Bird watching is a great way to get closer to nature. What better way than watching birds from the comfort of your backyard!
Michigan is home to a variety of bird species. A number of these birds live in Michigan 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 Michigan, read on to find out how to attract and identify these beautiful birds to your backyard.
Northern Cardinal
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 8.3-9.1 in (21-23 cm)
Weight: 1.5-1.7 oz (42-48 g)
Wingspan: 9.8-12.2 in (25-31 cm)
The Northern Cardinal, also known as the Redbird, Red Cardinal, or the Common Cardinal. It is a medium-sized songbird in the genus Cardinalis. The scientific name for Northern Cardinal is Cardinalis cardinalis.
Description
The Northern Cardinal has a long tail, short thick bill, and a prominent crest. The birds usually sit with a hunched-over posture with the tail pointing straight down.
Northern Cardinals have a black face and red-orange bill. Male Northern Cardinals are brilliant red with a reddish bill, black throat, and a black face around the bill. Female cardinals are pale brown with warm reddish tinges in the tail, wings, and crest.
Northern Cardinals weigh 42 to 48 grams and are 21 to 23 cm long. The birds have a wingspan of 25 to 31 cm.
Habitat
Northern Cardinals are found in dense shrubby areas such as forest edges, overgrown fields, hedgerows, marshy thickets, regrowing forests, mesquite, backyards, and ornamental landscaping. The birds usually nest in dense foliage and look for conspicuous high perches for singing.
Food
The ideal feeders to attract Northern Cardinals are ground, platform, large hopper, and large tube feeders. In these feeders, you can put milo, black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, peanut hearts, millet, safflower, and cracked corn. Northern Cardinals also eat beetles, flies, centipedes, spiders, moths, butterflies, leafhoppers, cicadas, and crickets.
Nesting
Northern Cardinals lay 2 to 5 eggs and incubate them for 11 to 13 days. The eggs are greyish-white, buffy white, or greenish-white with pale grey to brown speckles. The birds have 1 to 2 broods in a year. The chicks are hatched clumsy, eyes closed and naked except for the sparse tufts of greyish down.
Black-capped Chickadee
Length: 4.7-5.9 in (12-15 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.5 oz (9-14 g)
Wingspan: 6.3-8.3 in (16-21 cm)
Description
The Black-capped Chickadee is a small songbird that lives in deciduous and mixed forests. It belongs to the Paridae family. Its scientific name is the Poecile atricapillus. It is famous for its ability to lower its body temperature during cold winter nights and a good memory to remember where it stores food.
This small bird has a large head with a short neck, and this gives it a unique, rather spherical shape. Its tail is long and narrow with a short bill that is a little thicker than warbler’s but thinner than a finch. The cap and the bill are black with white cheeks, soft gray back, and the wing feathers are gray-edged with white. The lower/ under part is soft buffy on the sides, grading to white beneath. It is difficult to see its small eyes because the cap extends down just beyond the black eyes.
The average weight of this bird is 9 to 14 grams with a length of between 12 to 15 cm. The wingspan ranges from between 16 to 21 cm.
Habitat
The Chickadees can mainly be found in places that contain trees or woody shrubs, from the forest and woodlot to the residential areas and parks. They can also be found in the weedy fields and marshes sometimes.
Food
If you want to attract the Black-capped Chickadees, the ideal feeders are the suet cage, large and small hopper, platform, large and small tube feeder. In these feeders, you can put food like the Nyjer, safflower, black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, suet, peanuts, and peanut hearts.
During the winter, they feed on seeds and berries, and insects in small quantities, but during the summer, these insects and spiders make 80 percent of their diet.
Nesting
The Black-capped Chickadees lay a clutch of between up to 13 eggs, and they incubate these eggs for 12 to 13 days. The eggs are whitish with fine reddish-brown dots. They experience one brood per year.
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.
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.
Mourning Dove
MEASUREMENTS
Male
Length: 9.1-13.4 in (23-34 cm)
Weight: 3.4-6.0 oz (96-170 g)
Wingspan: 17.7 in (45 cm)
Female
Weight: 3.0-5.5 oz (86-156 g)
Wingspan: 17.7 in (45 cm)
Mourning Dove, also known as the American Mourning Dove or the Rain Dove, is a medium-sized member of the dove family, Columbidae. Other names used to refer to the Mourning Dove are the Turtle Dove, Carolina Pigeon, and Carolina Turtledove. The scientific name for the Mourning Dove is Zenaida macroura.
