Bird watching is a great way to get closer to nature. What better way than watching birds from the comfort of your backyard!
Montana is home to a variety of bird species. A number of these birds live in Montana 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 Montana, read on to find out how to attract and identify these beautiful birds to your backyard.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Song Sparrow
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.7-6.7 in (12-17 cm)
Weight: 0.4-1.9 oz (12-53 g)
Wingspan: 7.1-9.4 in (18-24 cm)
Song sparrows are medium-sized New World Sparrow. The name Song Sparrow is derived from its colorful collection of songs. The scientific name of Song Sparrow is Melospiza melodia.
Description
A song sparrow is a bulky, medium-sized sparrow with a long round tail. The birds have a heavily built bill that is considered short for a Sparrow and a round head. The birds have broad wings.
Song sparrows are brown and heavily streaked on their white chest and flanks. The birds have an attractive mix of warm red-brown and slaty gray on their head. The shade of the colors and the amount of streaking varies extensively across North America. The coarse streaks on the breast of the birds converge into a central spot. The birds have russet stripes on the crown and through their eyes and broad mustache stripe.
Song Sparrows weigh 12 to 53 grams and are 12 to 17 cm long. The wingspan of the birds is 18 to 24 cm.
Habitat
Song Sparrows occur in an enormous variety of open habitats like tidal marshes, desert scrub, pinyon pine, arctic grasslands, prairie shelterbelts, pacific rain forests, aspen parklands, chapparal, agricultural fields, overgrown pastures, forest edges, freshwater marsh, lake edges, and the suburbs. The birds can also be found in mixed woodlands of deciduous woodlands.
Food
Song Sparrows are attracted by ground and platform feeders. In these feeders, you can put foods such as milo, peanut hearts, cracked corn, millet, Nyjer, safflower, black oil sunflower seeds, or hulled sunflower seeds. The birds also feed on weevils, grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, spiders, snails, earthworms, and midges, among others.
Nesting
Song Sparrows lay 1 to 6 eggs and incubate them for 12 to 15 days. The eggs are blue, blue-green, or gray-green with brown, red-brown, or lilac speckles. The birds experience 1 to 7 broods in a year. The chicks are hatched blind, clumsy, and naked with sparse blackish down and are nestled for 9 to 12 days.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pine Siskin
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.3-5.5 in (11-14 cm)
Weight: 0.4-0.6 oz (12-18 g)
Wingspan: 7.1-8.7 in (18-22 cm)
The Pine Siskin is a migratory bird found in the US and belongs to the family of finch. This bird has an extremely sporadic winter range. The scientific name of this bird is Spinus pinus.
Description
The Pine Siskins are tiny songbirds that have sharp, pointed bills and short notched tails. The uniquely shaped bill is slenderer than that of most finches. You can observe their pointed wingtips and their forked tails when they are on the flight.
The Pine Siskins are brown and very streaky birds with yellow edgings on the tails and wings. Flashes of yellow can erupt as they take flight, flutter at the branch’s tips, or display during mating. The average weight of this bird is 12 to 18 grams with a length of 11 to 14 cm. The wingspan ranges from 18 to 22 cm.
Habitat
Despite the fact that the Pine Siskin prefer evergreen or mixed evergreen and deciduous forests with open canopies, they are opportunist and adaptable in their search for seeds. They also feed in the weedy fields, scrubby thickets, or backyards and gardens. They also flock around the feeders, more so the thistle feeders in woodlands and suburbs.
Food
If you want to attract the Pine Siskin, the ideal feeders are the small hoppers, platform, round, and small and large tube feeders. Inside these feeders, you can put foods such as the hulled sunflower seeds, Nyjer, and black oil sunflower seeds. They also feed on insects such as the spiders and grubs from the leaves and branch tips, and they sometimes catch them midair. They also feed on the mineral deposits such as ashes, road salts, and fresh cement.
Nesting
The Pine Siskin lays a clutch of 3 to 5 eggs and incubates them for 13 days. The eggs are pale greenish-blue with brown or reddish-brown spotting. These birds experience one to two broods in a year. The hatched chicks are helpless with their eyes closed and with a dark gray down on head and back.
