What is your favorite bird??
dreher
Member Posts: 8,891 ✭✭✭✭
There are so many possibilities. Robins, cardinals, blue birds, goldfinches, doves the list of birds I like a lot is a long list but after a lot of thought I have decided the Carolina Wren is my favorite.
They aren't as flashy as many of the others but they are very pretty. They EAT BUGS!!! That alone makes me like them but there are many other reasons. They don't seem to be afraid of humans and will often nest very close to our front door seemingly unbothered by our constant walking by 2 to 3 feet from their nest. They even tolerate bending over and shining a flashlight into their nest to check on eggs and/or babies. They nest on our porch and don't make a mess like the robins do when they nest on our porch. When one of the adults leaves the nest to go get another bug for the babies they take a bill full of poop with them and you can see them drop it on the yard. They also make really cool nests. The entrance is on the side and the nest usually has a "roof". I'm going to try a do a link to a typical nest.
So which birds are your favorites and why??
Comments
I really enjoy Canada Gooses.
So majestic, so graceful, so tasty ...
I would have to say I use my left one the most while sticking it out the car window at tailgaters here in the Atlanta area. 😁
Going by how much i spend on feeding them it must be the Baltimore Oriole. Beautiful birds and fun watching them bring their young to the feeders. 🤔 Bob
My dad use to raise Quail I have to agree that they are fun to watch would also be my vote
mockingbird. great bug eaters and stupid brave where their young are concerned.
A lot of strange deaths with songbirds this year. I have always been partial to the cardinal.
The eastern kingbird is a fearless one as well. I've seen them trying to take feathers out of a redtail so far up that you needed binoculars to see them and understand why the hawk was flying so strangely.
Even though I live on heavily wooded acres west of Indy and my wife spends more on bird food that on me, I have to agree with Smitty500mag .
Quail, cardinals, bluebirds, wild turkey. But I have to admit I get a kick out of the little bitty guys with the turbo- hummingbirds. Our cat will be sleeping on the rail on the deck- they will hover over the cat- you can see fur blowing in the downdraft. Absolutely fearless little guys.
Love my hummers. Sadly not seeing very many this year . Wife has gotten into bird feeding / watching . She loves the goldfinches .
Steller Jay, they’re crazy smart and they remember. We have one with a gimpy leg that comes back every winter, we call him Hopalong and he’ll eat peanuts from our hands.
Also read it's in PA, WV, OH, NJ and NY.
Meep meep!
The bird above roadrunner is an a American Kestrel. Was also known as a Sparrow Hawk.
We have 18 acres of woods, with some on the east side and some on the west side of our house. We have a LOT of species that make their homes here. We have hawks, buzzards, Blue Jays, woodpeckers, plus all the common birds for this area. However the one bird I consider it a privilege to see is the Bald Eagle. We see them more often in the last few years. Last week I saw 2 of them flying towards the pond down the road.
That pond is a haven for a lot of exotic birds like Swans, Egrets, Canada Geese, Grey Herrons, plus many more.
There is an elderly lady (she's probably about my age😁) that parks along the road just to watch the birds we have in the woods.
I enjoy all of them except for one species that just raises hell most of the time, and that is the crows.
Prairie chicken. When I was a kid they were in the wild. And drumming on an evening was majestic. The Possum police introduced coyotes to the southern part of the state and that was that. Along with nesting areas kept diminishing.
Love the Eastern Bluebirds that show up when I mow the front acreage. ON a good day there will be quite a squadron thinning out the bug population.
For the past several years we have had a matex pair of bald eagles nesting somewhete in the swamp behind the house . Just beyond the swamp about 1/2 mile is a large 75 acre lake . I have seen them fishing there .
I love all of the songs but every band needs a drummer. Love the sound of ruffed grouse in the spring.
Bald Eagle
Golden Eagle
Doves white or ring neck
all others
And I love my yard bird too,,,,
Exactly right Dano. My wife saw this RobOz and now has quit feeding them. Bad news for the birds but maybe she will spend a little on jeff.
No favorite bird but the call of the whipporwill when I'm sipping a libation at dusk stirs my soul.
...and Bob White,,,
A frozen wrapped up turkey
To me birds are like a box of chocolates. I could never pick just one!
I put out a solar bird bath this year, and with things so extremely dry, our deck is now bird central for the whole neighborhood. Cute little goldfinches will come and land three feet from me as I'm refilling it (three times a day!) as if to plead for me to hurry up. We get those, house finches, chickadees, robins, European collared doves, and more. The robins splash so much water out that when I see one, I have to go out immediately and add water.
This all started with hummingbirds - still my faves. When I'd take their feeders down for winter, I had the idea to hang a seed feeder for the winter juncos. That morphed into a year-round thing, and then I saw a Youtube about those solar baths, and added one. Best thing I ever did, says the missus. She loves watching the birds drink and bathe. That's a surprise, because she showed little interest in the hummies until now.
Chicken, preferably fried. But to watch, we have a family of Road runners around the property every year that i will watch and the occasional red bird that I guess are males (I'm not real knowledgeable about type of birds). I did have a wounded vulture that I believe got hit by a car and his/her wing was broken, I feed it everyday for about 5 months, then it just never showed up any more. I called him Vinny and I enjoyed it hanging around even though it was ugly as sin...
We live on a lake just west of Minneapolis and a variety of birds are in the neighborhood - I couldn't say just one is a favorite. Eagles sometimes perch in an oak tree out back and eat a pike they grabbed up. Loons are out there occasionally & we enjoy their call (they really keep their distance from people). Wild turkeys wander through and cardinals can be heard often, they nest close by. Large numbers of ducks & geese stop here when migrating, some nest on this lake as there are cattails surrounding this bay - had to build a 220 ft. dock to get through them (red winged blackbirds nest there too). Had a wood duck nest up for a few years, fun to watch them fly into it at speed and the little ones jumping out from 15 ft. up - a little screech owl liked to roost in the doorway in the off season. We hear great horned owls hooting at night in the back yard in winter mating season. Mallards nested in the fenced garden one year, they hadn't figured on how the ducklings would get out - had to open the gate for 'em. Lots of other species around also - nope, can't pick just one.
Golden eagle. Followed by the red tail hawk.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
If I had to pick a favorite............it would be the CARDINAL..............because my grandmother and mother LOVE them. We always had Cardinal ornaments on the Christmas tree made by my grandmother...........hand sewn. So the CARDINAL represents my family from Missouri.
I also like Turkey vultures here in Texas because they take care of road kill. They are big and majestic.
I also love the mourning dove..............for hunting and eating........
THE BIRDS THAT I HATE ARE THE ONES THAT PEOPLE KEEP AS PETS................they are loud and obnoxious and I have no idea why anyone would want to keep a bird as a pet. Clip the wings and cage it.............just seems kinda stooopid to me.
After hunting them for years,I give a lot of respect to old Mr. Crow.Probably one of the smartest critters around.
I can't remember ever seeing one dead on the road. Smart they are.