Bird watching is a great way to get closer to nature. What better way than watching birds from the comfort of your backyard!
Oregon is home to a variety of bird species. A number of these birds live in Oregon 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 Oregon, read on to find out how to attract and identify these beautiful birds to your backyard.
California Scrub-Jay
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 11.0-11.8 in (28-30 cm)
Weight: 2.5-3.5 Oz (70-100 g)
Wingspan: 15.3 in (39 cm)
Description
The California Scrub-jay is a scrub jay species that originate from the US. The Scientific name of this bird is the Aphelocoma, California.
This is a fairly large songbird that has lanky dimensional. It has a long and floppy tail, and it often adopts a hunched-over posture. It has a straight and stout bill that has a hook at the tip.
The color of the California Scrub-jay is rich azure blue and grey above, pale on the underside broken up by a blue necklace. In birds, the color blue depends on the lighting, and this means this bird can at times look simply dark.
The average weight of the bird is between 70 to 1000 grams with a length of 28 to 30 cm. The wingspan average is 39 cm.
Habitat
If you want to find the California Scrub-jay, you can look for them in open areas, woodlands, and chaparral along the west coast and pastures, backyards, and orchards.
Food
If you want to attract the California Scrub-jay, the ideal feeder are the large tube feeder, platform, ground, suet cage, and large hopper. You can put food types such as the suet, cracked corn, peanuts, millet, milo, peanut hearts, hulled sunflower, and black oil sunflower seeds inside the feeders. During the summer, these birds also feed on insects and fruits. They also eat small animals such as lizards and nesting birds.
Nesting
The California Scrub-jay lays a clutch of between 1 to 5 eggs and takes 17 to 19 days to incubate them. The eggs are usually pale green blotched with olive or pale grey with some brown spots. The average length of the eggs’ is 2.4 to 3.4 cm and has a width of 1.9 to 2 cm. The hatched chick is usually helpless, naked, and eyes are closed.
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.
Steller’s Jay
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 11.8-13.4 in (30-34 cm)
Weight: 3.5-4.9 oz (100-140 g)
Wingspan: 17.3 in (44 cm)
The Steller’s Jay is a North American bird closely related to the Blue Jay but with a black head and upper body. The bird is also referred to as the Long-crested Jay, Pine Jay, or the Mountain Jay. The scientific name for Steller’s Jay is Cyanocitta stelleri.
Description
Steller’s Jay is a large songbird with a chunky body and a large head. The birds have round wings and long full tails. Steller’s Jays have long, straight, slightly hooked, and powerful bills. The birds have a projecting triangular crest that stands nearly straight up from their head.
Steller’s Jays appear very dark from a distance and lack the white underparts of most species of Jays. The head of the bird is charcoal black, and the body is blue with almost sparkling light blue on the wings. The birds have conspicuous white markings above their eyes.
Steller’s Jay weighs 100 to 140 grams and is 30 to 34 cm long. The wingspan of the birds is approximately 44 cm. Steller’s Jays are about the size of the Western Scrub-Jay.
Habitat
Steller’s Jays are mostly found in coniferous and coniferous-deciduous forests. The birds are also found in arid pine-oak woodlands and lower evergreen forests and in deserts during winter. The birds are also a familiar sight in campgrounds, picnic areas, parks, and backyards.
Food
Steller’s Jays are attracted by feeders like the large tube feeder, large hopper, suet cage, platform, and ground feeders. In these feeders, you can put foods such as black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, cracked corn, peanuts, peanut hearts, milo, millet, or suet. The birds also feed on insects, small animals, eggs, and nestlings.
Nesting
Steller’s Jays lay 2 to 6 eggs and incubate them for 16 days. The eggs are bluish-green with dark brown, purplish, or olive spots. The birds experience only one brood in a year. Hatched chicks stay in the nest for 16 days while being fed by their parents.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Spotted Towhee
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 6.7-8.3 in (17-21 cm)
Weight: 1.2-1.7 oz (33-49 g)
Wingspan: 11.0 in (28 cm)
Spotted Towhee are large New World Sparrows in the Passerellidae family. The scientific name for Spotted Towhee is Pipilo maculatus.
Description
Spotted Towhees are large sparrows with heavily built bodies. The birds have thick pointed bills, short necks, and long rounded tails.
Male Spotted Towhees have jet-black on the head, upperparts, and throat with bright white spots on the wings and back. The birds have warm rufous flanks and a white belly. Female Spotted Towhees are grayish-brown on the head, throat, and upperparts with the same patterns as the male. White corners in their black tails are visible when the birds fly.