Description
Mourning Doves have plump bodies with short legs and small bills. The head of the bird appears small in comparison to the body. They have a long, pointed tail that is unique among other North American Doves.
Mourning Doves are grey to delicate brown above with large black spots on their wings and a black-bordered white tip to the tail feathers. They have a pale peach-colored below. The birds have a long thin tail and a thin black bill. The legs of the birds are pinkish. The eyes are dark, surrounded by light skin. Adult male Mourning Doves have a distinct bluish-grey color on their crowns. Females have more brown coloring and are a little smaller than males.
Male Mourning Doves weigh 96 to 170 grams and are 23 to 24 cm long. Their wingspan is approximately 45 cm. Females weigh 86 to 156 grams and have a wingspan of 45 cm.
Habitat
Mountain Doves live in the open country, scattered trees, and woodland edges. You will rarely find these birds in the deep woods. The birds feed on the ground in grasslands, agricultural fields, roadsides, and backyards.
Food
To attract Mourning Dove, you can use a large hopper, platform, and ground feeders. In these feeders, you can put milo, oats, Nyjer, cracked corn, millet, peanut hearts, black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, and safflower. The birds sometimes eat snails, weeds, herbs, and berries.
Nesting
Mourning Doves lay two white eggs and incubate them for 14 days. The birds have 1 to 6 broods in a year. The chicks are hatched with their eyes closed, helpless, sparsely covered in cream-colored down, and dependent on the adults for warmth. The young doves stay in the nest for 12 to 15 days.
American Goldfinch
Length: 4.3-5.1 in (11-14 cm)
Weight: 0.4-0.7 oz (11-20 g)
Wingspan: 7.5-8.7 in (19-22 cm)
The American Goldfinch is a migratory bird widely distributed in North America. The scientific name of the American Goldfinch is Spinus tristis. There are four subspecies of the American Goldfinch, namely, the Eastern Goldfinch, the Pale Goldfinch, the NorthWestern Goldfinch, and the Willow Goldfinch.
The American Goldfinch is the only Finch in its subfamily that undergoes complete sloughing twice a year. The bird sheds all its feathers apart from the wing and the tail feathers in the autumn and spring seasons of the year.
Description
The adult male American Goldfinch is vibrant yellow with a black forehead and black wings with white marks in summer and olive in color during the winter season. The female American Goldfinch is dull yellow with two distinct wing bars in the summer and buffy brown during winter.
The birds have a short conical bill, long wings, a small head, and a small tail with notches.
The American Goldfinch weighs between 11 to 20 grams and has a length of between 11 to 14 centimeters. The birds have a wingspan of 19 to 22 centimeters.
Habitat
The birds are mostly found in weedy fields, cultivated areas, roadsides, backyards, floodplains, gardens, and orchards where thistles and asters are common.
Feeding
American Goldfinches are attracted by almost all bird feeders, including tube, platform, hanging, ground, and hopper feeders. To be able to attract these birds, feed them on sunflower seeds that have bee hulled, Nyjer, and black oil sunflower seeds. American Goldfinches are strict vegetarians and feed on a vegetable diet only, and swallow insects occasionally only by accident.
Nesting
The birds build their nests on branches of trees or shrubs at a height of up to 10 meters. The female American Goldfinch lays 4 to 6 bluish-white peanut size oval eggs. Incubation takes 12 to 14 days.
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.
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.
White-breasted Nuthatch
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.1-5.5 in (13-14 cm)
Weight: 0.6-1.1 oz (18-30 g)
Wingspan: 7.9-10.6 in (20-27 cm)
The White-breasted Nuthatch is a small songbird that belongs to the family of nuthatch, and it is mostly found in the US. Its scientific name is the Sitta carolinensis.
Description
The White-breasted Nuthatch is the largest among the nuthatches but still a small bird with a large head and almost no neck. The tail is very short, and the long, narrow bill is straight or slightly upturned. This bird is gray-blue on the back.
The cap and neck frame the face, and it ends up looking like this bird is wearing a hood. The lower belly and under the tail are often chestnut. The average weight of the bird is 18 to 30 grams and has a length of 13 to 14 cm. The wingspan length ranges from 20 to 27 cm.
Habitat
These birds are agile, and they inhabit along large branches and trunks as they probe into bark furrows using their bills that are straight and pointed.
Food
If you want to attract the White-breasted Nuthatch, the ideal feeders are the suet cage, large and small hoppers, platform, large and small tube feeders. Inside these feeders, you can put food such as safflower, suet, peanut hearts, and peanuts.
