Bird watching is a great way to get closer to nature. What better way than watching birds from the comfort of your backyard!
Florida is home to a variety of bird species. A number of these birds live in Florida year-round while others are migratory birds and thus, only appear during certain seasons.
So, if you are wondering, what birds are in my backyard in Florida, read on to find out how to attract and identify these beautiful birds to your backyard.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 9.4 in (24 cm)
Weight: 2.0-3.2 oz (56-91 g)
Wingspan: 13.0-16.5 in (33-42 cm)
Red-bellied Woodpeckers are medium-sized Woodpeckers in the Picidae family. The name of this bird is misleading as the prominent red part of its plumage is on the head and not the belly. The scientific name for Red-bellied Woodpecker is Melanerpes carolinus.
Description
Red-bellied Woodpeckers are shinny and round-headed. They are the same size as the Hairy Woodpecker but lacks blocky outlines. The birds have long chisel-shaped bills and central tail feathers.
Red-bellied Woodpeckers are pale with boldly black and white striped back, wings and tail, and a flashing red cap and nape. The belly of the birds is pale, and the bill is brownish and black in adults. The birds have white perches near the wingtip when in flight. Female Red-bellied Woodpeckers lack the red crown.
Red-bellied Woodpeckers weigh 56 to 91 grams and are approximately 24 cm long. The birds have a wingspan of 33 to 42 cm.
Habitat
Red-bellied Woodpeckers can be found in most forests, woodlands, and wooden suburbs, including oak-hickory forest, pine-hardwood forest, maple and tulip-poplar stands, and Pine Flatwoods. They also inhabit the river bottoms and wetlands.
Food
Feeders that attract Red-bellied Woodpeckers are large hopper, suet cage, platform, and nectar feeders. In these feeders, you can put foods such as black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, safflower, peanut, mealworms, peanut hearts, cracked corn, sugar water, suet, or fruits. The birds also feed on insects, spiders, and other arthropods.
Nesting
Red-bellied Woodpeckers lay 2 to 6 smooth white eggs and incubate them for 12 days. The birds experience 1 to 3 broods in a year. The chicks are hatched naked, helpless, and with their eyes closed. Nestling takes 24 to 27 days.
Indigo Bunting
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.7-5.1 in (12-13 cm)
Weight: 0.4-0.6 oz (12-18 g)
Wingspan: 7.5-8.7 in (19-22 cm)
The Indigo Banting is a small seed-eating bird that belongs to the cardinal family, Cardinalidae. It is migratory. The scientific name of this bird is the Passerina cyanea.
Description
The Indigo Buntings are small, stocky birds with short tails and short thick conical bills. Whenever they are on the flight, they appear plumb with short, rounded tails.
A breeding male species of this bird is usually blue almost everywhere, with slight rich blue on the head and a small silver-gray bill. The females are usually brown with a faith streaking on the breast, a whitish throat, and sometimes a touch of blue on the wings, tail, or rump. The young males are patchy blue and brown.
The average weight of this bird is 12 to 18 grams with a length of 12 to 13 cm. The wingspan ranges from 19 to 22 cm.
Habitat
These birds are commonly found in weedy and bush areas, especially where the field meets the forest. They love edges, hedgerows, overgrown patches, and brushy roadsides. When they are not singing from the tallest perches in the area, they can be seen foraging among the seed laded shrubs and grasses.
Food
The Indigo Buntings feed on small seeds, berries, buds, and insects. Some of the seeds they feed on include thistles, goldenrods, dandelions, and grains such as oats. Some of the berries include blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, serviceberries, and elderberries. They feed on insects such s caterpillars.
Nesting
The Indigo Bunting lay a clutch of 3 to 4 eggs and incubate them for 11 to 14 days. The eggs are usually unmarked white, and some have brownish spots. They experience 1 to 3 broods in a year. The chicks are hatched naked, helpless, and with closed eyes.
Cedar Waxwing
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.5-6.7 in (14-17 cm)
Weight: 1.1 oz (32 g)
Wingspan: 8.7-11.8 in (22-30 cm)
Description
The scientific name of Cedar Waxwing is Bombycilla cedrorum. It is a medium-sized sleek bird with a large head. The birds have short necks and short wide bills. The crest on their head often lies flat and droops over the back of the head. The birds have broad wings that are pointed like those of Starling’s and short square-tipped tails.
Cedar Waxwings are pale brown on the head and chest and light gray on their wings. The underpart is pale yellow, and the tail is gray with a bright yellow tip. The face of a Cedar Waxwing has a narrow black mask outlined in white. Their wing feathers have red waxy tips that are not much conspicuous.
The birds fly in big unruly flocks that grow, shrink, divide and rejoin like starling flocks. Cedar Waxwing weighs approximately 32 grams and is 14 to 17 cm long. The wingspan of the birds ranges from 22 to 30 cm.
Habitat
Cedar Waxwing can be found low in berry bushes, high in evergreens, or along rivers and over ponds. They inhabit deciduous, coniferous, and mixed woodlands, especially areas along streams, sagebrush, and desert washes. Cedar Waxwing, during winters, is found in open woodlands, parks, gardens, forest edges, and second-growth forests.
Food
To attract Cedar Waxwing birds, the ideal feeder type is a platform feeder. In the feeder, you can put fruit such as berries for the bird to feed on. They also feed on protein-rich insects like mayflies, dragonflies, stoneflies, and leaf beetles.
Nesting
Cedar Waxwing lay two to 6 eggs and have 1 to 2 broods in a year. The eggs are pale blue or blue-gray, sometimes with black or gray spots, and are 1.6 to 2.9 cm long and 1.4 to 1.8 cm wide. Incubation takes 11 to 13 days, while nesting takes 14 to 18 days.
Black-and-white Warbler
Length: 4.3-5.1 in (11-13 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.5 oz (8-15 g)
Wingspan: 7.1-8.7 in (18-22 cm)
Description
The scientific name of Black and White Warbler is Mniotilta varia. The Black and White Warblers are small songbirds about the size of a black-capped Chickadee. They are medium-sized Warblers. They are boldly striped in black and white, as their name suggests. They have long black wings highlighted by two white wing bars. The adult male has a black streaking on the underparts and the cheeks. Females are paler with less streaking and a wash of buff on the flanks.
Black and White Warbler have long and slightly downcurved bills. Their tails are short, and their heads appear somewhat flat and streamlined with short necks. The end tail of the birds has distinctive large black spots. They have extra long hind claws and heavier legs than other Wood Warblers.
The Black and White Warblers are approximately 11 to 13 centimeters long and have a weight of between 8 to 15 grams. The wingspan of the birds ranges between 18 to 22 centimeters.
Habitat
Black and White Warblers prefer deciduous forests and mixed forests. During migration, they are mostly found in woodlots and forests in riparian settings. During winters, they inhabit laws, gardens, urban areas, fruit orchards, shade-coffee plantations, wetlands, and mangroves.
Food
Suet cage feeders are the ideal feeder types for Black and White Warblers. In the cage, you can put suet inside. Black and White’s Warblers also feed on arthropods like ants, flies, spiders, beetles, weevils, and leafhoppers.
Nesting
Black and White Warblers have 1 to 2 broods in a year and lay 4 to 6 eggs. The eggs are creamy white, pale bluish, or greenish-white with speckles of brown or lavender. The incubation period is between 10 to 12 days, and nesting takes 8 to 12 days.
Common Ground Dove
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.9-7.1 in (15-18 cm)
Weight: 1.0-1.4 oz (28-40 g)
Description
The Common Ground-Dove is a small bird that inhabits most parts of the Americas. It is considered the smallest dove that exists in the US. Just as the name suggests, it spends most of its time on the ground. Its scientific name is Columbina Passerina.
