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Bird Watchers

To get this thread back on track - I have been focused on attracting woodpeckers to our place, which requires me, suet and climbing ladders in the backyard. Daily visits from downy woodpeckers, red headed woodpeckers, red bellied woodpeckers, common flickers - but not yet successful at drawing in a pileated woodpecker, even though I see them frequently at a large park that is an 8 minute walk from our place.

Sorry Gramps ( @ggiese ) - no pictures of my pecker(s).
 
I love feeding the birds and watching them eat. Last year I had hummingbirds who got so used to me they would feed a few feet away while I had a cigar on the deck. This year I have a nest by my back door. Unfortunately we have to take our feeders down because of hungry bears.
 
xyz123 said:
George, ever look into doing a coffee table book or calendars? Or just simply selling or licensing?

These are fantastic and certainly rival or best many I've seen. Are you familiar with the artist Owen Gromme?
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I’m really new at doing this, but have had quite a few people asking for calendars. Was also thinking about doing some framed prints to help offset the costs of the food and camera equipment. I don’t expect my photos to turn into a huge business but if it brings in a couple of dollars - that would be great.
 
MilesMingusMonk said:
To get this thread back on track - I have been focused on attracting woodpeckers to our place, which requires me, suet and climbing ladders in the backyard. Daily visits from downy woodpeckers, red headed woodpeckers, red bellied woodpeckers, common flickers - but not yet successful at drawing in a pileated woodpecker, even though I see them frequently at a large park that is an 8 minute walk from our place.

Sorry Gramps ( @ggiese ) - no pictures of my pecker(s).
Click to expand...
We’ve had a similar response of peckers to our feeders. I’m still trying to understand the difference between a Downey versus a Hairy Woodpecker. I think we’re getting both because I have what looks like a gigantic version of the Downey Woodpecker regularly visiting the feeders, but I’m not sure if that’s what distinguishes the two (I’m told it’s also in the spotting and striping)

Amongst todays visitors this morning - a House Finch coloring up nicely!

455AC85E-2FC0-4EFA-891B-88E8164F57E2.jpeg
 
For those new to birding, I have two free apps I highly recommend and use myself:

Merlin Bird ID: This will help you identify the birds you see in your local area. It works all over the world and is quickly replacing the need for a library of field guides.

ebird: This is run by Cornell University, which is the Meca of bird life. It will allow you to submit your findings and they use the data for all sorts of research. If you're a bird nerd like me, it will also tell you the hot spots for seeing birds in any area.
 
ggiese said:
We’ve had a similar response of peckers to our feeders. I’m still trying to understand the difference between a Downey versus a Hairy Woodpecker. I think we’re getting both because I have what looks like a gigantic version of the Downey Woodpecker regularly visiting the feeders, but I’m not sure if that’s what distinguishes the two (I’m told it’s also in the spotting and striping)
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The size difference is how I distinguish them - the Hairy Woodpecker is larger ( 7.5" male) vs Downy Woodpecker ( 5.25" male).
The suet feeders they come visit are on trees that are within 12'-15' feet of our house windows, which makes estimating their size easier than if you are viewing them deeper into your yard? I use the basic suet cages , which are probably 5" squares, so that helps as a measuring tool as well.

The Red Bellied Woodpacker visits us daily, but I always call it a Red Headed Woodpecker mistakenly ( which is a far less common visitor for us ) , because while the Red Bellied Woodpecker has a red head too , just not the full helmet , it does not have a red belly! What the hell?
 
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ggiese said:
I’m really new at doing this, but have had quite a few people asking for calendars. Was also thinking about doing some framed prints to help offset the costs of the food and camera equipment. I don’t expect my photos to turn into a huge business but if it brings in a couple of dollars - that would be great.
Click to expand...

You should talk to @CoventryCat86 and start selling his cigar box birdhouses with your awesome bird calendars!
 
Nihon_Ni said:
For those new to birding, I have two free apps I highly recommend and use myself:

Merlin Bird ID: This will help you identify the birds you see in your local area. It works all over the world and is quickly replacing the need for a library of field guides.

ebird: This is run by Cornell University, which is the Meca of bird life. It will allow you to submit your findings and they use the data for all sorts of research. If you're a bird nerd like me, it will also tell you the hot spots for seeing birds in any area.
Click to expand...
Merlin is my go-to app when I first see a bird I've never seen before. It works amazing. But - sometimes it gives you several matches (like the Hairy vs. Downey Woodpeckers, House Finch vs. Purple Finch, etc) that are so close to one another it takes a ton more research to figure it out. The other really cool thing is it keeps track of the birds that have visited so if you ever want to know what's been by and when, it's a great source of into.
 
MilesMingusMonk said:
The size difference is how I distinguish them - the Hairy Woodpecker is larger ( 7.5" male) vs Downy Woodpecker ( 5.25" male).
The suet feeders they come visit are on trees that are within 12'-15' feet of our house windows, which makes estimating their size easier than if you are viewing them deeper into your yard? I use the basic suet cages , which are probably 5" squares, so that helps as a measuring tool as well.