These birds also feed on insects such as the weevil larvae, beetles, treehoppers, and beetle larvae.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of five to nine eggs and proceed to incubate them for 13 to 14 days. The eggs are creamy-white to pinkish-white speckled with reddish-brown, gray, or purple. These birds experience one brood in a year. The hatched chicks are usually helpless and naked except for some down.
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.
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.
Dark-eyed Junco
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.5-6.3 in (14-16 cm)
Weight: 0.6-1.1 oz (18-30 g)
Wingspan: 7.1-9.8 in (18-25 cm)
Description
The Dark-eyed Junco is a species of the junco, a group of small, grayish new world sparrows. This bird is common in some parts of the United States. The scientific name of this bird is the Junco hyemalis.
The Dark-eyed Junco is a medium-sized sparrow that has a rounded head, a short, stout bill, and a fairly long tail. The Juncos vary according to regions, but in general, they are dark gray or brown birds with a pink bill and outer tail feathers that are white and periodically flash open, on flight.
The average weight of the bird is 18 to 30 grams with an average length of 14 to 16 cm. The wingspan ranges from 18 to 25 cm.
Habitat
The Dark-eyed Juncos bred in coniferous or mixed coniferous forests in Most parts of America. You can likely find these birds in woodlands, fields, parks, and roadsides.
Food
If you want to attract the Dark-eyed Junco, the ideal feeders are the Platform, ground, and the large hopper. Some of the foods you can put inside these feeders are milo, oats, millets, safflower, Nyjer, peanut hearts, hulled sunflower seeds, and black oil sunflower seeds.
During the breeding season, these also eat insects, including butterflies, beetles, caterpillars, ants, wasps, and flies.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of 3 to 6 eggs and incubate them for 12 to 13 days. The eggs are white, gray, pale bluish-white, or pale greenish-white with brown, gray, and green speckles. They experience 1 to 3 broods a year. The chicks are hatched naked except for the dark gray down on the back, and their eyes are closed.
Hairy Woodpecker
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 7.1-10.2 in (18-26 cm)
Weight: 1.4-3.4 oz (40-95 g)
Wingspan: 13.0-16.1 in (33-41 cm)
The Hairy Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker that is found in the US. The scientific name of this bird is the Leuconotopicus villosus.
Description
The Hairy Woodpecker is a medium-sized bird with a fairly large head, a long, straight, chisel-like bill, and stiff long tail feathers to lean against tree trunks. The bill is nearly the same length as the head. These birds are contrastingly black and white. The black wings are checkered with white; the head has two white stripes. A large white patch runs down the center of the black back.
The average weight of the bird is 40 to 95 grams with a length of 18 to 26 cm. The wingspan ranges from 33 to 41 cm.
Habitat
The Hairy Woodpeckers are mainly found in mature forests. They are found in woodlots, suburbs, parks, and cemeteries as well as forest edges, open woodlands of oak and pine, recently burned forests, and stands infested by bark beetles.
Food
If you want to attract the Hairy Woodpeckers, the ideal feeders are the suet cage, platform, and large hopper. Inside these feeders, you can put foods such as peanuts, suet, peanut hearts, black oil sunflower seeds, safflower, and hulled sunflower oil.
Mainly these birds feed on insects such as beetles, ants, and moths.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of 3 to 6 eggs and incubate them for 11 to 12 days. The eggs are all white. They experience one brood in a year. The chicks are hatched naked with pink skin and a sharp egg tooth at the end of the bill.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Brown-headed Cowbird
Male
Length: 7.5-8.7 in (19-22 cm)
Weight: 1.5-1.8 oz. (42-50 g)
Wingspan: 14.2 in (36 cm)
Female
Length: 6.3-7.9 in (16-20 cm)
Weight: 1.3-1.6 Oz (38-45 g)
Wingspan: 12.6-15.0 in (32-38 cm)
The brown-headed Cowbird is a small parasitic bird that originates from the US. Its scientific name is the Molothrus later.
Description
The Brown-headed Cowbird is a small blackbird that has a shorter tail and a thicker head than most blackbirds. The bill has a unique shape, and it is much shorter and thicker as compared to other blackbirds, almost finch-like at first sight. In-flight, look for a shorter tail.
The male birds have black plumage and a thick brown head that sometimes look dark when there is not enough lighting or in a distance. The females are plain brown birds, lightest on the head and underparts, with the fine streaking on the belly and a dark eye.
The average weight of a male Cowbird is 42 to 50 grams, while the female is 38 to 45 grams. The average length is 16 to 20 cm for a female, while the male is 19 to 22 cm. The wingspan average is 36 cm.