The Common Ground Doves are small doves with short round wings, short tails, and a short, thin bill. They are stocky with short legs, and they shuffle as they walk. Generally, these birds are sandy brown and have some dark spots on the wing coverts.
The males have a pinkish wash on the head, neck, and chest and bluish clowns. Both male and female have a fine, dark scaling on the neck and chest and a pinkish-red bill with a dark tip. The average weight is 28 to 40 grams with a length of between 15 to 18 cm.
Habitat
They live in open or shrubby areas where there is plenty of tall grove trees or grasses and this includes the open savannas and riparian corridors. They also live in urban areas and suburbs where they frequent yards and edges.
Food
If you are interested in attracting the Common Ground-Dove, the ideal feeders are the Platform, ground, and large hopper. You can put inside some of the foods like milo, millet, oats, cracked corn, and the hulled sunflower seeds.
These birds also eat insects and berries. During the spring and summer, they feed on snail shells to recover the calcium lost to eggs and crop milk during the nesting.
Nesting
The Common Ground Doves lay a clutch of q to 3 eggs, and they proceed to incubate them for 12 to 14 days. The eggs are uniformly white and smooth. They usually have one to four broods in a year. Chicks are hatched with their eyes closed and bodies covered with sparse grey down.
Pine Warbler
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.1-5.5 in (13-14 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.5 oz (9-15 g)
Wingspan: 7.5-9.1 in (19-23 cm)
The Pine Warbler is a small songbird of the new world warbler family. The scientific name of this bird is the Setophaga pinus.
Description
The Pine Warblers are hefty long-tailed warblers that have a stout bill. The tail tip usually appears to have a central notch. These are yellowish birds with olive backs, whitish berries, and two popular white wing bars on gray wings. The males are the brightest, and the females or the young ones are more subdued and can even appear gray-brown.
The average weight of this bird is 9 to 15 grams, with an average wingspan of 19 to 23 cm.
Habitat
The Pine Warblers spend most of their time in pine trees. They can be in a pine forest or a deciduous tree. They are found in the same habitats in winter, but they also visit backyards and come to bird feeders to eat seeds and suet.
Food
If you want to attract the Pine Warbler, the ideal feeders include the suet cage, platform, small hopper, large and small tube feeder. Inside those feeders, you can keep foods such as the suet, hulled sunflower seeds, and peanuts.
These birds mainly feed on caterpillars, spiders, and other arthropods. They also take some fruits as seeds, especially during the colder months. During the migration, they at times feed on the deciduous trees.
Nesting
The Pine Warbler lays a clutch of 3 to 5 eggs and proceeds to incubate them for ten to13 days. The eggs are whitish, grayish, or greenish-white with brown speckles. They experience 1 to 2 broods in a year.
Tree Swallow
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.7-5.9 in (12-15 cm)
Weight: 0.6-0.9 Oz (16-25 g)
Wingspan: 11.8-13.8 in (30-35 cm)
The Tree Swallow is a migratory bird that belongs to the family of Hurundinidae. The scientific name of this bird is the Tachycineta bicolor.
Description
The Tree Swallows are tiny songbirds that are usually streamlined and have both a squared or notched tail and long, pointed wings. They have very short and flat bills.
The adult male species of this bird are blue-green above and white below with blackish flight feathers and a thin black eye mask. The females are duller with more brown in their upper parts, while the young ones are completely brown above. The young ones and some females can show a weak, blurry grey-brown breast band.
Habitat
The Tree Swallows breed in open habitats such as the wetlands, usually adjacent to the water. They nest in artificial nest boxes as well as in tree cavities. Foraging flocks can be seen frequently over wetlands, water, and agricultural fields.
Food
The Tree Swallows live on a diet of insects, but they occasionally catch other small animals and may also eat plant food during the bad weather when the preys are scarce. In the east, all kinds of insects, including sawflies, bees, ants, wasps, beetles, stoneflies, mayflies, and more.
During the breeding season, they eat high calcium items such as fish bones, clamshells, and others.
Nesting
The Tree Swallows lay a clutch of 4 to 7 eggs and incubate them for 11 to 20 days. The eggs are pale pink, turning to pure white within four days. They experience one or two broods every year. The hatched chicks are helpless, with closed eyes and pink skin sparsely covered with down.
Eastern Bluebird
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 6.3-8.3 in (16-21 cm)
Weight: 1.0-1.1 oz (28-32 g)
Wingspan: 9.8-12.6 in (25-32 cm)
Description
The scientific name for this bird is Sialia sialis. The Eastern Bluebird is a small thrush with a big round head. The bird has large eyes, a plump body, and an alert posture. Eastern Bluebird’s bill is short and straight.
The male Eastern Bluebirds are deep blue on the top side and brick-red or rusty on both the breast and throat. They often look plain gray-brown from a distance. Female Eastern Bluebirds are greyish above and have bluish wings and tails. They have a subdued orange-brown breast.
The birds forage by fluttering to the ground and grabbing insects or catching them mid-air.
Eastern Bluebirds weigh 28 to 32 grams and are 16 to 21 centimeters long. The wingspan of the birds ranges between 25 to 32 cm.
Habitat
The Eastern Bluebirds are mostly found in meadows, open areas surrounded by trees, and areas with sparse ground cover. They are also common in golf courses, along roads, field edges, and other open areas like suburban parks and backyards.
Food
The ideal feeder type to attract Eastern Bluebird is Platform and ground feeders. In these feeders, you can put mealworms, fruits, peanut hearts, and suet. These birds also feed on insects like caterpillars, crickets, spiders, grasshoppers, and beetles.
Nesting
Eastern Bluebirds lay 2 to 7 eggs and have 1 to 3 broods in a year. The eggs are pale blue or rarely white. The eggs are 1.8 to 2.4 cm long and 1.5 to 1.9 cm wide. The incubation period is 11 to 19 days, and the nesting period is 17 to 21 days. The nestlings are hatched naked except for sparse tufts of dingy grey down and their eyes closed.
American Robin
Length: 7.9-11.0 in (20-28 cm)
Weight: 2.7-3.0 oz (77-85 g)
Wingspan: 12.2-15.8 in (31-40 cm)
Description
The American Robin is a migratory songbird named after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast. The scientific name of the American Robin is Turdus migratorius. The bird is largely distributed in the north.
There are seven subspecies of the American Robin, namely, the eastern Robin, the Newfoundland Robin, the Southern Robin, the Western Robin, the Northwestern Robin, the Mexican Robin, and the San Lucas Robin.
The American Robins are large songbirds with a round body, long legs, and a long tail. They are the largest North American thrushes. They are gray-brown in color with warm orange underparts. A white patch on the lower belly and under the tail is conspicuous when they are flying. They have pointed, thin beaks. Female American Robins have paler heads than the male.
The birds weigh between 72 to 94 grams for the male and females 59 to 91 grams. They are 20 to 28 centimeters long and have a wingspan ranging from 31 to 40 cm.
Feeding
American Robins are attracted by platform and ground feeders. They love feeding on peanut hearts, suet, sunflower seeds that have been hulled, fruits, and mealworms. The Robins feed mainly on fruit during the fall and winter. They sometimes become intoxicated when they feed exclusively on berries such as the honeysuckle.
Habitat
The birds usually breed in woodlands, open farmlands, and urban areas. The birds prefer large shade trees on lawns. During winter, they inhabit more open areas.
Nesting
American Robins construct their nests 1.5 to 4.5 meters above the ground in the dense bush. The female Robin lays a clutch of 3 to 5 light blue eggs and incubates them for 14 days.