Mountain Chickadee
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.3-5.5 in (11-14 cm)
Weight: 0.4 oz (11 g)
Wingspan: 7.5 in (19cm)
A Mountain Chickadee is a small songbird in the Paridae family. The scientific name for Mountain Chickadee is Poecile gambeli.
Description
Mountain Chickadees are tiny and have large heads. The birds have small bills, rounded wings, and long narrow tails.
Mountain Chickadees are grey with a striking black and white on the head. Mountain Chickadees have a distinct white stripe over their eye that separates them from other Chickadees.
Mountain Chickadees’ overall weight is 11grams, and the overall length is 11 to 14 cm. the wingspan of the bird is approximately 19 cm. They are relatively the same size as the Black-capped Chickadees.
Habitat
Mountain Chickadees are common in evergreen forests with pine, spruce-fir, pinyon-juniper, and mixed conifer. The birds inhabit the higher slopes conifers except when nesting when they seek out any available aspen trees for their soft and easily excavated wood.
Food
To attract Mountain Chickadees, the ideal feeders to use are large tube feeders, small tube feeders, large hopper, small hopper, platform feeder, and suet cage. In these feeders, you can put black oil sunflower, hulled sunflower seeds, safflower, peanuts, suet, peanut hearts, and mealworms. The birds also feed on protein-rich insects and spiders.
Nesting
Mountain Chickadees lay 5 to 9 eggs and incubate them for 12 to 15 days. The eggs are flat white, sometimes with red speckles. The birds have 1 or 2 broods in a year. The chicks are hatched naked, eyes closed, and with tufts down on the head and along the spine. The young Mountain Chickadees stay in the nest for 17 to 23 days while being fed by both parents.
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.
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.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
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.
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.
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.
House Wren
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.3-5.1 in (11-13 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (10-12 g)
Wingspan: 5.9 in (15 cm)
The House Wren is a small songbird from the wren family Troglodytidae, which is mostly found in America. The scientific name of this bird is the Troglodytes aedon.
Description
A House Wren is small and compact with a flat head and fairly long curved beak. It is short-winged, keeping its long tail sometimes cocked above the line of the body or slightly dropped.The House wren has short wings and along tail that it mainly keeps cocked above the line of the body or sometimes slightly dropped.
Generally, the body of this Wren is brown with darker barring on the tail and wings. This bird has an eyebrow that is common in wrens, but in this bird, it is fainter. The average weight of this bird is 10 to 12 grams with a length of 11 to 13 cm. The wingspan average is 15 cm.
Habitat
During the summer, the House Wren eat at home in open forests, forest edges, and in areas with scattered grass and trees. Backyards, farmyards, and city parks are the ideal places for them. During the winter, they become more secretive and move to brushy tangles, thickets, and hedgerows.
Food
The House Wren feed on insects and spiders, including beetles, earwigs, flies, springtails, caterpillars, and daddy longlegs. They also feed on the snail shells for calcium.
Nesting
The House Wrens lay a clutch of 3 to 10 eggs and incubate t6hem for 9 to 16 days. The eggs are white, pink-white, grayish speckled with reddish-brown. The hatched chicks are usually naked, pink, and have their eyes closed.
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.
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.
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.
Black-billed Magpie
Length: 17.7-23.6 in (45-60 cm)
Weight: 5.1-7.4 oz (145-210 g)
Wingspan: 22.1-24.0 in (56-61 cm)
Description
The Black-billed Magpie, also referred to as the American Magpie, is a bird from the family of Corvidae, and they are found in most parts of the US. The scientific name of the bird is Pica Hudsonia.
The Black-billed Magpies are slightly bigger than the jays. However, they have longer, diamond-shaped tails and a heavier bill. Their wings are too short of supporting their graceful flights.
These birds are black and white in general but with a blue-green flash on the wings and tail. The upper part of this bird is usually black, with a white patch in the outer wing and two white stripes on the back.
The bird weighs approximately 145 to 210 grams with a length of between 45 to 60 cm. The wingspan ranges between 56 to 61 cm.
Habitat
The Black-billed Magpie is mainly found in the urban areas, fields, and stream corridors of the west. They can also be found in flocks at the feeding lots and other places that it is easy to find food.