Habitat
They mostly live in open areas such as the fields, pastures, meadows, forest edges, and lawns.
Food
If you want to attract the Brown-headed Cowbirds, the ideal feeders are platform, ground, and large hopper. Inside these feeders, you can put food such as cracked corn, milo, millet, oats, hulled sunflower seeds, peanut hearts, and black oil sunflower seeds.
These birds also feed on grasses and weeds. They also eat insects such as grasshoppers and beetles.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of 1 to 7 eggs and incubate them for 10 to 12 days. The eggs are white to grayish-white with brown or gray spots. The chicks are hatched naked with eyes closed.
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.
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.
House Finch
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.1-5.5 in (13-14 cm)
Weight: 0.6-0.9 oz (16-27 g)
Wingspan: 7.9-9.8 in (20-25 cm)
The House Finch is a small bird in the finch family, which is common in the US. The scientific name of the bird is the Haemorhous mexicanus.
Description
These birds are small in body size, and they too have a fairly large beak and a long flat head. The wings are short, making their tail seem long by comparison. The majority of the finches have uniquely notched tails, but the house finch has a relatively shallow notch in its tail.
On the face side and upper breasts, the male Finches are rosy with streaky brown back, belly, and tail. During the flight, the red rump is conspicuous. The adult females are not red, and they are grayish-brown with thick, blurry streaks and an indistinctly marked face.
The average weight of the bird is 16 to 27 grams and has a length of 3 to 14 cm. Its wingspan ranges from 20 to 25 cm.
Habitat
The House Finches are mainly found in the city parks, backyards, urban centers, farms, and forest edges across the US. They are also found in their native habitats of deserts, grasslands, chaparral, and open woods.
Food
If you want to attract the House Finches, the ideal feeders to use are the small and large hoppers, large and smaller tube feeders, and the platform. The ideal food to put inside these feeders includes the black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, Nyjer, and safflower.
They also feed in insects, buds, and fruits. Some of the wild foods they feed on are mulberry, cherries, peaches, pears, blackberries, plums, strawberries, and figs.
Nesting
The House Finches lay a clutch of 2 to 6 eggs and incubate them for 13 to 14 days. The eggs are pale blue to white, speckled with fine, black, and pale purple. Within a year, they experience 1 to 6 broods. The chicks are hatched naked except for the sparse white down along feather tracts with the eyes closed.
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.
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.
Yellow Warbler
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.7-5.1 in (12-13 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (9-11 g)
Wingspan: 6.3-7.9 in (16-20 cm)
The Yellow Warblers is a new world warblers’ species mainly found in the US. The scientific name of this bird is the Setophaga petechia.
Description
The Yellow Warblers are small, evenly proportioned songbirds that have a medium-length tail and a rounded head. The straight, thin bi is relatively large for a warbler. These birds are uniformly yellow in color. The males are bright and egg York yellows with reddish streaks on the underparts. Both the male and female flash yellow patches in the tail. The face is unmarked, accentuating the large black eye.
The average weight of this bird is 9 to 11 grams with an average length of 12 to 13 cm. The wingspan ranges from 16 to 20 cm.
Habitat
The Yellow Warblers breed mainly in shrubby thickets and woods, particularly along the watercourses and in wetlands. During the winter, they can be found in mangrove forests.
Food
The Yellow Warblers mainly feed on insects that they pick from the foliage or capture on short flights or as they hover to reach leaves. Some of the insects they feed on include wasps, beetles, leafhoppers, caterpillars, bugs, and midges.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of 1 to 7 eggs and incubate them for 10 to 13 days. The eggs are grayish or greenish-white with dark spots. The average length of the eggs is 1.5 to 2.1 cm, with a width of 1.2 to 1.6 cm. The hatched chicks are usually helpless, with light gray down.
Baltimore Oriole
Length: 6.7-7.5 in (17-19 cm)
Weight: 1.1-1.4 oz (30-40 g)
Wingspan: 9.1-11.8 in (23-30 cm)
The Baltimore Oriole is a small new world Blackbird that is commonly known as a migratory breeding bird. This name was given as the male colors resemble those of Lord Baltimore’s court of arms. Its scientific name is the Icterus galbula.
Description
This bird is a small-sized, sturdy bodies songbird that has a thick neck and long legs. It is smaller and slenderer than the American Robin. The bird has a long, thick base pointed bill, and this is a common feature to all the blackbird family which they belong to.