Spotted Towhees weigh 33 to 49 grams and are 17 to 21 cm long. The birds have a wingspan of 28 cm.
Habitat
Spotted Towhees occur in dry thickets, forest edges, old fields, brushy tangles, chappal, shrubby backyards, canyon bottoms, and coulees. The birds feel at home in areas with dense shrub cover and plenty of leaf litter where they can scratch around.
Food
To attract Spotted Towhees, the ideal feeders are ground and platform feeders. In these feeders, you can put foods such as milo, millet, peanut hearts, cracked corn, hulled sunflower seeds, and black oil sunflower seeds. The birds also feed on insects and leaf-litter arthropods like sowbugs, millipedes, and spiders.
Nesting
Spotted Towhees lay 2 to 6 eggs and incubate them for 12 to 13 days. The eggs are white, gray, green, or pinkish with reddish, brown, gray, or purple speckles. The birds experience 1 to 3 broods in a year. Chicks are hatched blind, clumsy, and naked except for the sparse tufts of grayish down and are nestled for 10 to 12 days.
Anna’s Hummingbird
Length: 3.9 in (10 cm)
Weight: 0.1-0.2 oz (3-6 g)
Wingspan: 4.7 in (12 cm)
Anna’s Hummingbird is a medium-sized bird from the Trochilidae family. This bird was named after French courtier Anna Massena. Its scientific name is the Calypte anna.
Description
This bird is among the tiniest Hummingbirds. It has a straight, shortish bill and a tail that is fairly broad, but whenever the bird is perched, the tail extends beyond the wingtips. Both the male and female Anna’s Hummingbirds have an average weight of between 3 to 6 grams and a length of 10 cm. The average wingspan is 12 cm.
Mostly, Anna’s Hummingbirds are green and gray in color. The males have their heads and throats covered in reddish-pink feathers. These feathers can look dull brown or gray without direct sunlight.
Habitat
If you want to observe these birds, you are likely to find them in yards, residential streets, riverside woods, coastal scrub, and savannas. These birds also move readily where there are Hummingbird feeders and flowering plants and also in cultivated species in gardens.
Foods
Whenever you want to attract Anna’s Hummingbirds, you can use the feeder nectar. They eat nectar from a variety of plants which includes the current, gooseberry, manzanita, and many introduced species such as the eucalyptus. They also feed on some insects from streambanks, taken from flowers, crevices, and some caught in spider webs. Mostly they target small insects such as leafhoppers, midgets, and whiteflies.
Nesting
The Anna’s Hummingbirds clutch has two eggs which it then incubates for a period of 16 days. The eggs are white in color, and they have an average length of 1.2 to1.4 cm and a width of 0.8 to 0.9 cm.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Bewick’s Wren
Golden-crowned Sparrow
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.9-7.1 in (15-18 cm)
Weight: 1.1-1.2 oz (30-33 g)
Wingspan: 9.74 in (24.75cm)
The Golden-crowned Sparrow is one of the five species of large American Sparrows. It belongs in the genus Zonotrichia and has no subspecies. The scientific name of Golden-crowned Sparrow is Zonotrichia atricapilla.
Description
Golden-crowned Sparrows are large sparrows with long tails and small heads. The bill of the bird is short and firm, suitable for seed-eating. The bills of the birds are grayish.
During summer, adult Golden-crowned Sparrows have streaked brown upperparts and a smooth gray to brown underparts. The birds have a black crown and a bright yellow forehead. Immature and winter Gold-crowned Sparrows are duller, with the brown color replacing the black on the head. The birds have a smaller and dull yellow crown stripe.
Golden-crowned Sparrow’s average weight is 30 to 33 grams and is 15 to 18 cm long. The birds have an average wingspan of 24.75 cm.
Habitat
Golden-crowned Sparrows are breeds mostly in shrubby tundra habitats near the coast or in the mountains. The birds live near willows, alders, and short conifers. The Gold-crowned Sparrows live in riparian thickets, chaparral, gardens, and the brush during the winter season or when in-migration.
Food
To attract Golden-crowned Sparrows, the ideal feeders to use our platform and ground feeders. In these feeders, you can put millets, cracked corn, safflower, hulled sunflower seeds, milo, and black oil sunflower seeds. The birds also feed on fruits like apples, grapes, apples, and olives and insects like ants, bees, moths, and termites.
Nesting
Golden-crowned Sparrow lay 3 to 5 eggs and incubate 11 to 13 days. The eggs are smooth, pale blue to greenish-blue with reddish-brown and pale gray speckles. The birds have 1 to 2 broods in the year, and they nest their nestlings for9 11 days. The chicks are hatched feeble and uncoordinated with their eyes closed.