American Redstart
Length: 4.3-5.1 in (11-14 cm)
Weight: 0.2-0.3 oz (6-9 g)
Wingspan: 6.3-7.5 in (16-19 cm)
Description
The American Redstart is a small warbler in the family wood-warblers. Its scientific name is Setophaga ruticilla. It is brightly colored, but the colors and color pattern are so distinct that they cannot be easily confused with any other warbler. The adult males, with a blackhead, back, and throat, a white belly, and orange or yellow patches in the flight feathers and tail base are more colorful and more attractive. The females have a light gray head and bright yellow patches in the flight and tail feathers.
The birds have wide flat bills and a long, expressive tail. When in flight, it has a slim belly, deep chest, and a club-shaped tail.
The American Redstart is 11 to 14 cm in length and weighs an averagely of 8.6grams for males and 8.7 grams for females. The weight of the birds drops drastically during winter to an average of 7.2 grams for males and 6.9 grams for females. Their wingspan is between 16 to 23 centimeters.
Habitat
The American Redstart breed mostly in open wooded habitats, especially those dominated by deciduous trees. During winter, they inhabit the woodlands and open forests at lower and middle elevations.
Food
The diet of the American Redstart mainly consists of insects such as flies, caterpillars, moths, craneflies, spiders, and aphids. These birds eat insects off of leaves, twigs, and other surfaces. The birds eat a few berries and seeds from barberry, serviceberry, and magnolia.
Nesting
The female Redstarts lay 2 to 5 eggs and incubate them for 10 to 13 days in a cup-shaped nest. Male Redstart matures within a year but has low reproductive success due to its female-like plumage.
House Sparrow
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.9-6.7 in (15-17 cm)
Weight: 0.9-1.1 oz (27-30 g)
Wingspan: 7.5-9.8 in (19-25 cm)
The House Sparrow is a small bird from the sparrow family Passalidae, and it is widespread through most parts of the world. The scientific name of the bird is Passer domesticus.
Description
The House Sparrows are chunkier compared to the North American Sparrows and fuller in the chest with a larger rounded head, shorter tail, and stouter bill than most American Sparrows.
The male Sparrows are bright-colored birds with gray heads, white cheeks, a black bib, and ferrous neck, although, in the urban areas, you may see some that are dull and grubby. The females are plain buffy-brown overall with dingy gray-brown underparts. Their backs are noticeably striped with buff, black and brown.
The average weight of this bird is 27 to 30 grams with a length of 15 to 17 cm. The wingspan ranges from 19 to 25 cm.
Habitat
The House Sparrows are known to love living around people. They are mainly found in the city streets, taking handouts in parks and zoos, or cheeping from a perch on your roof or trees in your yard. They are also in the countryside around the farmsteads.
Food
If you want to attract the House Sparrows, the ideal feeders are the platform, ground, large hoppers, and large tube feeders. In these feeders, you can put foods such as millet, milo, cracked corn, hulled sunflower seeds, peanut hearts, and the black oil sunflower seeds.
During the summer, they also feed on insects and also feed them to their chicks.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of v1 to 8 eggs and incubate them for 10 to 14 days. The eggs are light white to grayish-white or bluish-white with some gray or brown spots. They experience 1 to 4 broods a year. The hatched chicks are usually naked with bright pink skin and closed eyes.
White-winged Dove
MEASUREMENTS
Weight: 4.4-6.6 oz (125-187 g)
Wingspan: 18.9-22.8 in (48-58 cm)
The White-winged Dove is a dove that originated from the United States. The scientific name of this bird is Zenaida Asiatica.
Description
The White-winged Doves are plumb, Square-tailed doves with relatively long, thin bills and small heads. These birds are brown overall with a dark line on the cheek. A white stripe at the edge of the folded wing becomes, as the bird takes a flight, a bright flash in the middle of a dark wing.
The tail of this dove is tipped in white and set off with black stripes from the gray underside. Their faces are ornately marked with a black streak on the cheek and blue skin around the red eyes.
The average weight of this bird is 125 to 187 grams, with an average wingspan of 48 to 58 cm.
Habitat
The ideal place to get the White-winged Doves is in the deserts, in the cities, the suburbs, and the coastal areas. They occasionally visit the backyards and feeders.
Food
If you want to attract the White-winged Dove, the ideal feeders include the large hopper, ground, and platform. Inside these feeders, you can put foods such as oats, milo, hulled sunflower seeds, millet, cracked corn, and black oil sunflower seeds.
Just like any other bird, this bird feeds on small stones to help them pulverize plant materials in the gizzard, and they also feed in snails and bone fragments as their source of calcium.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of one or two eggs and incubate them for 14 to 20 days. The eggs are creamy-white or buff with a dull texture. They experience one or two broods in a year. The hatched chicks have closed eyes and dark skin coated with long off-white down feathers.
Red-eyed Vireo
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.7-5.1 in (12-13 cm)
Weight: 0.4-0.9 oz (12-26 g)
Wingspan: 9.1-9.8 in (23-25 cm)
A Red-eyed Vireo is a small American songbird that looks like a warbler but not closely related to New World Warblers. The scientific name for this bird is Vireo olivaceus.
Description
Red-eyed Vireos are large and chunky with long angular heads. The birds have a thick neck and a strong long bill with a visible hook at the tip. The birds generally have a broad body and a short tail.
Red-eyed Vireos have olive-green upper parts and a white below. The head of the birds has a strong pattern with a gray crown and white eyebrow stripe bordered by blackish lines. The flanks and under the tail of the birds have a green-yellow wash. Adult Red-eyed Vireos have red eyes that appear dark from a distance. Immature Red-eyed Vireos have dark eyes.
Habitat
Red-eyed Vireos can be found in residential areas, parks, cemeteries with large trees, and deciduous trees such as maples. Red-eyed Vireo’s breed in deciduous and mixed forests with shrubby understories during summer. During winter, the birds occur in high elevation rainforests, mangroves, plantations, forest edges, gardens, and arid areas with adequate vegetation.
Food
To attract Red-eyed Vireos, you can use the suet cage feeder and put suet, mealworms, or fruits in the feeder. The bird also feeds on insects like caterpillars, moths, beetles, treehoppers, scale insects, beetles, ants, and wasps, as well as spiders and snails.
Nesting
Red-eyed Vireos lay one to 5 eggs and have 1 to 2 broods in a year. The eggs are dull white with sparse sepia speckles and are incubated for 11 to 15 days. Chicks are hatched helpless, eyes closed with sparse down on the pinkish-orange skin of their head, back, and wings.
Northern Flicker
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 11.0-12.2 in (28-31 cm)
Weight: 3.9-5.6 oz (110-160 g)
Wingspan: 16.5-20.1 in (42-51 cm)
The Northern Flicker, also known as the Common Flicker, is a medium-sized bird in the Woodpecker family. It is one of the few migratory Woodpeckers. The scientific name for Northern Flicker is Colaptes auratus.
Description
Northern Flickers are slim, fairly large Woodpeckers with rounded heads and slightly downcurved bills. They have a long-flared tail that tapers to a point.
Northern Flickers appear brownish with a white rump patch which is conspicuous when the birds are flying and also visible when perched. The birds have a black bib and a spotted berry. The undersides of the tail feathers and wings are usually bright yellow or red for the eastern birds and western birds, respectively. The plumage is usually brown and patterned with some black spots, bars, and crescents. Female yellow-shafted Northern Flickers lack the black mustache found in the male Flickers.
Northern Flickers weigh 110 to 160 grams and are 28 to 31 cm long. The birds have a wingspan of 42 to 51 cm.
Habitat
Northern Flickers have habitats in woodlands, forest edges, open fields with scattered trees, city parks, and the suburbs. The birds can also be found in wet areas such as streamside woods, flooded swamps, and marsh edges.