The Red Bellied Woodpacker visits us daily, but I always call it a Red Headed Woodpecker mistakenly ( which is a far less common visitor for us ) , because while the Red Bellied Woodpecker has a red head too , just not the full helmet , it does not have a red belly! What the hell?
Click to expand...
The ones that show up by my house look almost identical in markings (hard to tell the difference) but the one I'm pretty sure is the Hairy is twice the size of the Downey
 
MilesMingusMonk said:
You should talk to @CoventryCat86 and start selling his cigar box birdhouses with your awesome bird calendars!
Click to expand...
I forgot about Bill's cigar box birdhouses!!! I actually have a crapload of old cigar boxes in my basement. I'll need to do some rooting around! Not sure I have any Quinteros boxes (as I recall - those were the best boxes to use)...
 
MilesMingusMonk said:
The size difference is how I distinguish them - the Hairy Woodpecker is larger ( 7.5" male) vs Downy Woodpecker ( 5.25" male).
The suet feeders they come visit are on trees that are within 12'-15' feet of our house windows, which makes estimating their size easier than if you are viewing them deeper into your yard? I use the basic suet cages , which are probably 5" squares, so that helps as a measuring tool as well.
Click to expand...

This is absolutely true, but in the field, it's often hard to determine the relative size of a bird without seeing a reference bird (or reference suet feeder!). This is especially challenging when looking through binoculars. When I do have to figure out a bird's size to assist me in identification, I always make that determination with the naked eye, as binos can really distort your approximation.

For the Hairy vs. Downy determination, I use the trick of looking at the size of their bill vs. the rest of their head. If you look at the picture below, you can see that a Hairy's bill is nearly as long as the rest of its head, whereas a Downy's bill is only about half the size of its head. I find this to be more reliable than trying to determine a bird's relative size.


Hairy_Downy_woodpecker001_0.jpg

The Audobon website gives a few other tips for identifying Downy vs Hairy, and offers this bit of guidance:

Lastly, it’s important to note that the Downy Woodpecker is much more abundant than its Hairy counterpart, especially in suburbia. The Hairy prefers towering trees and deeper woods, while the Downy will settle for baby birches and cattails.

When I was a beginning birder, I'd just look at the bird and try to figure out what it was from the physical clues. Now, I use habitat as my first filter of what the bird might be. Knowing that Downies are frequent suburban visitors and Hairies are not generally sets me to cue into the bill to make sure it's not a Hairy.
 
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ggiese said:
Merlin is my go-to app when I first see a bird I've never seen before. It works amazing. But - sometimes it gives you several matches (like the Hairy vs. Downey Woodpeckers, House Finch vs. Purple Finch, etc) that are so close to one another it takes a ton more research to figure it out. The other really cool thing is it keeps track of the birds that have visited so if you ever want to know what's been by and when, it's a great source of into.
Click to expand...
The one-piece of info that is missing from Merlin is a bird's dimensions. That would be really helpful in figuring out things like Downy vs Hairy, Cooper Hawk vs Sharpie, etc. In the case of House vs Purple Finch, they are the same size so you have to look for other clues. We had a few Purple Finches visit last winter, so I was able to do a direct comparison with the more prevalent House Finches. The field guide says the purple finches are more colorful, but that's not really helpful until you see them both together. The tricks I use to decipher them are two marks on the Purple Finch that are lacking on the House Finch: Purple wing bars, and the lack of a brown eye stripe.

 
Nihon_Ni said:
This is absolutely true, but in the field, it's often hard to determine the relative size of a bird without seeing a reference bird (or reference suet feeder!). This is especially challenging when looking through binoculars. When I do have to figure out a bird's size to assist me in identification, I always make that determination with the naked eye, as binos can really distort your approximation.

For the Hairy vs. Downy determination, I use the trick of looking at the size of their bill vs. the rest of their head. If you look at the picture below, you can see that a Hairy's bill is nearly as long as the rest of its head, whereas a Downy's bill is only about half the size of its head. I find this to be more reliable than trying to determine a bird's relative size.


View attachment 55205

The Audobon website gives a few other tips for identifying Downy vs Hairy, and offers this bit of guidance:

Lastly, it’s important to note that the Downy Woodpecker is much more abundant than its Hairy counterpart, especially in suburbia. The Hairy prefers towering trees and deeper woods, while the Downy will settle for baby birches and cattails.

When I was a beginning birder, I'd just look at the bird and try to figure out what it was from the physical clues. Now, I use habitat as my first filter of what the bird might be. Knowing that Downies are frequent suburban visitors and Hairies are not generally sets me to cue into the bill to make sure it's not a Hairy.
Click to expand...
I’m definitely in the country part of suburbia (a bit more open space around me). There is no doubt based on what you posted I’ve been visited by both. More often the Downey, but there is at least one Hairy that stops by. As you say - he definitely has a much longer beak
 
A Great Blue Heron sitting on the garage (taken several years ago). There is trail along side a creek that borders the property, and once or twice a year I spook one that I had no idea was hanging out in the creek. The noise that is produced from them taking flight always scares the crap out of me.

full
 
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