Lesser Goldfinch
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 3.5-4.3 in (9-11 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (8-11.5 g)
Wingspan: 5.9-7.9 in (15-20 cm)
Lesser Goldfinch is small songbirds forming the American Goldfinches together with the American Goldfinch and Lawrence’s Goldfinch. The scientific name of Lesser Goldfinch is Spinus psaltria.
Description
Lesser Goldfinch is tiny and has stub-bills. The birds have long pointed wings and short tails with notches.
The male Lesser Goldfinch is bright yellow below with a glossy black cap and white patches in the wings. The backs of the birds can be glossy black or dull green. Males also have a black tail with large white corners. Female and immature Lesser Goldfinches have olive backs, dull yellow underparts, and black wings marked by two whitish wing bars.
Lesser Goldfinch has an average weight of 8 to 11.5 grams and are 9 to 11 cm long. The birds have a wingspan of 15 to 20 cm.
Habitat
Lesser Goldfinch mostly feeds in weedy fields, budding treetops, and brush of open areas and edges. They also live in mountain canyons, desert oases, and the suburbs. The common habitats include pinyon-juniper, cottonwood, cedar, pine woodlands, oak, chaparral, and willows.
Food
To attract Lesser Goldfinch, the ideal feeders to use are large tube feeders, small tube feeders, large and small hoppers, and platform feeders. In these feeders, you can put black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, and Nyjer. The birds occasionally supplement their diet with insects such as plant lice.
Nesting
Lesser Goldfinches lay 3 to 6 pale blue-white and unmarked eggs and incubate them for 12 to 13 days. The birds have only one brood in a year. The nestlings are hatched naked, blind, and totally dependent on their parents for food. The nesting period is 12 to 14 days.
Violet-green Swallow
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.7 in (12 cm)
Weight: 0.5 oz (14 g)
Wingspan: 10.6 in (27 cm)
The Violet-green Swallow is a small passerine bird that belongs to the swallow family and lives in the US. The scientific name of this bird is the Tachycineta thalassina.
Description
The Violet-green Swallow is a small, sleek bird with long pointed wings and slightly forked tails. Their wingtip extends beyond their short tail, especially noticeable when perched.
At first sight, they appear dark above the crisp white below. When exposed to light, the back that is usually greenish-bronze together with the violet rump come to life. Al, the birds have a white belly that wraps around to the upper side of the rump, creating saddlebags. The male species usually have white cheek patches, while the females and the chicks have dusty cheeks.
The average weight of these birds is 14 grams, with a length of 12 cm. The average wingspan is 27 cm.
Habitat
Violent-green Swallows breed in open woodlands, including deciduous evergreen and mixed-species woodlands, especially where old cavity-filled trees occur. They also visit the lakes and streams where they feed on the flying insects.
Food
The Violet-green Swallows feed on flying insects such as leafhoppers, flies, aphids, leaf bugs, and beetles. They also catch small insects’ midair. They also fly low above the water bodies and fields as they catch insects, and they also forage high above the ground. To attract them, you can ensure there are shrubs around the garden that will attract the insects hence attracting the birds.
Nesting
These birds lay a clutch of 4 to 6 eggs and incubate them for 14 to 15 days. The eggs are pure white with no marking. They experience one or two broods a year. The hatched chicks are usually naked with their eyes closed with bits of fluffy down on the back.
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 3.9-4.7 in (10-12 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (7-12 g)
Wingspan: 7.5 in (19 cm)
Description
Chestnut-backed Chickadee is the smallest Chickadee. The scientific name of the bird is Poecile rufescens. The birds have large heads and small bills. They have a long narrow tail and short rounded wings. The bird is bold black and white on the head, similar to other Chickadee, but their back and sides are chestnuts instead of the typical slaty gray color of Chickadee’s backs. Their flanks are either dull gray or rich brown.
The birds are active, sociable, noisy and match the rich brown bark of the coastal trees. They make a conspicuous chick-a-dee call note.
Chestnut-backed Chickadee weighs between 7 to 12 grams and is 10 to 12 centimeters long. The wingspan of the birds is approximately 19 centimeters.
Habitat
Chestnut-backed Chickadees are mostly found in dense wet coniferous forests, including Monterey, ponderosa, sugar pines, incense-cedar, and redwoods. They can also be found in some deciduous forests in willows, along streams, eucalyptus groves, and along edges of oak woodlands. The birds also inhabit the urban and rural areas.