Food
Ideal feeders to attract Northern Flickers are a large hopper, platform feeder, or a suet cage. In these feeders, you can put black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, cracked corn, millet, peanut hearts, safflower, peanuts, or suet. Northern Flickers also eat insects, especially ants and beetles.
Nesting
Northern Flickers lay 5 to 8 white eggs and incubate them for 11 to 13 days. The birds experience only one brood in a year. The chicks are hatched naked, pink in color, eyes closed, with clumsy movements, and with a sharp egg tooth at the tip of their bills. Nestling takes 24 to 27 days.
Purple Martin
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 7.5-7.9 in (19-20 cm)
Weight: 1.6-2.1 oz (45-60 g)
Wingspan: 15.3-16.1 in (39-41 cm)
The Purple Martin is the largest Swallow in North America. The birds belong in the genus Progne, and their scientific name is Progne subis.
Description
Purple Martins are very large and have broad chests. The bids have bold, slightly hooked bills and shot forked tails. The wings of the birds are long and tapered.
Purple Martins are not truly purple despite their name. Adult male Purple Martins are shiny, dark blue-purple with brown-black wings and tails. Female and immature Purple Martins are duller with variable amounts of gray on their head and chest. The birds have a whitish lower belly and a gray collar around the neck.
Purple Martins weigh 45 to 60 grams and are 19 to 20 cm long. The birds have a wingspan of 39 to 41 cm.
Habitat
Purple Martins breed along forest edges, rivers, and urban areas. The birds forage over towns, parks, cities, dunes, open fields, wet meadows, beaver ponds, streams, and other open areas. During winter, the birds live in savannas and agricultural fields.
Food
To attract Purple Martins, you can put out crushed eggshells to give the birds a source of grit for digesting insect exoskeletons. Purple Martins’s diet includes beetles, flies, grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies, wasps, moths, bees, spiders, cicadas, termites, and mayflies.
Nesting
Purple Martins lay 3 to 6 eggs and incubate them for 15 to 18 days. The eggs are pure white and smooth. The birds experience 1 to 2 broods in a year. Hatched chicks are weak with bare pink skin and are nestled for 27 to 36 days.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 7.1-8.7 in (18-22 cm)
Weight: 1.5-1.9 oz (43-55 g)
Wingspan: 13.4-15.8 in (34-40 cm)
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is a medium-sized woodpecker that breeds in some parts of the United States. The scientific name of this bird is Sphyrapicus varius.
Description
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is a small, fairly small woodpecker with a stout, straight bill. To form a peek at the back of the head, these birds often hold their crown feathers up.
These birds are mainly black and white with patterned faces. Both the male and females have a red forehead, and the males have a red throat too. They also have a long white stripe along the folded wing. These birds have bold black and white stripe curve from the face towards a black chest shield and white or yellowish underparts.
The average weight of this bird is 23 to 55 grams with a length of 18 to 22 cm. The wingspan ranges from 34 to 40 cm.
Habitat
The Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers live in both the hardwood and conifer forests up to about an elevation of 6500 feet. They sometimes nest in groves and small trees such as the aspens, and they then spend the winter in woodlands.
Food
If you want to attract the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, the ideal feeder is the suet cage. Inside this feeder, you can pit some suet or dried mealworms. The main source of food for this bird is the sap, as the name suggests.
These birds also fed on the insects and spiders, gleaning them from beneath a tree bark like other woodpeckers. They also perch on tree branches and catch the flying insect’s midair.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of 4 to 6 eggs and incubate them for 10 to 13 days. The eggs are white. They experience one brood in a year. The hatched chicks are usually bare and blind with pink skin and a gray bill. The eyes are closed but open at eight days.
Chipping Sparrow
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.7-5.9 in (12-15 cm)
Weight: 0.4-0.6 oz (11-16 g)
Wingspan: 8.3 in (21 cm)
Description
The scientific name of Chipping Sparrow is Spizella passerine. The chipping sparrow is a slender, long-tailed sparrow. The bird has a medium-sized bill which is a little bit small for a sparrow. Chipping sparrows are clean and crisp, have frosty underparts, and have a pale face. They have a black line through the eye and a bright rusty crown.
During winters, the birds are subdued, buff-brown, and have darkly streaked upper parts. The black line through their eye is still visible in winter, and the cap is still warm but more subdued reddish brown. Non-breeding birds are paler than breeding birds.
Chipping Sparrows weigh between 11 to 16 grams and are 12 to 15 centimeters long. The wingspan of the bird is 21 centimeters.
Habitat
The Chipping Sparrow is mostly found in open woodlands and forests with grassy clearings. They can also be found in parks, along roadsides, and residential areas, especially in shrubby and tree-lined backyards. The birds mostly inhabit trees like birch, oak, eucalyptus, aspen, and pecan tree.
Food
To attract Chipping Sparrows, you can use a large hopper, small hopper, platform, or ground feeders. In the feeders, you can put hulled sunflower seeds, Nyjer, cracked corn, millet, and milo. Chipping Sparrows also feed on protein-rich insects and small fruits like cherries.
Nesting
Chipping Sparrows lay 2 to 7 eggs and have 1 to 3 broods per year. The eggs are pale blue to white, lightly streaked or spotted with black, brown, or purplish in color. The incubation period is 0 to 15 days, while nesting takes 9 to 12 days. Hatched nestlings are naked, helpless, eyes closed with a few feathers on the head and body.
Ovenbird
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.3-5.5 in (11-14 cm)
Weight: 0.6-1.0 oz (16-28 g)
Wingspan: 7.5-10.2 in (19-26 cm)
The Ovenbird is a small migratory songbird that belongs to the new world warbler family. Its scientific name is the Seiurus aurocapilla.
Description
The Ovenbird is a chunky, larger than average, an average warbler but still smaller than a song sparrow. It has a round head, a fairly thick bill for a warbler, and a jaunty tail often cocked upwards. They are olive-green above and spotted below, with bold black and orange crown stripes. A white eye-ring gives it a somewhat surprised expression. It also has some pink legs.
The average weight of this bird is 16 to 28 grams with an average length of 11 to 14 cm. The wingspan ranges from 19 to 26 cm.
Habitat
The Ovenbirds breed in closed-canopy forests, in particular, deciduous and mixed deciduous-coniferous woods. You may find them in most forest types, from rich oak or maple woods to dry pine forests, although they avoid wet or swampy areas.
Food
The Ovenbirds mainly feed on forest insects which range from beetles, ants, caterpillars, flies and others. These insects are mainly found on the barks, leaf surfaces, and others in the air.
If you want to attract these birds, you can ensure there are shrubs and bushes around so that the inserts can breed in there, and this will attract the birds.
Nesting
The Ovenbirds lay a clutch of 3 to 6 eggs they proceed to incubate them for 11 to 14 days. The eggs are white with reddish-brown spots and speckles. These birds experience one or two broods a year. The hatched chicks are usually helpless, covered in dark grey to pale brown down, with eyes closed and mouth open.
Northern Parula
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.3-4.7 in (11-12 cm)
Weight: 0.2-0.4 oz (5-11 g)
Wingspan: 6.3-7.1 in (16-18 cm)
The Northern Parula is a new world Warbler that breeds in the US. Its scientific name is the Setophaga Americana.
Description
These are small wood-warblers that have a short tail and a thin pointy bill. They are plumb little warblers about the same size as a kinglet. The adult male is usually bluish in the whole body with a yellow-green patch on the back and two white wing bars.