The full-grown males are flame-orange and black with a solid-black head and one white stripe on their black wings. The females and the chicks have yellow-orange on the chest, grayish on the back, and head with no bold white bar on the wings.
Both the male and female Baltimore Oriole weigh about 30 to 40 grams and 17 to 19 cm in length. The wingspan is between 23 to 30 cm.
Habitat
If you want to get these birds, look for them in leafy deciduous trees and not deep into the forays. The birds are found in open woodlands, forest edge, orchards and tree stand along the rivers, in parks and backyards.
Food
These birds can be fed on insects, fruits, and nectar, and this varies according to the seasons. They eat a wide variety of insects such as beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, moths, and flies. They are attracted and can damage crops has mulberries, cherries, oranges, raspberries, and bananas.
Nesting
The Baltimore Oriole lays a clutch of about three to seven eggs, and it takes between11 to 14days to incubate. The eggs are pale grayish or blue-white blotched with brown, black, or lavender. The average length of the eggs is 2.1 to 2.5 cm and the width of 1.5 to 1.7 cm.
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.
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.
Eastern Kingbird
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 7.5-9.1 in (19-23 cm)
Weight: 1.2-1.9 oz (33-55 g)
Wingspan: 13.0-15.0 in (33-38 cm)
Eastern Kingbird is a medium-sized songbird in the tyrant family. Its scientific name is Tyrannus tyrannus.
Description
The bird has a large head with an upright posture and a square-tipped black tail. Their bills are short and straight. Eastern Kingbirds are black on the top and white underparts. The head of the flycatcher has a darker shade than the wings and the back. The tail has a conspicuous white tip.
Eastern Kingbirds usually have concealed crowns of yellow, orange, or red feathers on their heads. The birds raise the bright crown patch and stretch its beak wide open, revealing a red gape when it spots a potential predator.
Eastern Kingbird weighs 33 to 55 grams and is 19 to 23 cm long. They have a wingspan ranging between 33 to 38 cm. the birds are the size of robins.
Habitat
Eastern Kingbirds can be found in open habitats such as yards, fields, pastures, grasslands, or wetlands habitats. They are often spotted sited on fence wires waiting to catch an insect. During winters, they mostly inhabit the forests and forage in flocks in the forest canopies.
Food
The ideal feeder to attract Eastern Kingbirds in the ground feeder. In the feeder, you can put fruits and berries like blackberries and cherries. Eastern Kingbirds may visit open yards with scattered vegetation, trees, and many insects. They feed on insects like locusts, bugs, flies, beetles, bees, grasshoppers, among others.
Nesting
Eastern Kingbirds lay 2 to 5 oval eggs and have only one brood in a year. The eggs are pale and smooth with a striking ring of irregular reddish spots. The eggs are 2.1 to 2.7 cm long and 1.6 to 2 cm wide. Incubation takes 14 to17 days, and nesting takes 16 to 17 days.
Great Crested Flycatcher
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 6.7-8.3 in (17-21 cm)
Weight: 0.9-1.4 oz (27-40 g)
Wingspan: 13.4 in (34 cm)
Great Crested Flycatcher is a large insect-eating bird in the genus Myiarchus. It is the widest spread bird in this genus. The scientific name of the Great Created Flycatcher is Myiarchus crinitus.
Description
Great Crested Flycatchers are large with a long and slender body. The birds have broad shoulders and large heads. The bird’s crest is not very prominent despite its name. Great Crested Flycatchers have a wide at the base and a straight bill. The tail of the bird is fairly long.
Great Crested Flycatchers are reddish-brown on the upper body with a brownish-gray head, gray throat and breast, and bright lemon-yellow belly. The upperparts are brown, highlighted by rufous-orange flashes in the tail and primary feathers. The birds have a black bill that shows a bit of pale color at the base.
Great Crested Flycatchers weigh 27 to 40 grams and are 17 to 21 cm long. The wingspan of the bird is, on average, 34 cm.
Habitat
Great Crested Flycatchers are mostly found in woodlots and open woodland, especially among the deciduous trees. During winter, the birds inhabit semi-open habitats, and during migration, they live in wooded and shrubby habitats. The birds exploit a niche higher in the canopy than other birds to avoid direct competition for food.
Food
To attract Great Crested Flycatchers, you can plant whole foods such as berries and fruits in your backyard. The birds swallow the fruits whole and regurgitate the pits several at a time. The birds also feed on insects like beetles, moths, butterflies, grasshoppers, and crickets.