Food
The ideal feeder types to attract Chestnut-backed Chickadee are large tube feeders, small tube feeders, large hoppers, suet cage, small hoppers, and platform feeders. In these feeders, you can put black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, Nyjer, suet, peanuts, peanut hearts, and mealworms. The birds also feed on insects and arthropods like caterpillars, leafhoppers, and spiders.
Nesting
Chestnut-backed Chickadees lay 1 to 11 eggs and have 1 to 2 broods in a year. Their eggs are white with reddish to light-brown spots and are 1.4 -1.7 cm long and 1.1-1.3 cm wide. Incubation takes 12 to 18 days, and the nestlings are hatched naked and eyes closed. The nesting period is 18 to 21 days.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bushtit
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 2.8-3.1 in (7-8 cm)
Weight: 0.1-0.2 Oz (4-6 g)
Description
The Bushtit, also known as the American Bushtit, is the only species in the Aegithalidae family found in the new world. The scientific name of this bird is the Psaltriparus minimus.
The Bushtits are tiny, kinglet-size birds. They are plumb and longheaded with long tails and a short, stubby bill. This bird is a fairly plain brown and gray bird. The upper part is slightly darker than the underpart. The head is brown-gray, gray wings, and a tan-gray underpart.
The average weight of these birds is 4 to 6 grams with a length of 7 to 8 cm.
Habitat
The Bushtits are mainly found in the oak forest, evergreen woodlands, dry scrublands, streamsides, and suburbs. You can easily find them at an elevation of over 10000 feet.
Food
If you want to attract the Bushtit, the ideal feeders are the platform, suet cage, large and small hoppers, and small and large tube feeders. Inside these feeders, you can put foods such as peanuts, suet, peanut hearts, black oil sunflower seeds, and hulled sunflower seeds.
The bird can also feed on spiders and insects, including the very tiny ones that appear on the leaves and twigs. They eat insects such as beetles, wasps, ants, and caterpillars.
Nesting
The Bushtits lay a clutch of 4 to 8 eggs and take 12 to 13 days to incubate. The eggs are white and smooth. The average length of the eggs is 1.3 to 1.4 cm, with a width of 1 cm. They usually have one to two broods a year. The hatched chicks are usually naked and helpless.
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.
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.
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.
Pacific Wren
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 3.1-4.7 in (8-12 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (8-12 g)
Wingspan: 4.7-6.3 in (12-16 cm)
The Pacific Wren is a tiny songbird that is mainly found in the United States, and it belongs to the family of new world wren, Troglodytidae. The scientific name of the bird is Troglodytes pacificus.
Description
The Pacific Wren is among the smallest wrens in the US, and it has a short stubby tail which it usually holds upright. They have a small and short tail that gives them a round appearance. They have short wings and a thin bill.
This bird is brown all over its body with darker brownish-black barring on the wings, tail, and belly. The face is brown with a slight pale mark over the eyebrow. The average weight of this bird is 8 to 12 grams with an average length of 8 to 12 cm. The wingspan rages from 12 to 16 cm.
Habitat
The Pacific Wren is commonly found in old-growth evergreen forests. They also breed in deciduous forests, tree islands, and mixed-species forests near the streams. They forage and build nests near the fallen logs, dead trees, upturned tree toots, understory cover of mosses and ferns often near water.
Whenever the breeding season is over, they can also be found inhabiting places like parks and gardens.
Food
The Pacific Wrens are insectivores. They feed on insects such as caterpillars, beetles, ticks, bees, millipedes, flies, and spiders. They move slowly on the ground or above the ground inspecting the vegetation or the decaying woods for food. Whenever the breeding season is over, these birds may sometimes feed on juniper berries to supplement the diet.
Nesting The Pacific Wrens lay a clutch of 1 to 9 eggs and incubate them for 14 to 17 days. The eggs are white with small pale to reddish-brown spots. These birds experience one to two broods a year. The hatched chicks are usually naked with only a few straggly down feathers.
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.
Orange-crowned Warbler
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 4.3-5.5 in (11-14 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (7-11 g)
Wingspan: 7.5 in (19 cm)
The Orange-crowned Warbler is a small songbird that belongs to the family of new world warblers. The scientific name of this bird is the Leiothlypis celata.
Description
The Orange-crowned Warbler is a small songbird. They have noticeably thin, sharply pointed bills compared to other warblers. They have short wings and short square tails.
These birds are fairly yellowish or olive. They are more yellow on the pacific coast and greyer, particularly on the head farther east. They also have a thin white or yellow stripe over the eye and a pale partial eye-ring.
The average weight of the bird is 7 to 11 grams with a length of 11 to 14 cm. The average wingspan is 19 cm.