The chest band separates the bright yellow throat and chest. The adult females are pale than males and typically have no breast band like that of the males. Both the male and female have a unique white eye crescent. The young ones are paler than adults, and they do not have a chestnut breast band.
The average weight of the bird is 5 to 11 grams with a length of 11 to 12 cm. The wingspan ranges from 16 to 18 cm.
Habitat
The Northern Parulas are commonly found in deciduous forests in the southern part, while in the north, they are common in evergreen forest. The key feature that should be in both areas is the moss. During the winter period, they forage on the fields, plantations, pastures, scrubs, and forests.
Food
The Northern Parulas mainly feed on spiders and different types of insects, particularly the caterpillars. They also feed on others such as bees, wasps, beetles, flies, moths, and locusts, among others. During the winter, they sometimes eat berries, seeds, and nectar.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of 2 to 7 eggs and incubate them for 12 to 14 days. The eggs are white to creamy white speckled with brown, red, grey, or purple. They experience one to two broods a year. The chicks are hatched helpless with eyes closed.
Common Yellowthroat
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.3-5.1 in (11-13 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.3 oz (9-10 g)
Wingspan: 5.9-7.5 in (15-19 cm)
Description
The Common Yellowthroat is a new world warbler. In the US, it is commonly known as the Yellow Bandit. Its scientific name is the Geothlypis trichas.
The Common Yellowthroat is a small songbird that has a chunky, rounded head and medium length, slightly rounded tails. The adult males are bright yellow below with a sharp black face mask and olive underparts. A thin whitish line sets of the black mask from the head and neck.
The young males show traces of the full mask of the adult males. The females are plain olive-brown with a yellow brightening the throat and the undertail. They have no black masks.
The average weight of this bird is 9 to 10 grams with a length of 11 to 13 cm. The wingspan ranges from 15 to 19 cm.
Habitat
The Yellowthroats live in open areas with thick, low vegetation ranging from marsh to grassland to open pine forest. They use even a wider suite of habitats during the migration.
Food
The Yellowthroats mainly eat from the ground, eating spiders, insects from the leaves, barks, branches, flowers, or fruits. Some of these insects include grasshoppers, bees, wasps, beetles, flies, and bugs. If you want to attract these birds, the ideal thing is to ensure there are shrubs and some ground vegetation on the compound, and they will come hunting for food.
Nesting
The Common Yellowthroats lay a clutch of between 1 to 6 eggs, and they incubate them for 12 days. The eggs are white with markings of grey, lilac, reddish-brown or black. They experience one or two broods a year. The hatched chicks are usually helpless with dark orange skin and a wisp of greyish down.
Carolina Chickadee
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 3.9-4.7 in (10-12 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (8-12 g)
Wingspan: 5.9-7.9 in (15-20 cm)
The Carolina Chickadee is a small Passerine bird that belongs to the family of tit Paridae. The scientific name is the Poecile carolinensis.
Description
The Carolina Chickadee is a small approachable bird that has a short neck and large head, and this gives it a unique spherical body shape. It has a fairly long tail, and the bill is thicker than that of warblers but thinner than that of a finch.
These birds have a black cap and a bib separated by a stark white cheek. The wings, back, and tail are soft gray in color. The average weight of this bird is 8 to 12 grama and has an average length of 10 to 12 cm. The wingspan ranges between 15 to 20 cm.
Habitat
The Carolina Chickadee mainly resides in the forested areas or in the urban and suburban yards, or in the parks with large trees.
Food
If you want to attract the Carolina Chickadees, the most appropriate feeders to use are the suet cage, platform, large and small tube feeders, and the large hopper. Inside these feeders, you can put foods such as the hulled sunflower seeds, suet, peanuts, black oil sunflower seeds, safflower, Nyjer, and peanut hearts.
In the winter season, the diet of these birds is half plants and half animals, while the rest of the year, they mainly feed on insects and spiders.
Nesting
The Carolina Chickadees lay a clutch of 3 to 10 eggs and incubate them for 12 to 15 days. The eggs are white with fine dots to small blotches of reddish-brown. The average length of the eggs is 1.5 c and a width of 1.1 cm. They experience one brood in a year. The hatched chicks are usually naked except for wisps down on the head, wings, and the rump.
Eurasian Collared-Dove
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 11.4-11.8 in (29-30 cm)
Weight: 4.9-6.3 oz (140-180 g)
Wingspan: 13.8 in (35 cm)
Description
The Eurasian Collared-Dove is a species of doves that are found in parts of the US. Its scientific name is the Streptopelia decaocto. It is not listed as an endangered species due to an increase in its population.
The Eurasian Collared-Doves have a plumb body, a small head, and a long tail. Compared to the Morning Doves, they are larger but slimmer and larger tailed than the rock pigeon. They have broad and slightly rounded. The tail is squared off the tip.
The birds are chalky light brown to gray buff birds with broad white patches at the tail. The collar of the bird is a narrow black crescent around the nape of the neck. Whenever the bird is perched, or it is on flight, the wingtip is darker than the rest of the wing.
The average weight of the bird is 140 to 180 grams with a length of 29 to 30 cm. The average wingspan is 35 cm.
Habitat
The Eurasian Collared Doves mainly live in the urban and suburban areas in many parts of the US. In the rural areas, you will easily find them on the farms and in livestock yards where grains are available. During the cold seasons, the flocks might roost together in large trees.
Food
If you want to attract these birds, the appropriate feeders are the platform, ground, and large hopper. Inside these feeders, you can put foods such as milo, millets, black oil sunflower seeds, cracked corns, peanut hearts, and hulled sunflower seeds.
They also eat some berries and green plants as well as small invertebrates.
Nesting
The Eurasian Collared Doves lay a clutch of 1 to 2 eggs and incubate them for 14 to 19 days. The eggs are smooth, white, and slightly glossy. They experience 3 to 6 broods in a year. The hatched chicks are covered in down.
Pileated Woodpecker
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 15.8-19.3 in (40-49 cm)
Weight: 8.8-12.3 oz (250-350 g)
Wingspan: 26.0-29.5 in (66-75 cm)
Pileated Woodpecker is the second largest, Woodpecker widely distributed in North America. The scientific name of Pileated Woodpecker is Dryocopus pileatus.
Description
Pileated Woodpeckers are very large, with long necks and a crest that is triangular shaped and sweeps off the back of the head. The birds have a long chisel-shaped bill about the same size as their head. The wings are broad when on flight.
Pileated Woodpeckers are mostly black and have white stripes on the face and the neck. The birds have a flaming-red crest. Male Pileated Woodpeckers have a red stripe on the cheek. The bird reveals large white underwings and small white crescents on the upper side and at the base of the speculum when flying.
Pileated Woodpeckers have a weight of 250 to 350 grams and a length of 40 to 49 cm. the wingspan of the birds is 66 to 75 cm.
Habitat
Pileated Woodpeckers are mostly found in mature deciduous or mixed deciduous-coniferous woodlands. The birds also occur in younger forests that have scattered, large, dead trees or downed woods. The birds have started inhabiting suburban areas with large trees and patches of woodland.
Food
The ideal feeder to attract Pileated Woodpeckers is the suet cage. In the cage, you can put foods such as mealworms, peanut hearts, peanuts, black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds or suet. The birds also feed on wild fruits and nuts, and carpenter ants, woodboring beetle larvae, termites, caterpillars, and grasshoppers.
Nesting
Pileated Woodpeckers lay 3 to 5 white eggs and incubate them for 15 to 18 days. The birds have only one brood in a year. Nesting takes 24 to 31 days. The chicks are hatched naked and helpless.
Eastern Phoebe
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.5-6.7 in (14-17 cm)
Weight: 0.6-0.7 oz (16-21 g)
Wingspan: 10.2-11.0 in (26-28 cm)
Description
The Eastern Phoebe is a small passerine bird. The scientific name of this bird is the Sayornis phoebe.