Food
In order to attract the Black-billed Magpie, you need the platform and ground feeders. You can put the millets, peanuts, milo, cracked corn, peanuts hearts, hulled sunflower seeds, suet, and black oil sunflower seeds. These birds have alternative diets, such as beetles and grasshoppers, as the foliage on the ground. They also depend on small mammals such as squirrels and voles. They at times steal meat from the foxes and coyotes. And can sometimes land on the top of large animals as they pick ticks off them.
Nesting
The birds have a clutch size of 1 to 9 eggs, and they take 16 to 19 days to incubate. The eggs are tan or olive-brown with a variable amount of dark brown speckles—they experience one broom per year. The chicks are hatched naked with pink skin and remain with closed eyes for seven days.
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.
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.
White-crowned Sparrow
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.9-6.3 in (15-16 cm)
Weight: 0.9-1.0 oz (25-28 g)
Wingspan: 8.3-9.4 in (21-24 cm)
The White-crowned Sparrow is a medium-sized bird that is a member of the new world sparrow family. It is a species of the passerine. The scientific name of this bird is the Zonotrichia leucophrys.
Description
This is a large sparrow that has a long tail and a small bill. The head can look smooth and flat, depending on the bird’s altitude. The first impression of this bird tends to be a plain, pale gray bird; next, your eye is drawn to the very bold black and white stripes on the head and pale pink or yellow bill.
Then you’d birds of this species have a brown marking on the head. The average weight of this bird is 25 to 28 grams with an average length of 15 to 16 cm. The wingspan ranges from 21 to 24 cm.
Habitat
The White-crowned Sparrows are mainly found in places where safe tangles of brush mix with the open or grassy ground for foraging.
Food
If you want to attract the White-crowned Sparrow, the ideal feeders include the platform and ground. Inside these feeders, you can put foods such as hulled sunflower seeds, cracked corn, millet, milo, and the black oil sunflower seeds.
These birds also feed on weeds, grasses, and insects such as beetles, wasp, caterpillars, and others.
Nesting
The White-crowned Sparrows lay a clutch of 3 to 7 eggs and incubate them for 10 to 14 days. The eggs are greenish, greenish-blue, or bluish spotted with reddish-brown. They experience one top three broods in a year. The hatched chicks are born with sparse down feathers with their eyes closed.
Warbling Vireo
Measurements
Length: 4.7-5.1 in (12-13 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.6 Oz (10-16 g)
Wingspan: 8.7 in (22 cm)
The Warbling Vireo is a small songbird that is mainly found in the US. The scientific name of this bird is the Vireo gilvus.
Description
The Warbling Vireo are small, chunky songbirds that have a thick, straight, slightly hooked bill. They are medium-sized for vireos, with a fairly round head and a medium-length tail and bill. These birds are grey-olive above, and whitish below washed on the sides and vent with a yellow.
They have a dark line through the eyes and a white line above the eye. In most of them, the lore is white. Worn mid-summer, these birds can be nearly entirely grey above and whitish below. The average weight of these birds is 10 to 16 grams with a length of 12 to 13 cm. The wingspan average is 22 cm.
Habitat
The Warbling Vireo is mainly in the deciduous forests throughout the year though they also use some mixed coniferous and deciduous habitats. Even during the migration, they will prefer to stay in areas with tall trees.
Food
The Warbling Vireo mainly feeds on insects and other invertebrates such as caterpillars, moths, and butterflies. They also feed on beetles, bees, ants, spiders, and wasps. During the winter, they also feed on fruits and berries such as elderberries and others. You will find them foraging mostly in treetops, gleaning insects from leaves and sometimes hovering and flycatching.
Nesting
These birds lay eggs and incubate them for 12 to 14 days. They experience one or two broods in a year. The eggs are usually white with a few scattered dots of reddish or dark brown. The hatched chicks are usually naked, helpless with dark-yellow skin, and the eyes are closed.
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Western Tanager
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 6.3-7.5 in (16-19 cm)
Weight: 0.8-1.3 oz (24-36 g)
The Western Tanager is a medium-sized American songbird that was formerly placed in the tanager family. Its scientific name is the Piranga ludoviciana.
