I will never be a ‘birder.’ It takes far too much discipline and determination. Not to mention the almost vow-like commitment to long trips attempting to view the winged creatures, and early morning rising. [Are they really just morning people to begin with?] I am not even including the birders who devote entire vacation allotments to traveling the earth, combing secluded lands for a sighting of some special rare species. Nope. I will never be able to count myself a dedicated birder.
On the other hand, I enjoy watching birds and learning their behaviors, or laughing at their many tricks and antics. Nevertheless, the point I am going to defend here is not simply about enjoying birds; it’s about being familiar with your surroundings. I want to advocate for extra literacy around our own milieu. Other of nature’s near-by gems can be categorized likewise (flora and additional fauna) but right now I am starting with those on the wing. As we all have experienced, when you learn a little about a subject it opens the mind, spurs other connections, and brings more pleasure.
Frankly, I don’t know if there is an official definition of backyard birding. Further, I don’t care if there is; it isn’t consequential. To me backyard birding literacy means you can recognize (and name) some of the birds that so frequency share your environment. On occasion these rascals also share your food, flowers or fishing worms as well. [Come to think about it, I imagine that few fishermen dig their own worms these days.]
I would not feel comfortable to live in a house where there were objects I couldn’t identify by name (assuming no memory problems). I am certain others feel the same. But in our surroundings outside the doors of that house, it is a different story. Our naming-capacity of things like our fine feathered friends can be sadly placed on a perch at the back of our mind, with our ignorance ruffling nary a feather. [Okay, enough of the birdie allusions.] The motivational bonus accompanying this extra education is that you can easily share your knowledge with guests, friends or grandkids.
Here is my suggestion for your Bucket List approach (or your ‘Life List’ if your sensibilities prefer).
- Increase your backyard literacy by starting with the birds. Make or find a list of 10, 15 or 20 birds. Start on the low side if you aren’t currently familiar with any, and continue to concentrate on that list. See mine below. [If you are able to partake in any meals near the window, it brightens both the meal and the activity as well as accelerating the learning curve.]
.. - Recognize them and repeat their names. [Someday I will add flycatchers to my list, which I never seem to be able to distinguish – there are many.]
Hint: Learn to look at bills and feet (and maybe size) before coloring. While we are all attracted and drawn to the birds’ color, there is less deviation or anomaly in the bills and feet.
.. - Make sure you have a small regional bird book to help you. Some bird books like Sibley’s North American Birds published by the National Audubon Society can be overwhelming (although beautiful). But he now has smaller – and less expensive – regional books. While I am most familiar with the Sibley books from Audubon, there are several other great and well-known guides (such as the Petersons Field Guides, the Stokes Field Guides and those put out by National Geographic). These guides are just references so you can look up a bird variety you don’t know, or learn more about a variety you do know. They are not necessarily designed for word-by-word bedtime reading. Personally, I could never learn birds that way.
.. - When you can routinely name these birds, either add more to your list or check off your Bucket List ‘done’ box for backyard birding. My bet is that you will continue to be interested. You might consider the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. I have never done this, but think it would be fun.
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Friends-of-a-Feather —
Personal Memories
In the next section, I will share my Top 20 backyard bird list from my area, just as an example. First, below I want to mention a few special bird memories, as well as some species I have come to learn about, or special ones I can’t forget.
Cactus Wren. These cheeky little pests are commonly seen hopping about in parts of the southwest desert. They frequent any place where food or trouble is easy to get into. Amazingly, they can even read minds, at least enough to know which pots you had hoped they would not dig in.
Cardinals – red cardinals are specular birds. Common in the east, they are a beautiful vision in a snowy Connecticut meadow. Surprisingly, we frequently saw them in Arizona during the winter. Unfortunately, as of yet, I have seen none here in Southern Oregon.
Mockingbirds found in many areas, are birds favored by my husband who likes to taunt the creatures with imitative sounds, but can never win their game of superb vocal agility.
Mourning Doves (and their allies) are everywhere, but not on my list because I am not a big fan. Who knows why? If ever I was starving and had to kill birds to eat and survive, I’d start with them.
Peach-faced Lovebirds (parrot family) these long lived birds were once domesticated but escaped captivity for the ‘wild’ of suburbia and built flocks of feral populations over the years. They would occasionally land in our AZ backyard citrus trees.