The Eastern Phoebe is a plumb songbird with a medium-length tail. It appears big-headed for a bird of its size. The head appears flat at the top, but phoebe sometimes raises the feather up into a peak. They have a short, thin bill used for catching insects.
These birds are brownish-gray above and off-white below with a dusky wash to the sides of the breast. The head is the darkest part among the upper parts. Birds in the fresh fall plumage show whitish edging on the folded wing feathers and faint yellow on the belly.
The average weight of the bird is 16 to 21 grams with a length of 14 to 17 cm. The wingspan ranges from 26 to 28 cm.
Habitat
The Eastern Phoebe prefers open woods such as yards, parks, woodlands, and woodland edges. They usually breed around the buildings and bridges on which they construct their nests under the protection of the eave or ledge.
Food
The Eastern Phoebes mainly feed on flying insects. The common preys include wasps, beetles, dragonflies, butterflies, midges, flies, moths, and cicadas. They also eat spiders, ticks, millipedes, and sometimes small fruits.
To attract the birds, you need to ensure the environment attracts the insects, which are the primary food. You can keep the bushes and shrubs.
Nesting
The Eastern Phoebe lays a clutch of between 2 to 6 eggs, and they incubate them for 15 to 16 days. The eggs are white, sometimes speckled with reddish-brown. They experience one to two broods a year. The hatched chicks are usually helpless with their eyes closed and with a sparse gray down.
Palm Warbler
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.7-5.5 in (12-14 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.5 oz (7-13 g)
Wingspan: 7.9-8.3 in (20-21 cm)
The Palm Warbler is a small songbird that belongs to the family of new world warbler. Its scientific name is the Setophaga palmarum.
Description
The Palm Warblers are small songbirds with a fuller-looking belly. Their posture is more upright than an ordinary warbler and more like a pipit, especially noticeable when they are on the ground. The tails and legs of this bird are longer than most warblers, and this contributes to the pipit-like shape.
These birds are dull brownish-olive above with a yellow under the tail and throat. When in flight, the outside corners of their tails flash white. In the eastern birds, the belly is yellow, while in the western birds, the belly is white. During the breeding season, both males and females have some rusty streaking on the belly. The non-breeding birds have a paler yellow undertail and a dull brown crown.
The average weight of this bird is 7 to 13 grams with a length of 12 to 14 cm. The wingspan range is 20 to 21 cm.
Habitat
The Palm Warblers use the weedy fields, forest edges, fence rows, and other areas with scattered trees and shrubs during the migration. They then move to the boreal forest, where they use bogs with thick ground cover.
Food
The Palm Warblers generally feed on insects as their primary food. These insects include caterpillars, flies, and beetles. During the winter, they also feed on seeds and berries such as bayberry, sea grape, and hawthorn whenever it is available.
The ideal feeders for these birds are the suet cage, platform, and ground. Inside these feeders, you can put food such as hulled sunflower seeds and suet.
Nesting
The Palm Warblers lay a clutch of 4 to 5 eggs. The eggs are white speckled with brown and lavender spots. The hatched chicks are usually naked with patches of light brown down.
Belted Kingfisher
Length: 11.0-13.8 in (28-35 cm)
Weight: 4.9-6.0 oz (140-170 g)
Wingspan: 18.9-22.8 in (48-58 cm)
Description
The scientific name of Belted Kingfisher is Megaceryle alcyon. The Belted Kingfishers are broad, large-headed birds with a shaggy crest on the top and back of their heads. They have a thick, straight, and pointed bill. The birds have short legs and medium-length square-tipped tails.
Belted Kingfishers are blue-gray in color with white spotting on the tail and wings. They have a white below with a broad blue breast band. Immature Kingfishers have irregular rusty spotting in their breast band.
The Belted Kingfisher weighs between 140 to 170 grams and has a length ranging between 28 to 35 centimeters. The wingspan of the birds ranges between 48 to 58 centimeters.
Habitat
Belted Kingfishers live near streams, ponds, lakes, rivers, and estuaries. They can also be found in road buildings, gravel pits as a result of the numerous human activities.
The birds hunt either by falling steeply and directly to their prey or by hovering over water with their straight bills downward before diving after a fish they spotted.
Food
To attract the Belted Kingfisher, it is most advisable that you construct a pond or a pool in your backyard. In the pool put Goldfish, arthropods, and small fish like mummichogs, trout, and stone rollers. They also feed on insects, mollusks, young birds, small mammals, and berries as well.
Nesting
These birds nest in burrows that they dig into soft earthen banks. They nest adjacent to or directly over the water. They lay 5 to 8 white eggs and incubate them for 22 to 24 days. The birds have 1 to 2 broods in a year.
Gray Catbird
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 8.3-9.4 in (21-24 cm)
Weight: 0.8-2.0 oz (23.2-56.5 g)
Wingspan: 8.7-11.8 in (22-30 cm)
Description
Gray Catbirds are medium-sized North and Central American perching birds belonging to the mimid family. The scientific name of the Gray Catbird is Dumetella carolinensis.
These slender, medium-sized songbirds with long, round, and black tails. The birds have a narrow straight bill and long legs. Their wings are broad and round.
Gray Catbirds are salty gray with a black cap, black tail, and a rich rufous-brown patch under the tail. The bird often perches, holding its tail down giving it a hunchbacked look. Gray Catbirds mimics the songs of other birds and usually sing at all hours of the day.
Gray Catbirds’ average weight is 23.2 to 56.5 grams, and their average length is 21 to 24 cm. the birds have a wingspan ranging from 22 to 30 cm.
Habitat
Gray Catbirds can be found in dense tangles of shrubs, small trees, vines, along forest edges, streamside thickets, and old fields. Due to human disturbance, the birds also inhabit the roadsides, abandoned farmland, residential areas, and fencerows.
Food
To attract Gray Catbird, you can use a fruit feeder and putting grape jelly, halved oranges, apples, and mealworms in them. You can also plant shrubs consisting of plants like wild blackberry and wild grapevines in your backyard. The birds also eat insects and garden pests.
Nesting
Gray Catbirds lay1 to 6 eggs and have 2 to 3 broods in a year. The eggs are turquoise green and sometimes with small red spots. The incubation period is 12 to 15 days. The chicks hatched are naked, helpless, eyes closed, and partially covered with dark brown or gray down.
Downy Woodpecker
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.5-6.7 in (14-17 cm)
Weight: 0.7-1.0 oz (21-28 g)
Wingspan: 9.8-11.8 in (25-30 cm)
Description
The scientific name of Downy Woodpecker is Dryobates pubescens. They are small with a chisel-shaped straight bill, which appears too small for the bird’s size. The birds have blocky heads, wide shoulders, and straight-backed posture.
Downy Woodpeckers have a checkered black and white body. Their above is black checked with white on the wings, and the head is boldly striped. The back of a Downy Woodpecker has a broad white stripe down the center. The male Woodpeckers have a small red patch on the back of their heads, and the outer tail feathers are white with a few black spots.
Downy woodpeckers weigh 21 to 28 grams and are 14 to 17 cm long. The birds’ wingspan ranges between 25 to 30 cm.
Habitat
Downy Woodpeckers are often found in open woodlands, especially in the deciduous woods, brushy or weedy edges, and along the streams. They can also be found in orchards, city parks, backyards, and vacant lots.
Food
To attract Downy Woodpeckers, the ideal feeder types to use is platform feeder, large hopper, small hopper, or a suet cage. In the feeders, you can put peanut hearts, safflower, peanuts, mealworms, black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, and suet. The birds also feed on insects like beetle larvae, caterpillars, bark beetles, and apple borers.