Description
The Western Tanagers are stocky songbirds, fairly small but noticeably larger and heavy bodies compared to the warblers. They have short, thick-based bills and medium-length tails. The male adult is tallow with black wings and a flaming orange-red head. The wings have two bold wing bars. The upper one is yellow, while the lower one is white in color. Both the tail and bark are black.
The young ones lack red during the fall, while during the spring, they show less red on the head relative to that on the adults.
The average weight of this bird is 24 to 36 grams with a length of 16 to 19 cm.
Habitat
The Western Tanager breed mostly in coniferous forests though they are not particular choosy on which conifer species. They breed in juniper pine mixtures at low elevation up to spruce-fir near the tree line. During the migration season, you will find them in nearly any shrubby or wooded area, while during the winter, they are mainly found in pine-oak woodland and forest edge.
Food
During the breeding season, these birds mainly feed on stinkbugs, grasshoppers, crane flies, beetles, termites, ants, wasps, among others. During the fall and winter, they feed on fruits. They include blackberries, elderberries, hawthorns, wild cherries, and others.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of 3 to 5 eggs and proceed to incubate them. The eggs are blue or bluish-green, sometimes almost white and sparsely spotted with gray-brown. The hatched chicks are usually helpless and 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.
Brewer’s Blackbird
Male measurements
Length: 8.3-9.8 in (21-25 cm)
Weight: 2.1-3.0 oz (60-86 g)
Wingspan: 14.6 in (37 cm)
Female measurements
Length: 7.9-8.7 in (20-22 cm)
Weight: 1.8-2.4 oz (50-67 g)
Wingspan: 14.6 in (37 cm)
Description
Brewer’s Blackbird is a small, long-legged songbird that looks like many blackbirds. The scientific name of this bird is Euphagus cyanocephalus. They have a long tail which is balanced by a full-body, round head, and long thick based beak. The tail of a male Brewer’s Blackbird, when it’s perched, appears widened and rounded toward the tip.
Male Brewer’s Blackbirds are black all over with a staring yellow eye and blue sheen on the head. The females are plain brown, have dark wings and tails, and have dark eyes. Immature Brewer’s Blackbirds look like washed-out light brown versions of the female Brewer’s Blackbirds.
Male Brewer’s Blackbirds weigh between 60 to 86 grams and are 21 to 25 cm long. They have a wingspan of 37cm. Female Brewer’s Blackbirds are 20 to 22 cm long and weigh 50 to 67 grams. The females have a wingspan averaging 37 cm. the birds are about the size of Red-winged Blackbirds.
Habitat
Brewer’s Blackbirds are common in towns and open habitats. The birds feed on open ground or underfoot in parks and busy streets. Their natural habitats include grasslands, meadows, woodlands, sagebrush, and marshes.
Food
The ideal feeder type to attract Brewer’s Blackbird is platform and ground feeders. In these feeders, you can put hulled sunflower seeds, cracked corn, and millet. Brewer’s Blackbirds also eat insects, small frogs, young voles, and some nesting birds like Brewer’s Sparrows.
Nesting
The Brewer’s Blackbird lay 3 to 7 eggs and have 1 to 2 brood in a year. The eggs are pale gray to greenish-white, clouded or spotted with brown, pink, violet, yellow and gray. The incubation period is 11 to 17 days. Nesting takes 12 to 16 days, after which the nestling fly out to forage by themselves.
Western Wood-Pewee
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.5-6.3 in (14-16 cm)
Weight: 0.4-0.5 oz (11-14 g)
Wingspan: 10.2 in (26 cm)
The Western Wood-Pewee is a small tyrant flycatcher that is found in most parts of the United States. The scientific name of the bird is Contopus sordidulus.
Description
These are medium-sized birds that have a peaked crown that makes their head look triangular. They perch upright in the canopy. They have long wings that help in separating them from similar-looking Empidonax flycatchers.
These birds are grayish-brown overall with two pale wing bars. The underparts are whitish, and they have smudgy gray on the sides and breasts. The face is dark grayish brown with little to no eye-ring. The bill is mostly dark, with yellow at the base of the lower mandible.
