Bird Watching for Beginners

Recently, I’ve had a lot of down time. Sometimes, I find myself sitting, staring out the window, like my cat, and there’s always quite a bit going on. I’ve noticed most of the birds have come back for the spring. While I’m familiar with Red Breasted Robins, Cardinals & Bluejays, there are many birds I don’t know.

To be honest, the first bird I looked up was one that my cat had found in the yard. The bird had been killed, likely by another cat & I wondered about it. I leaned the little gray bird was, in fact, a Gray Catbird. I’m. Not. Even. Joking.

After reading for a while I learned that the Catbird most likely fought back hard & could have even instigated the incident. They’re very aggressively territorial birds. & Interestingly enough, they nest very close the the ground in bushes and tress.

Since my experience with the Gray Catbird, I took it upon myself to look up all the other birds I’ve seen in my yard.

For example, I learned the Cardinals that are bright red are male & the muted ones are female, something that happens quite a lot in nature, but I hadn’t known.

Depending on where you live & what time of year it is, there are while checklists of birds to watch for (& you know how I love a good checklist).

I live in rural New Jersey. It’s currently April & it’s been unseasonably warm. Here’s what I’ve been looking for:

Ducks, geese, and waterfowl
New World quail
Pheasants, grouse, and allies
Grebes
Pigeons and doves
Cuckoos and anis
Nightjars and allies
Swifts
Hummingbirds
Rails, gallinules, and coots
Cranes
Stilts and avocets
Oystercatchers
Lapwings and plovers
Sandpipers and allies
Skuas and jaegers
Auks, murres, and puffins
Gulls, terns, and skimmers
Tropicbirds
Loons
Albatrosses
Southern storm-petrels
Northern storm-petrels
Fulmars, petrels, and shearwaters
Storks
Frigatebirds
Boobies and gannets
Cormorants
Anhingas
Pelicans
Bitterns, herons, and egrets
Ibises and spoonbills
New World vultures
Osprey
Hawks, kites, and eagles
Barn-owls
Typical owls
Kingfishers
Woodpeckers
Caracaras and falcons
New World and African parrots
Tyrant flycatchers
Shrikes
Vireos
Jays, crows, magpies, and ravens
Larks
Swallows and martins
Chickadees and titmice
Nuthatches
Treecreepers
Wrens
Gnatcatchers
Kinglets
Old World flycatchers
Thrushes
Mockingbirds and thrashers
Starlings
Waxwings
Old World sparrows
Wagtails and pipits
Finches
Longspurs and snow buntings
New World sparrows
Yellow-breasted chat
Icterids
Wood-warblers
Cardinals and allies

Source: Wikipedia (where I begin every search)

Bird watching, or birding, is a slight hobby for some & a passionate career for others. The basics to bird watching are, stop, look & listen. Birds are all around us, everyday. & There’s more in your backyard that you ever thought possible. Why not put a name to a face? Start your bird watching journal today!

Resources:

If you find a bird in distress:

Few things are more heartbreaking than encountering an injured, sick, or orphaned bird (adult or chick) or other wild animal. It is in our human nature to want to help, but how do we make sure we do more good than harm? Follow these important guidelines…

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