirt road.
Click to expand...

Who would a thunk it.

Ok, another bird story... (I was not present so I will have to accept eye-witness testimony)

Buddy of mine is driving down the road and comes across a bald eagle that makes no attempt to fly away. Figures something's wrong so stops and backs up. Gets out of the car and approaches said eagle. Gets within feet of it and it flies -with a really bad wing - 60 feet into a brushy swamp area.

Said it's just as well, because he had no idea what he was going to do if he caught it.

I'm not exactly a raptor specialist myself. I have a feeling a massive injured bird like that could pluck your eyeball out or otherwise put a hurt on you in a hurry without some kind of protection.
Click to expand...

A kestrel (small raptor) somehow got himself stuck in our garage. Mrs Elixir didn't see it, but heard it... came to me with "there's something BIG in the garage! You have to get it out!"
I went in, and didn't hear anything at first. Then, tiny shuffling sounds... it took a bit to find the source of the noise. He was standing very still, and I thought he must have been hurt so I approached, very cautiously lest he panic and hurt himself further. When I got about 8 feet away, he spread his wings, opened his beak and came at me, making the most awful sound you ever heard.
I pressed the button on the overhead door, and left as fast as I could. Never saw him leave, but he was gone and half hour later when I dared to check.
 
I was quite impressed when I met ravens for the first time. It was in Yosemite. I was working on a wastewater flow sensor in one of the campgrounds. A raven, I'll assume it was the same raven kept coming back each morning to visit with me. I was working in a ten foot cube dry pit. The raven would perch on the edge and watch me do my work. I started to make small talk, of course. It would have been rude not to. The raven wasn't much for conversation. Simply content to watch me go about my work. I enjoyed the raven's company. He/she stuck around until the completion of my task. I was working there for two or three mornings. I learned the raven has a distinct call for danger, perhaps coyote. I'm going with danger for now.
Another time a raven joined me for lunch. I didn't get the 'feed me' motions or head bobs. Just wanted to hang out apparently.
I miss them. Ravens are a very comforting bird to be around.

Here, there's a goose that lays her eggs at my long range radar. She's back for the second year, or perhaps I am. Last year she did quite well, all eggs hatched. This year, not so good, she was 2-3. But, I got to see and enjoy the goslings for a bit, one afternoon. From a distance, of course. Not too close mind you. I know how momma gets.
 
Elixir said:
snoiduspoitus said:
Who would a thunk it.

Ok, another bird story... (I was not present so I will have to accept eye-witness testimony)

Buddy of mine is driving down the road and comes across a bald eagle that makes no attempt to fly away. Figures something's wrong so stops and backs up. Gets out of the car and approaches said eagle. Gets within feet of it and it flies -with a really bad wing - 60 feet into a brushy swamp area.

Said it's just as well, because he had no idea what he was going to do if he caught it.

I'm not exactly a raptor specialist myself. I have a feeling a massive injured bird like that could pluck your eyeball out or otherwise put a hurt on you in a hurry without some kind of protection.
Click to expand...

A kestrel (small raptor) somehow got himself stuck in our garage. Mrs Elixir didn't see it, but heard it... came to me with "there's something BIG in the garage! You have to get it out!"
I went in, and didn't hear anything at first. Then, tiny shuffling sounds... it took a bit to find the source of the noise. He was standing very still, and I thought he must have been hurt so I approached, very cautiously lest he panic and hurt himself further. When I got about 8 feet away, he spread his wings, opened his beak and came at me, making the most awful sound you ever heard.
I pressed the button on the overhead door, and left as fast as I could. Never saw him leave, but he was gone and half hour later when I dared to check.
Click to expand...

Well shit, now I've got the giggles. A kestrel with a full on frontal assault. Little bastards.

Also love the raven stories. Smart birds. Same as crows. That entire bird family is smart as hell.
 
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