ChemGal
One with keen eye
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Good to see you drop in @GiancarloZ I can't imagine doing work and school both full time. Good luck with your studies!
Room For All
- Thread starter BusyMom
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Beautiful. What kind of bird is that @Northwind ?
Carolla
wondering & wandering
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Pileated woodpecker - very distinctive. Are you a birdwatcher Kimmio?
When we were away we saw some Hispaniolan Woodpeckers - they are interesting too, and native to the island of Hispaniola (ie Haiti & DR).
No, not much of one. I like seeing interesting birds but identifying them is not a hobby. Duh, I should’ve known that was a woodpecker! I used to more easily recognize the common ones. It had done quite a bit of pecking at that tree trunk! A major clue.
KayTheCurler
Well-Known Member
Pileated woodpeckers have very distinctive holes too. They aren't the usual circle but are rectangular.
Carolla
wondering & wandering
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I love watching birds - I try to remember to take my binoculars along when I go out into the woods, down to the lake etc. Amazing what's out there! I'm not one who keeps a 'life list' or goes chasing rare species - just a curious observer of nature. Anybody else?
BetteTheRed
Resident Heretic
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I like watching birds. Not good at identifying anything other than absolutely common species; is it @KayTheCurler who refers to all sparrow and smaller birds as "little brown jobs"? Whoever it is, I agree. If it's cooing, it's a mourning dove, if it's bright yellow, it's a goldfinch, bright blue and squawky is a blue jay, red a cardinal, etc. But then there's cowbirds versus starlings, crows vs ravens, and then all those little sparrow-type small dull things. And sadly, no magpies.
Northwind
Stationary nomad.
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That's too bad. Magpies are smart, saucy, handsome birds. Of course admitting to liking them in front of someone who grew up with them is like admitting to liking starlings to someone who grew up with them.
I think it was starlings...or finches? Or swallows?...teeny little birds that like to hang around cafes in the city. No,not pigeons. @You just never know and I met for coffee once and they were flying inside (rolling ‘garage’ type windows, so it is open in the summer) hopping on the tables! Sometimes, in Vancouver, there’d a whole bunch at once. They were everywhere in Vancouver. Quite tame, cute little things. They eat crumbs. Non-descript greyish brownish colour.
ChemGal
One with keen eye
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Fun to watch at a park. Not so fun to watch in the neighbourhood on garbage day.That's too bad. Magpies are smart, saucy, handsome birds. Of course admitting to liking them in front of someone who grew up with them is like admitting to liking starlings to someone who grew up with them.
Mrs.Anteater
Just keep going....
Sparrows.
Scavenger birds. I used to eat my lunch in a downtown park/ square when the weather was nice. Once, I was sitting on a bench, I put my sandwich down beside me (back in the plastic bag it was in) for a second to use my phone...and a seagull swooped in and took my lunch. I think it actually landed on the end of the bench, then walked over and grabbed the bag and flew into the centre of the square to eat it. The gull had gall! Then I watched it and another seagull who’d come by, fight over my sandwich, in the square. They made a big mess. It was quite an unexpected event...and a hungry afternoon. Fascinating to watch, though. If it happened to me frequently, maybe not so much.
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KayTheCurler
Well-Known Member
Yes BetteTheRed I am the guilty party who lumps a lot of birds together as 'little brown jobs'. I enjoy watching birds but don't spend huge amounts of time searching for them. My vision is still not 'fixed' so I can't tell one of those little guys from another. Some birds are really distinctive, some I can identify by shape or flight pattern. When we lived on our acreage we had LOTS of birds in good variety. Daughter and family didn't continue the feeding programme though so there aren't so many now. We have tried to attract birds to our lot in town by planting berry trees in variety. One bird related highlight was spotting some whooping cranes while out for an early spring walk a few years ago.
BetteTheRed
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Maybe not, but it's their smartness I like so much about all corvidae; magpies are particularly endearing.
KayTheCurler
Well-Known Member
My daughter who bought our acreage loathes magpies. They are greedy and 'into everything'. She claims she can't like a bird that is smarter than she is!
Northwind
Stationary nomad.
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I agree. Though it's pretty amazing to see what they can do. The advent of the garbage bins seems to have slowed them down a bit.
Northwind
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@Kimmio Laughterlove your story made me laugh. Not at your misfortune, at the brazen gulls. 
We used to leave the dog food out for the dog when we left her outside. (Last dog, not current) She was a nibbler so the food stayed in the bowl for long periods. Well, unless the magpies were around. They would tag team and steal her food. One would distract her and the others would steal food. It was quite the process. We stopped leaving her food out.
We used to leave the dog food out for the dog when we left her outside. (Last dog, not current) She was a nibbler so the food stayed in the bowl for long periods. Well, unless the magpies were around. They would tag team and steal her food. One would distract her and the others would steal food. It was quite the process. We stopped leaving her food out.