Nesting
Downy Woodpeckers lay 3 to 8 white eggs and have one brood in a year. The eggs are 1.9 to 2 cm long and 1.4 to 1.5 cm wide. Incubation takes 12 days, and nesting takes 18 to 21 days. The nestlings are hatched naked with pink skin, eyes closed, and with a sharp egg tooth at the tip of the bill.
Tufted Titmouse
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.5-6.3 in (14-16 cm)
Weight: 0.6-0.9 Oz (18-26 g)
Wingspan: 7.9-10.2 in (20-26 cm)
The Tufted Titmouse is a small songbird that belongs to the chickadee family Paridae and is mainly found in the US. The scientific name of this bird is Baeolophus bicolor.
Description
The Tufted Titmouse look large among the small birds that come to the same feeders with them, an impression that comes from their large heads and eyes, thick necks, and full-bodied. The pointed crest and stout bill help identify them even in silhouette.
These birds are soft silver-grey above and white below with a rusty or peach-colored wash down the flanks. A black patch just above the bill makes the bird look snub-nosed.
The average weight of this bird is 18 to 26 grams with a length of 14 to 16 cm. The wingspan ranges from 20 to 26 cm.
Habitat
The Tufted Titmouse is mostly found in the woodlands below 2000 feet elevation, including the deciduous and evergreen forest. These birds are also common to visitors at the feeders and can be found in backyards, orchards, and parks.
Food
If you want to attract the Tufted Titmouse, the ideal feeders are large and small tube feeders, suet cage, and platform, large and small hopper. In these feeders, you can put food such as safflower, peanuts, suet, black oil sunflower seeds, peanut hearts, and hulled sunflower seeds.
They also feed on insects, especially during the summer. They include the caterpillars, bugs, treehoppers, wasp, and ants, among others. They also feed on berries to supplement their diet.
Nesting
The Tufted Titmouse lay a clutch of 3 to 9 eggs and incubate them for 12 to 14 days. The eggs are white to creamy white, spotted with chestnut red, brown, purple, or lilac. They experience one brood in a year. The chicks are hatched naked, pink, and with their eyes closed.
Blue Jay
Length: 9.8-11.8 in (25-30 cm)
Weight: 2.5-3.5 oz (70-100 g)
Wingspan: 13.4-16.9 in (34-43 cm)
The Blue Jay is a bird from the Cervidae family and lives in most parts of the US. Some of its population is migratory while other is not. Its scientific name is the Cyanocitta cristata.
Description
The Blue Jay is a large crested songbird with a broad, rounded tail. They are bigger than the robins but smaller than the crows. The color of this bird is white or light grey in the underparts, with some shades of blue, black, and white on the upper part. The crest is bluish too.
The average weight of the Blue Jay is between 70 to 100 grams with a length of between 25 to 30 cm. The average wingspan is 34 to 43 cm.
Habitat
The blue Jays are birds of forest edges. They mainly feed on acorns, and they are often found near oaks, forests, towns, woodlots, cities, and parks.
Food
If you want to attract the Blue Jays, the ideal feeders are the platform, ground, large and small tube feeders, and the suet cage. Inside these feeders, you can put seeds such as millet, cracked corn. Milo, peanuts, peanut hearts, suet, safflower, hulled sunflower seeds, and the black oil sunflower seeds. These birds also can feed on insects’ fruits and injured small vertebrates.
Nesting
The Blue Jays lay a clutch of between 2 to 7 eggs and incubate them for 17 to 18 days. The eggs are usually bluish or light brown with some brownish spots. They have one brood in a year. The hatched chicks are usually helpless, naked, and their eyes are closed with their mouth lining red.
Common Grackle
Length: 11.0-13.4 in (28-34 cm)
MEASUREMENTS
Weight: 2.6-5.0 oz (74-142 g)
Wingspan: 14.2-18.1 in (36-46 cm)
Description
The Common Grackle is a large icterid that is mostly found in the US. The scientific name of this bird is the Quiscalus quiscula.
The Common Grackles are large, blackbirds that have long legs and long tails. It also has a flat head and a bill that is longer than most of the blackbirds, with the hint of a downward curve. Whenever they are in flight, the wings appear shoer as compared to the tail. The males are a bit larger than the females.
They appear black from a distance but up close, their glossy purple heads contras with bronzy iridescent bodies. The females are less glossy compared to males. The chicks are dark brown with dark eyes.
The average weight is 74 to 142 grams with an average length of 28 to 34 cm. The wingspan ranges between 36 to 46 cm.
Habitat
The Common Grackles mainly live in agricultural fields, feedlots, parks, and suburban lawns. They are also popular around open habitats, including the woodland, forest edges, meadows, and marshes.
Food
If you are interested in attracting the Common Grackles, the ideal feeders are the Platform, ground, and the large hopper. Inside these feeders, you can put foods such as the milo, millets, peanut hearts, peanut, cracked corn, safflower, suet, hulled sunflower seeds, and black oil sunflower seeds.
These birds also feed on fruits and small animals such as fish, frogs, caterpillars, spiders, grasshoppers’ mice and other birds.
Nesting
The Common Grackles lay a clutch of 1 to 7 eggs and incubate them for a period of 11 to 15 days. The eggs are light blue, pearl grey, white, or dark brown, usually spotted with brown. They experience 1 to 2 broods a year. The chicks are hatched blind and naked.
Red-winged Blackbird
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 6.7-9.1 in (17-23 cm)
Weight: 1.1-2.7 oz (32-77 g)
Wingspan: 12.2-15.8 in (31-40 cm)
Red-winged Blackbirds are passerine birds of the Icteridae family. The scientific name for Red-winged Blackbird is Agelaius phoeniceus.
Description
Red-winged Blackbirds have broad shoulders and slender conical bills. The birds have a medium-length tail. The birds usually show a hump-backed silhouette while perched. The male Blackbirds sit with their tail slightly flared.
Male species of this bird are glossy black with shoulder badges that are red and yellow in color. The females are crispy-streaked and dark brownish with paler breasts. The birds have a whitish eyebrow and a yellowish wash around the bill.
Red-winged Blackbirds weigh 32 to 77 grams and are 17 to 23 cm long. The wingspan of the birds is 31 to 40 cm.
Habitat
Red-winged Blackbirds usually breed in wet places like fresh or saltwater marshes and rice paddies. They also breed in dry places such as the sedge meadows, fallow fields, and alfalfa fields. The birds occasionally nest in wooded areas along waterways. During winter, the birds can be found in feedlots, pastures, grasslands, and agricultural fields.
Food
To attract red-winged Blackbirds, you can use large tube feeders, large hopper, platform, and ground feeders. In these feeders, you can put foods such as oats, millet, cracked corn, black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, peanut hearts, and milo. Red-winged Blackbirds also feed on insects.
Nesting
Red-winged Blackbirds lay 2 to 4 eggs and incubate them for 11 to 14 days. The eggs are pale blue-green to gray speckled with black or brown. The birds experience 1 or 2 broods in a year. The chicks are hatched blind, clumsy, and naked with scant buffy or grayish down. The nesting period is 11 to 14 days.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Length: 3.9-4.3 in (10-11 cm)
Weight: 0.2-0.3 oz (4.8-8.9 g)
Wingspan: 6.3 in (16 cm)
Description
This Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is a tiny songbird that is mainly found in parts of the US. Its scientific name is the Polioptila caerulea.
This bird is generally small in size, slim, and with long legs. This bird has a long tail with a thin, straight bill. The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is a pale bluebird with grayish-white underparts, and the tail is usually black with white edges. The below area is mainly white, while the face is highlighted by a thin eye-ring. These birds have a dark V on their foreheads extending above their eyes.