Nesting
Great Crested Flycatchers lay 4 to 8 eggs and incubate them for 13 to 15 days. The eggs are creamy-white to pinkish buff with brown, purple, or lavender smears. The chicks are hatched helpless, eyes closed and naked with a grayish down.
Red-breasted Nuthatch
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.3 in (11 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.5 oz (8-13 g)
Wingspan: 7.1-7.9 in (18-20 cm)
Red-breasted Nuthatch is a small active songbird in North America. The scientific name of Red-breasted Nuthatch is Sitta canadensis.
Description
Red-breasted Nuthatches are compact birds with a sharp appearance and a prominent long pointed bill. The birds have very short tails and very short necks. The body of red-breasted Nuthatches is plump or barrel-chested, and their wings are short and very broad.
Red-breasted Nuthatches are blue-gray with greatly patterned heads. The birds have a black cap and stripe through their eyes, broken up by a white stripe over the eye. The birds have black eyebrows and white eyebrows. The underparts of the bird are rich rusty cinnamon and paler in female Nuthatches.
Red-breasted Nuthatches weigh eight to13 grams and are approximately 11 cm long. The birds have a wingspan of 18 to 20 cm.
Habitat
Red-breasted Nuthatches mainly occur in coniferous forests of spruce, pine, fir, larch, hemlock, and western red cedar. During winter, the birds inhabit the orchards, scrubs, parks, shade trees, and plantations.
Food
Red-breasted Nuthatches are attracted by large tube feeders, small tube feeders, large hopper, small hopper, suet cage, and platform feeders. In these feeders, you can put foods such as black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, peanuts, mealworms, peanut hearts, and suet. The birds also feed on insects and other arthropods such as beetles, caterpillars, ants, spiders, and earwigs.
Nesting
Red-breasted Nuthatches lay 2 to 8 eggs and incubate them for 12 to 13 days. The eggs are white, creamy, or pinkish-white with reddish-brown speckles. The birds experience only one brood in a year. The chicks hatched are naked and helpless and are nestled for 18 to 21 days.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Nashville Warbler
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.3-5.1 in (11-13 cm)
Weight: 0.2-0.5 oz (6.7-13.9 g)
Wingspan: 6.7-7.9 in (17-20 cm)
Nashville Warblers are small songbirds in the New World Warbler family. The scientific name for Nashville Warbler is Leiothlypis ruficapilla.
Description
Nashville Warblers are compact with a round head and a plump body. They have short tails and fine, straight, and pointed bills.
Nashville Warblers are yellow with a greenback, grey head, and a white eye-ring. The lower belly of the bird is white and is sandwiched in between yellow breasts and yellow undertail coverts. The bill of the birds is black. The birds have no wing bars. Adult male Nashville Warblers have a rusty brown patch on their crown, often covered by grey feathers making it less visible. Females and immature Nashville Warblers have more washed out and pale colors.
Nashville Warblers weigh 6.7 to 13.9 grams and are 11 to 13 cm long. The birds have a wingspan of 17 to 20 cm.
Habitat
Nashville Warblers are mostly found in shrubby second-growth habitats. The birds breed in mixed-species forests, tamarack, spruce, scrub oak, and brushy black oak groves. During winter, the birds move to low and open deciduous and mixed tropical forests as well as suburban gardens.
Food
To attract Nashville Warblers, you can use suet cages or a nectar feeder. During winter, the bird supplements their diet with berries and nectar. In the suet cage, you can put suet cakes and sugar solution in the nectar feeder. The birds feed on insects such as leafhoppers, caterpillars, beetles, budworms, flies, and grasshoppers.
Nesting
Nashville Warblers lay 4 to 5 eggs and incubate them for 11 to 12 days. The eggs are white with brown spots. The birds have only one brood in a year. The chicks are hatched helpless with some sparse dark brown down. Nestling takes 9 to 11 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.
Golden-crowned Kinglet
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 3.1-4.3 in (8-11 cm)
Weight: 0.1-0.3 oz (4-8 g)
Wingspan: 5.5-7.1 in (14-18 cm)
Gold-crowned Kinglets are small songbirds widely spread in North America. They belong in the family Regulidae. The scientific name of the Gold-crowned Kinglet is Regulus satrapa.
Description
Gold-crowned Kinglets have a rounded body with short wings and a skinny tail. The head of the bird is relatively large, and its bill is thin and short. These bills make it easier for the birds to glean small insects. The birds are smaller than Chickadees but larger than Hummingbirds.