The average weight of this bird is 16 to 14 grams with an average length of 14 to 16 cm.
Habitat
These birds use open woodlands, forest edges, and forests near the streams with large trees, open understories, and standing dead trees. The common tree species include the pinyon pine, cottonwood, sycamore, ponderosa pine, aspen, and spruce. They avoid dense forests.
Food
The Western Wood-Pewee mainly feed on insects such as spiders, ants, bees, flies, wasps, beetles, crickets, dragonflies, and moths. They sit on a dead perch at the end of the branch for a long period waiting for the insect to fly by, and they catch them midair.
Nesting
The Western Wood-Pewee lay a clutch of 2 to 4 eggs and incubate them for 14 to 15 days. The eggs are creamy-white with brown blotches. The hatched chicks are usually naked with a small amount of whitish down.
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.
Vesper Sparrow
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.1-6.3 in (13-16 cm)
Weight: 0.7-1.0 oz (20-28 g)
Wingspan: 9.4 in (24 cm)
The Vesper Sparrow is a medium-sized new world sparrow. It is the only member of the genus Pooecetes. Its scientific name is the Pooecetes gramineus.
Description
The Vesper Sparrows are not such large sparrows with a fairly small conical bill, a chunky body, and a long notched tail. They have crisp steaks and are brown in color overall. The notable characteristic is the white eye-ring, white outer tail feathers that are seen on the flight, a pale cheek patch. They also have a distinctive but difficult see chestnut patch on the shoulder.
The average weight of the bird is 20 to 28 grams with a length of 13 to 16 cm. The average wingspan is 24 cm.
Habitat
The Vesper Sparrow is found in open grassy areas, including the prairie, weedy fields, sagebrush, steppe, meadows, pastures, and the roadsides. They tend to keep away from areas with tall grass and wetter areas.
Food
The Vesper Sparrows feed by scratching on the ground to uncover seeds of grasses, weed, and grain crops. They also pick insects and spiders from low plants during the breeding season.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of 2 to 6 eggs and incubate them for 11 to 14 days. The eggs are usually whitish with variable brown or purplish spots. The average length of the egg is 1.9 to 2.3 cm, with a width of 1.3 to 1.7 cm. They experience one to three broods in a year. The hatched chicks are usually helpless with sparse tufts of down.
Savannah Sparrow
Mountain Bluebird
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 6.3-7.9 in (16-20 cm)
Weight: 1.1 oz (30 g)
Wingspan: 11.0-14.2 in (28-36 cm)
Mountain Bluebirds are small thrushes found in mountainous areas. The bird belongs to the genus Sialia. The scientific name of Mountain Bluebird is Sialia currucoides.
Description
Mountain Bluebirds have round heads and straight thin bills. The birds have long wings, long tails, and leanness compared to other bluebirds.
Male Mountain Bluebirds are sky-blue with somehow dark wings and tails. The underparts of the bird are a bit paler with white under the tail. Female Mountain Bluebirds are grey-brown with flushes of pale blue in the wings and tails. They occasionally show a mixture of orange-brown on their chests. Immature Mountain Bluebirds have fewer spots than other immature bluebirds and black spotting on their backs. The bill of a Mountain Bluebird is entirely black.
Mountain Bluebirds approximately weigh 30 grams and have a length of 16 to 20 cm. the wingspan of the bird is 28 to 36 cm.
Habitat
Mountain Bluebirds occupy wide open spaces in areas of middle and higher elevations. The birds breed in native habitats like sage brushes, steppe, alpine tundra, and prairies. During winter, the birds can be found in lower elevation areas like in meadows, hedgerows, flat grasslands, pinyon-juniper, oak-juniper woodlands, and in agricultural areas.
Food
Platform feeders and suet cages are ideal feeders to attract Mountain Bluebirds. In these feeders, you can put mealworms, sunflower seeds, suet, and fruits. The birds also feed on insects such as beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, and caterpillars.
Nesting
Mountain Bluebirds lay 4 to 8 eggs and incubate them for 13 to 17 days. The eggs are pale blue to bluish-white and are paler than those of other bluebirds. The birds have one or two broods in a year. Hatched nestlings are helpless and have no feathers.
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.