Road Runners (technically the Greater Roadrunner) is an unknown treat to many people in this country, other than as a TV cartoon. I have seen the bird too infrequently not to still gawk if one is in view. It was at least an occasional event in Arizona. One December we had a roadrunner perch (really reclined) on the wall in our backyard for two days. Incidentally, did you know they will attack a rattlesnake? They are meat-eaters, and love hamburger. Unfortunately, they also love itty-bitty baby quails too.
Quails. I miss Arizona Gambel quails which laid eggs in our backyard planters and woke us many mornings with their chicken-like clucking and scratching. I also miss the summer time hatching spectacle followed by multiple little ‘fuzzy balls’ scurrying behind their parents. [They hatch later in the season than many birds since the instantly mobile little walkers need the weather very warm to survive.] I am told Southern Oregon has a Mountain Quail, but haven’t met one yet.
Hummingbirds. People who live where hummingbirds are uncommon, really love them; others maybe too. But those who see them frequently know what beastly little fighters they are. Small but mighty.
Red-wing Blackbirds, which are common in the northeast, always catch the eye with their striking flash of surprising wing beauty when they fly. They are an easy one to spot if they live in your area.
Turkeys – do they count? We have seen a turkey once in our current backyard, although they frequent our local park and hill areas. Still my most vivid turkey memories are comprised of wheels rather than wings. I remember driving approximately 15 mph on Rt 9 between Clifton Park and Saratoga Springs NY while a flock of perhaps 7-9 turkeys ran down the road in front of a line of beeping cars. Coincidentally (unless this is a common trait) a similar event happened between Alpine and Morenci Arizona on Rt. 191 known as the Devil’s Highway, a road little traveled. A very large Tom Turkey refused to yield his lane (of course his ‘lane’ was in the middle of the road) and he tried to out-run our car – for what seemed a very long distance. You have to shake your head, realizing how they earned their reputation for stupidity.
Kea. The prize for annoying may go to this bird. While people love to see nighttime sightings in New Zealand of another bird, the name-sake Kiwi, and maybe the little blue penguins, few could ignore the Kea if it’s in their vicinity. Loud, obnoxious, aggressively curious and big, the New Zealand Kea may be the world’s most annoying bird. [Still amazing.]
Big Bird. Having lived in many regions of the US, I have seen my share of large birds: gorgeous Bald Eagles in the south and east, Ospreys, many Hawks (like the Red-tailed, Harris or Cooper), Turkey Vultures galore, Storks, Flamingos, Night Herons, Blue Herons, Egrets, Pelicans, even an Albatross near the coast. But my most memorial big bird (despite being slightly smaller than the Yellow Sesame Street resident) was the California Condor. You can see these birds in a rather out of the way canyon in northern Arizona under a bridge crossing the state line into Utah at the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. You won’t forget it if you ever see one.
Finally, the title picture here is of Western Screech Owl babies. In Scottsdale for two summers in a row, these pictured owls (and perhaps their relatives) spent about 10 days continually camped out in our backyard. We were mesmerized by them, and they seemed curious about us. Later in the year we saw them not at all. Their nicknames? Cheech and Chong.
My Top 20 List
(My list might be a good one to borrow from since it is not terribly sophisticated and most of the birds are somewhat common in many places in the US)
Acorn Woodpecker
American Robin
Bushtit
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Chickadee (many types but this one is a ‘black-capped’, and sometimes we see mountain chickadees)
Dark-eyed Juncos (Oregon variety here)
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
Flicker (Northern Flicker here)
Goldfinch (American Goldfinch)
Humming birds (various types, most common here is Anna’s Hummingbird)
Nuthatch (noticeably unique for the way they go head down on the tree trunk)
Orange Crown Warbler
Red-breasted Sapsucker (thankfully they seem to concentrate on a favorite tree, rather than drilling their little holes in all my trees).
Scrub Jay (not as pretty as the more-eastern Blue Jay in my opinion)
Sparrows (many types but they are less common here than in previous backyards. The ones I see are probably either Chipping or House Sparrows. House Finches are a totally different bird, but which I am picking to sneak onto the list. They look something like sparrows but with red-ish sides or heads; they too are not as common here as in many locations.)
Spotted Towhee
Stellar Jay (saw on TV that these sneaks can mimic owls to scare others away from food)
Thrasher (Sage Thrasher)
Titmouse (Oak titmouse variety where I live)
Varied Thrush (that’s a name, not a category. Looks a bit like a fancy Robin)
Final Thought
Hope you will add some of these to your chart, and the whole activity to your Bucket List. My theory is that the longer our Bucket List becomes, the longer will be our desire to keep on aging (with pizzazz of course).
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Picture Credit: AgingwithPizzazz.com