Gold-crowned Kinglets have pale olive upperparts and gray underparts. The birds have a black and white striped face and a bright yellow-orange crown patch. Gold-crowned Kinglets have a thin white wing bar and yellow edges to their black feathers. The crest of these birds is flashy lemon-yellow.
Golden-crowned Kinglets have an average weight of 4 to 8 grams and are 8 to 11 cm long. The birds have a wingspan of 14 to 18 cm.
Habitat
Gold-crowned Kinglet’s main habitat is in coniferous forests and breeds in boreal or montane forests and conifer plantations. The birds, during winter, can be found in deciduous forests, suburbs, swamps, bottomlands, and scrubby habitats.
Food
The ideal feeder to attract old-crowned Kinglets is platform feeders. In the feeder, you can put foods such as mealworms, black oil sunflower seeds, peanut hearts, and hulled sunflower seeds. Gold-crowned Kinglets mainly feed on insects and small soft-bodied arthropods and their eggs.
Nesting
Gold-crowned Kinglets lay a clutch of 3 to 11 eggs and have 1 to 2 broods in a year. The eggs are white or creamy with pale brown and lilac spots. Incubation takes 15 days, while nesting takes 16 to 19 days. Hatched nestlings are helpless and naked except for tufts down on the top of the head.
American Tree Sparrow
Length: 5.5 in (14 cm)
Weight: 0.5-1.0 oz (13-28 g)
Wingspan: 9.4 in (24 cm)
The American Tree Sparrow, also known as the Winter Sparrow, is a medium-sized bird. They have a scientific name Spizelloides Arborea.
Description
These birds are small and round-headed, and they often flap out their feathers. This makes their plumb body look chubbier. The America Tree Sparrow has a relatively small bill and a long thin nail amongst other species of sparrow.
This bird also has a rusty cap and eye-line on its gray head. Both the male and female American Tree Sparrow also contains a streaked brown back and a smooth gray to the buff chest. Generally, this bird gives an impression of reddish-brown and gray. It is common for a dark smudge in the middle of the non-streaked breast.
The bird also weighs approximately 13 to 18 grams with a length of 14 cm. The estimated wingspan is 24 cm.
Habitat
The American Tree Sparrows are commonly found in weedy fields that have hedgerows or shrubs, the forest edges, and near marshes during the winter. Whenever there is a seed feeder, you are likely to see them in the backyard.
Food
These birds hop about on the ground in small flocks as they look for food. They scrab for grass and weed seeds. If you need to attract these birds, you can feed them on the millets, oil sunflower, cracked corn, peanut pieces, and sunflower chips. They mainly feed on these grains and berries over the winter and shift to insects during the summer.
Nesting
The female lays one egg a day until they are about 4 to 6 of them. These eggs are usually pale blue in color with a reddish speckling. During the incubation, the young ones hatch within an interval of hours, and they do not follow the order in which they were hatched.
White-throated Sparrow
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 6.3-7.1 in (16-18 cm)
Weight: 0.8-1.1 oz (22-32 g)
Wingspan: 7.9-9.1 in (20-23 cm)
The White-throated Sparrow is a bird of the new world sparrow family passerellidae. The scientific name of the bird is Zonotrichia albicollis.
Description
The White-throated Sparrow is a large, full-bodied sparrow with a prominent bill, long legs, rounded head, and narrow bill. This bird is brown above and gray below with a similar pattern on the head. The head is striped with black and augmented by a yellow between the eye and the bill and bright white throat.
You will also see a less boldly marked form with a buff on brown face pattern instead of white and black. The average weight of the bird is 22 to 32 grams with a length of 16 to 18 cm. The wingspan ranges from 20 to 23 cm.
Habitat
The ideal places to find the White-throated Sparrows are in woods, at forest edges, in the regrowth that follows logging or forest fires, at pond and bog edges, and in corpses near the tree line. During the winter season, you will find them in thickets, overgrown fields, suburbs, parks, and woodsy. They sometimes come into the backyard for birdseed.
Food
If you want to attract the White-throated Sparrow, the ideal feeders include the platform and ground. Inside these feeders, you can put food such as milo, cracked corn, millet, black oil sunflower seeds, and hulled sunflower seeds.
These birds also feed on the weeds and grasses, including buckwheat, ragweed. They also eat fruits such as the grape, sumac, rose, blueberry, cranberry, mountain ash, and dogwood. They sometimes eat some insects such as beetles, flies, caterpillars, spiders, beetles, and dragonflies.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of one to six eggs and incubate them for 11 to 14 days. The eggs are very pale blue or greenish-blue speckled with purplish, chestnut, and lilac. They experience one to two broods in a year. The hatched chicks are usually naked except for sparse patches of brown down on the head, back and wings with closed eyes.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 3.5-4.3 in (9-11 cm)
Weight: 0.2-0.3 oz (5-10 g)
Wingspan: 6.3-7.1 in (16-18 cm)
The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a tiny passerine bird that is spread in most parts of the US. It belongs to the family of a kinglet. The scientific name of this bird is the Corthylio calendula.
