Skybird- you really tickled me with your "it's simple" referring to turning in a bird count. I have fed, watched and loved birds for many years. One time I read about one of the birds counts and decided to read the rules. Yikes I couldn't just say sparrow like bird, I had to designate as black throated or grasshopper sparrow or song sparrow- there must be 20 kinds of sparrows. When I try to ID mine, I get out my 4 bird books but even their pics of 4 species all looke alike! So love for birds didn't count!!! I had to KNOW birds. Anyway, nice of you to mention it and your pictures are fantastic!

Ok, Matoad! Lets see if I can make this a little bit easier for you. Go to the link below, put in your zip code, and hit enter. Youll come up with a list of the birds that youll commonly see in your area. Thatll eliminate a whole lot of possibilities!

Dont click on the link on top that says: Show this checklist with rare species included. Thatll just freak you outyou and a whole bunch of other peopleme included!

Once you get to the list youll be able to eliminate a bunch of the birds, like most of the water birds, right away, and youll wind up with a pretty short list of ones you need to try to identify. If you see something and have some idea what it might be, click on the name on the list and youll come up with a picture and some basic information. Then click on Identification, and youll get a whole bunch more information along with more pictures and information/pictures of "similar species." Since youre already starting with a list of the most likely birds, its a lot easier to use than a book that has birds from all over the country.

If you see something and you dont have any idea at all what it is, flip thru one of your books to get some idea of what it is, and then go back to the list with the limited choices.

Since youre here in the metro area, youre list is probably the same as mine. If you have sparrows or sparrow-like birds, theres a pretty good chance youre looking at house sparrows (which arent really sparrows) or house finches (which really ARE finches!!!) Check out those pictures and Im betting it'll cover a whole lot of the birds youre seeing.

Up here in Thornton the birds I mostly see are House Finches, Eurasian Collared Doves, Mourning Doves, Red Shafted Northern Flickers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, sometimes Goldfinches and a couple kinds of Juncos, and, of course, Robins. I rarely see them at this house (had them at the last house which is only a couple miles away), but I know there are Downy Woodpeckers and Black Capped Chickadees around here. Oh! And how could I forget? I also have herds of blackbirds! I do my best to keep them scared away, but sometimes thats a losing battle! Over the years Ive seen a few other things, but that list covers 99% of the birds I regularly see at the feeders in my yard.

If you put out "generic" bird seed, you probably have mountains of House Sparrows too. I quit feeding millet several years ago, so they finally stopped coming to eat me out of house and home. I feed black oil sunflower, safflower, and thistle now, and though they cost more, at least its going to birds that "matter!" In winter I feed suet too.

If you see something that you dont have a clue about and you can get a picture of it, post it and theres probably somebody around here who can tell you what it is.

Last year I think I did it on two of the days. I just kept a scratch pad nearby and listed things as I saw them, and then just changed the number any time I saw more of any particular bird at the same time. Youre not supposed to keep track of the total number you see during the dayjust the most you see at any one time. After youve counted you just go to the Backyard Bird Count site and you go to a page which is very similar to the list youve been referring to for identification, then you scroll down to the right bird and enter your numbers.

The second picture above is a male hairy woodpecker and the third one is a Eurasian collared dove. Ive never before or since seen so many, but on one of the bird count days last year I had TWELVE robins in my yard at the same timenine at the birdbath right outside of the window, and the rest on the grass real close to it. I couldnt believe it when they just kept coming and coming! I usually have a pair or two around. Hope I get to see that many at the same time again sometime!

It really is easy if youre around to keep an eye out for them. I hope this info will encourage you and others to give it a try. When you have time, go to the list to identify the birds youre seeing before the bird count. Most of the birds you see will be the same ones over and over, so once you know what they are you wont need to be trying to identify them on the count day.

Everybodylet us know if we can try to help you identify something,
Skybird

Aw, I love those little Downy Woodpeckers. They come through my yard now and then, but not as often as I get big old flickers hanging around.

Hi all,

I received a Great Backyard Bird Count email from Cornell today, reminding me that its just over 2 weeks until the count, so Im going to bump this up to remind everyone!

Heres a link to the newsletter they sent today, and heres a link to the Whats That Sparrow page they linked.

Prepare to look!
Skybird

Bumpity bump!

Thanks, Bonnie. Ive been busy all day cleaning to have somebody over for dinner tonite!

Here are links to the two most recent emails Ive received from GBBC. If anybody has any questions, give a hollar!

GBBC Participant Update

GBBC Participant Newsletter

Happy counting,
Skybird

Well, talk about good timing. Me and the boys went birdwatching a little before noon today, and hiked a couple of miles. Just got home a little while ago, and now it's snowing like crazy outside.

The first place we went, we didn't see a single bird, but learned from someone there about some BLM land about 3 miles down the road. Less than 1/10 of a mile from the car, a Bald Eagle flew overhead. When we headed in that direction, we saw it in a tree with a younger one. You can't tell in the photo, but the one on the left doesn't have the white head and tail yet.

We also saw a total of 7 deer while we were there. My oldest son took this picture:

On the frontage road we saw a couple of Red-tailed Hawks, but weren't able to get a decent shot. They kept moving from tree to tree, to fencepost, to lightpost to get away from us, so this is the best picture I got. When they were in flight, you could really see the red tail feathers.

We also saw one Mountain Bluebird, and one Magpie. There were some smaller birds in the scrub, but we couldn't get close enough to identify them.

Hope to get out again tomorrow or Monday, depending on how much snow we end up with.

Bonnie

I really envy you, Bonnie, being out there in the hills with more than just the ordinary "city" birds!

I had a less than stellar day counting birds today! FAR less than stellar! I only saw one flicker, one hairy woodpecker, and 8 house finches! What a letdown after my twelve robins all at the same time last year! I put more sunflower seed out and added to the safflower too, and we could get a little bit of snow overnite, so maybe Ill be luckier tomorrow.

Fingers crossed,
Skybird