The average weight of the birds is between 4.8 to 8.9 grams, with a length of between 10 to 11 cm. The average wingspan of this bird is 16 cm.
Habitat
The Gnatcatchers can inhabit the deciduous forest and near edges, often in moister areas. They can also be found in woodlands, the shrublands, which include the oak woodlands.
Food
Mainly the Blue-gray Gnatcatchers feed on insects, spiders, and other invertebrates. In order to attract them, you can plant shrubs and other areas where the insects will be attracted, and this will consequently attract the birds. They feed on prey such as the leafhoppers, plant bugs, leaf beetles, grasshoppers, froghoppers, and weevils. TheThe young chicks are also fed with these same foods by their parents.
Nesting
The Blue-gray Gnatcatchers lay a clutch of about 3 to 5 eggs which are incubated for a period of 11 to 15 days. The eggs are pale blue with some reddish to dark brown spots. They usually have 1 to 2 broods in a year. The hatched chicks are hatched helpless and naked with their eyes closed and can have little movements.
Northern Mockingbird
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 8.3-10.2 in (21-26 cm)
Weight: 1.6-2.0 oz (45-58 g)
Wingspan: 12.2-13.8 in (31-35 cm)
The Northern Mockingbird is a Mockingbird in North America known for its mimicking ability. The scientific name of the Northern Mockingbird is Mimus polyglottos.
Description
Northern Mockingbirds are medium-sized mockingbirds, leaner than a thrush and with a long tail. The birds have small heads and long thin bills with hints of a downward curve. They have long legs and short, round and broad wings that make the tail appear long when they fly.
Northern Mockingbirds are grey-brown with paler breasts and bellies. The birds have two white wing bars on each wing. Perched birds have a visible white patch in each wing that becomes large white flashes when the birds fly. The white outer tail feathers of the mockingbirds are flashy when they are flying.
Northern Mockingbirds weigh 45 to 58 grams and are 21 to 26 cm long. The wingspan of the birds is 31 to 35 cm.
Habitat
Northern Mockingbirds are common in areas with open ground and shrubby vegetation like hedges, fruiting bushes, and thickets. The birds prefer grassy areas to bare spots when foraging on the ground. You can find the birds in parks, cultivated land, suburban areas and backyards.
Food
To attract Northern Mockingbirds, you can use platform or ground feeders. In these feeders, you can put peanut hearts, mealworms, fruits, hulled sunflower seeds, or suet. During summer, the birds mostly feed on insects such as beetles, moths, butterflies, earthworms, grasshoppers, and wasps.
Nesting
Northern Mockingbirds lay 2 to 6 eggs and incubate them for 12 to 13 days. The eggs are pale blue or greenish-white with red or brown spots. The birds experience 2 to 3 broods in a year. Chicks are hatched naked, blind, helpless, and with a light grey down.
White-eyed Vireo
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.3-5.1 in (11-13 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.5 oz (10-14 g)
Wingspan: 6.7 in (17 cm)
The White-eyed Vireo is a small songbird that breeds in the United States. The scientific name of this bird is the Vireo griseus.
Description
The White-eyed Vireo is a small songbird that has a thick, straight, and slightly hooked bill. It has a rather compact body and a thick neck. These birds wear a yellow spectacle surrounding their white eyes, and yellow washed sides, a gray head, a white chest and throat, and two white wing bars. The chicks have a dark eye that turns white in their first winter or spring.
The average weight of the bird is 10 to 14 grams with an average length of 11 to 13 cm. The wingspan average is 17 cm
Habitat
The White-eyed Vireos are found mainly in deciduous scrub, overgrown pastures, forested edges, old fields, second-growth forests, and streamside thickets. In some areas, they also inhabit mangroves.
Food
The White-eyed Vireos mainly feed on caterpillars, beetles, leafhoppers, moths, lacewings, and spiders. They swallow small items on the spot, but for the large ones, they pin them down using their feet before eating them.
During the non-breeding season, they also feed on fruits such as poison ivy, dogwood, pokeweed, sumac, as well as tropical fruits.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of 3 to 5 eggs and incubate them for 13 to 15 days. The laid eggs are white in color and with sparse spotting. They experience one or two broods in a year. The hatched chicks are naked and with closed eyes.
European Starling
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 7.9-9.1 in (20-23 cm)
Weight: 2.1-3.4 oz (60-96 g)
Wingspan: 12.2-15.8 in (31-40 cm)
Description
The Common Starling, also known as the European Starling, is a medium-sized bird that belongs to the family of Sturnidae. In Great Britain, it is simply known as the Starling. Its scientific name is the Sturnus vulgaris.
The Starlings are chunky and blackbird-sized but with short tails and long slender beaks. During the flights, their wings are short and pointed, which makes them look like small, four-pointed stars.
The Starlings look black when viewed from a distance. They are purplish-green during the summer with yellow beaks. While In winter, they are brown covered in brilliant white spots. The average weight of these birds is 60 to 96 grams and an average length of 10 to 23 cm. The wingspan ranges from 31 to 40 cm.
Habitat
The Starlings are mainly found in the urban areas, suburbs, and countryside near human settlements. They feed on the ground on lawns, fields, sidewalks, and parking lots. They perch and roost high on wires, trees, and buildings.
Food
If you want to attract the Starlings, the ideal feeders include the large hopper, suet cage, platform, ground, and large tube feeder. Inside these feeders, you can put foods such as oats, milo, peanuts, cracked corn, suet, millet, black oil sunflower seeds, and hulled sunflower seeds.
The Starlings eat almost everything, but mainly they eat the insects, invertebrates when they are available. The common preys include grasshoppers, flies, spiders, millipedes, snails, earthworms, and beetles. They also feed on fruits and wild berries.
Nesting
The Starlings lay a clutch of 3 to 6 eggs and incubate them for 12 days. The eggs are bluish or greenish-white. They experience 1 to 2 broods a year. The hatched chicks are usually helpless with sparse grayish down.
Yellow-rumped Warbler – TO DO
Carolina Wren
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.7-5.5 in (12-14 cm)
Weight: 0.6-0.8 oz (18-22 g)
Wingspan: 11.4 in (29 cm)
The Carolina Wren is a popular species of the wren that resides in most parts of the Americas. The scientific name of this bird is the Thryothorus ludovicianus.
Description
The Carolina Wren is a small Chunky bird with a round body and a long tail that it cocks upwards so often. The head is large with a little neck, and the distinctive bill marks it as a wren; long, slender, and downcurved. The birds are bright unpatterned reddish-brown with a long white elbow stripe, dark bill, and white in and throat.
The average weight of the bird is 18 to 22 grams with a length of 12 to 14 cm. The wingspan average is 29 cm.
Habitat
If you want to see or listen to the Carolina Wrens as they sing and call, you should go to the dense vegetation in the wooded areas and more so in forest ravines and neighborhoods. They love to move low through tangled understory; they frequent backyard brush piles and areas chocked with vines and bushes.
Food
If you want to attract the Carolina Wrens, the ideal feeders are large and small hoppers, suet cage, large tube feeder, ground, and platform. Inside these feeders, you can put foods such as the suet, hulled sunflower seeds, and peanut hearts.
These birds also feed on insects and spiders. Insects include beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, cockroaches, and moths. They also feed on fruits and berries in small amounts.
Nesting
The Carolina Wrens lay a clutch of 3 to 7 eggs and incubate them for 12 to 16 days. The eggs are white, cream, or pinkish-white with fine rusty brown spots. They usually have one brood in a year. The hatched chicks have their eyes closed with a pale grayish down.