Description
The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a small songbird with a relatively large head, almost no neck, and thin tails. They have a bill that is very small, thin, and straight. These birds are olive green with an outstanding white eye-ring and white wing bars.
The average weight of this bird is 5 to 10 grams with an average length of 9 to 11 cm. The wingspan ranges from 16 to 18 cm.
Habitat
The Ruby-crowned Kinglets mainly inhabit tall, dense conifers forests such as spruce, fir, and tamarack. You can also easily find them in shrubby places, deciduous forests, suburbs, and parks.
Food
To attract t the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, the ideal feeders include the suet cage and platform. Inside these feeders, you can put foods such as hulled sunflower seeds, peanut hearts, and suet.
These birds also feed on spiders. Pseudoscorpions and other types of insects such as wasps, aphids, ants, and bark beetles. They also feed on fruits and berries such as the poison-oak berries and the dogwood berries.
Nesting
The Ruby-crowned Kinglets lay a clutch of 5 to 12 eggs and incubate them for 12 to 14 days. The eggs are drab white spotted with red-brown. These birds experience one brood a year. The egg usually has a length of 1.3 to 1.5 cm and a width of 1 to 1.2 cm. The hatched chicks are usually helpless and completely naked without any down.
Black-throated Green Warbler
Length: 4.3-4.7 in (11-12 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (7-11 g)
Wingspan: 6.7-7.9 in (17-20 cm)
The Black-throated Green Warbler is a small songbird that belongs to the family of New World Warbler. Its scientific name is the Setophaga virens.
Description
It is a medium-sized warbler that is of the same size and shape as others in the Setophaga genus. This bird has a large head with a thick, straight bill and a short tail.
The bird is generally olive-green with a white underpart, with a yellow face and a black front. The adults are more attractive and stunning with a bright yellowface and extensive black on the throat area, which turns into black streaks on the flanks. The wing bars have two black streaks. Just like the males, the females and young ones have the same features, but they lack extensive black on the throat.
The average weight of the Black-throated Green Warbler is between 7 to 11 grams with a length of 11 to 12 cm. The average wingspan is 17 to 20 cm.
Habitat
These birds use coniferous and mixed forests, deciduous forests, and coastal cypress swamps. For the migratory birds, they frequent any wood habitat, even coming down from the canopy to feed on the fruiting shrubs. During the winter, the birds are mainly found in canopies and ta mature forests.
Food
These birds almost exclusively feed on insects during the breeding season, mainly the caterpillars. They also feed on berries whenever they are migrating and the buds of the cecropia trees during the winter in the tropics.
Nesting
The Black-throated Green Warblers lay a clutch of about 3 to 5 eggs which they proceed to incubate for 8 to 11 days. Their eggs are whitish with variable brown speckles. They experience one brood in a year. The freshly hatched chicks are usually helpless with sparse down.
HUMMINGBIRDS FOUND IN MICHIGAN
- White-eared hummingbird
- Anna’s hummingbird
- Berylline hummingbird
- Broad-billed hummingbird
- Rufous hummingbird
- Costa’s hummingbird
- Mexican violetear
- Ruby-throated hummingbird
HAWKS FOUND IN MICHIGAN
- Cooper’s hawk
- Sharp-shinned hawk
- Red-shouldered hawk
- Broad-winged hawk
- Short-tailed hawk
- Swainson’s hawk
- Red-tailed hawk
- Rough-legged hawk
- Ferruginous hawk
OWLS FOUND IN MICHIGAN
- Snowy owl
- Great horned owl
- Northern hawk owl
- Eastern screech-owl
- Burrowing owl
- Barred owl
- Great gray owl
- Long-eared owl
- Short-eared owl
- Boreal owl
- Northern saw-whet owl
WOODPECKERS FOUND IN MICHIGAN
- Northern flicker
- Pileated woodpecker
- Hairy woodpecker
- Red-bellied woodpecker
- Golden-fronted woodpecker
- Red-headed woodpecker
- Lewis’s woodpecker
- Yellow-bellied sapsucker
- American three-toed woodpecker
- Black-backed woodpecker
- Downy woodpecker