Habitat
The Orange-crowned Warblers mainly live in dense areas of deciduous scrubs, usually within or adjacent to the forest. They can also be seen from the low elevation oak scrub to stunted forest near timberline. During the migration, you may find them in nearly any habitat though they still prefer the dense, low vegetation.
Food
The Orange-crowned Warblers mainly feed on invertebrates which include ants, caterpillars, flies, and spiders. They supplement their insect diet with fruits, berries, seeds, and plant galls. They are also known to be regular visitors at the sap wells drilled by sapsuckers and some other woodpeckers. They also get nectar from the flowers.
If you want to attract these birds, you need to have a garden with fruits and berries or some vegetation that will attract the insects.
Nesting
The Orange-crowned Woodpeckers lay a clutch of 3 to 6 eggs. The eggs are usually white to cream, finely speckled with reddish-brown or chestnut. The hatched chicks have their eyes closed, skin covered in sparse, and have a dark grey down.
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.
Fox Sparrow
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5.9-7.5 in (15-19 cm)
Weight: 0.9-1.6 oz (26-44 g)
Wingspan: 10.5-11.4 in (26.7-29 cm)
Description
The Fox Sparrow is a large New World sparrow and the only member of the genus Passarella. The scientific name for Fox Sparrow is Passerella iliaca. There are four types of Fox Sparrows; Red Fox, Sooty Fox, Slate-colored Fox, and Large-billed Fox.
The Fox Sparrow is a large and round-bodied sparrow with a stout bill and medium-length tail. Fox Sparrows are rust-brown above with a mix of rust and gray on the head.
The bird has heavy brownish splotches on the flanks and the center of its chest. Some Fox Sparrows have yellowish bills, while others have dark gray bills. Fox Sparrows have a streaked underneath and are among the largest sparrows.
The bird’s average weight is 26 to 44 grams, and its average length is 15 to 19 centimeters. The wingspan of the Fox Sparrows ranges between 26.7 to 29 cm.
Habitat
Fox Sparrows breed in dense mountain scrub, thickets, chaparral, and coniferous forests. These birds nest in brushy fields at high elevation areas and forage in the leaf litter of open hardwood forests and swampy thickets when migrating.
Food
To attract Fox Sparrows, the ideal feeders are platform and ground feeders. In the feeders, you can put foods such as Nyjer, cracked corn, milo, and millet.
Fox Sparrows feed mainly on insects during the breeding season. Such insects include fly larvae, ants, caterpillars, bees, ants, scale insects, and beetles.
Nesting
Fox Sparrows lay a clutch of 2 to 5 eggs and incubates them for 12 to 14 days. The eggs are pale bluish-green with cloudy markings of reddish-brown. The birds have only one brood in a year. The hatched chicks are helpless and downy.
Rufous Hummingbird
MEASUREMENTS
Length: 2.8-3.5 in (7-9 cm)
Weight: 0.1-0.2 oz (2-5 g)
Wingspan: 4.3 in (11 cm)
The Rufous Hummingbirds is a small hummingbird that is known for its extraordinary fighting skills. Its scientific name is the Selasphorus Rufus.
Description
The Rufous Hummingbird is a fairly small Hummingbird that has a slender, nearly straight bill, a tail that tapers to a point when folded, and fairly short wings that do not reach the end of the tail when the bird is perched.
Whenever it is in good light, the male Rufous glows like coal; on the back, the color is bright orange while the belly with a vivid iridescent red throat. On the other hand, the females are green above with rufous washed flanks, rufous patches in the green tail, and often a spot of orange in the throat.
The average weight of this bird is 2 to 5 grams with a length of 7 to 9 cm. The wingspan average is 11 cm.
Habitat
The Rufous Hummingbirds breed in open areas, parks, yards, and forests up to treelines. During the migration, they pass through the mountain meadows as high as 12 600 feet, where the nectar-rich tubular flowers are blooming. During the winter, they inhabit places like shrubby openings and oak-pine forests in the middle of high elevation.
Food
If you want to attract the Rufous Hummingbirds, the ideal feeder is the nectar feeder, and inside this feeder, you can put sugar water. These birds primarily feed on nectar from flowers such as the fireweed, lilies, mints columbine, among others.
They also supplement t6heir diet by getting proteins and fats from insects such as flies, midges, and gnats. They catch some like aphids from plants and others midair.
Nesting The Rufous Hummingbirds lay a clutch of 2 to 3 eggs and incubate them for 15 to 17 days. The eggs are tiny and white in color. They experience one brood in a year. The chicks have their eyes closed and naked when they are hatched.
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.
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.
