Any birdwatchers here?

[John Galt]

Well, I appreciate your definition being like mine was until recently. It's wrong, however, according to recent sources.

https://www.google.com/search?source...w=1364&bih=661

Thanks for the info. It seems that in America we distinguish the way I do, and you did, but in Europe and other nations they seem to refer to many raptors as buzzards.

The red-tailed hawk is a member of the genus Buteo, a group of medium-sized raptors with robust bodies and broad wings. Members of this genus are known as buzzards in Eurasia, but hawks in North America.

[John Galt]

I really miss the birds from the midwest, out here they aren't nearly as colorful.

I know out west, your jays are much more colorful than our blue jays.

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[John Galt]

I have different birds depending of the season where I am
North-East

Northeast is very interesting in the spring/fall, with many species passing through

[John Galt]

The rubies are a bit more colorful than the anna's hummingbirds we have around here. The feeders are very popular spots.

Male rubies can indeed be colorful. They turn the red on/off at will.

Also...they're total ass*oles. Are your varieties also aggressive?

[John Galt]

I understand starlings can sometimes chase wrens from their homes, they are very aggressive.

We've got some owl boxes nearby with the great horned owls judging by the hoots. Owls are the most elusive species for me because they are mostly silent and rarely are out in the daytime.

There are still a few places around that have the burrowing owl, they come out in the daytime.

I WISH we had owls, although they're known for taking cats at night. I see them on occasion while driving the back roads at night. They're huge.

I'm fascinated by all raptors. I feed eagles in the winter while ice fishing. They've learned that if they wait in the trees, we'll leave fish for them. This pic. is cropped quite a bit, but you can see the fish I left on the ice.


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Sometimes, they show up when I'm working just to remind me that I should be fishing!

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[John Galt]

I recently took a backroad and came across a dead horse with about 20 turkey vultures feeding on it. Its a very odd sight and they are huge birds.

And they eat really fast. I once saw a presentation by a guy who had a variety of raptors. This vulture devoured a chicken leg in about 3 seconds. Interesting...they're so ugly because they have no feathers on their heads. This is so bacteria cannot grow after they've had their head inside a carcass.

The 'bald' head allows the U.V rays from the sun to kill the bacteria.

[John Galt]

I understand starlings can sometimes chase wrens from their homes, they are very aggressive.

Starlings are indeed a pain. They nest in any area with a hole for an entrance. Given that wrens will nest in anything with a hole as well, that makes sense. I was once lucky enough to stumble across this flicker nest. It's also common for starlings to steal nesting sites from flickers. I got an interesting series of pix at this nest.

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This one was sheer luck. One parent exiting the nest.

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[John Galt]

This is one of my locals, the California gnatcatcher which are quite rare. They jump and twist through the air just above the ground when feeding.

That's a beautiful bird. Similar to our bluebirds that also eat insects. We have phoebe/flycatchers that feed in the same manner as the bird in your video.

[John Galt]

One more from the flickers. This one is nice

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[countryboy]

Hawks are hawks, and vultures are vultures. The latter is often called a buzzard. When I was young I also thought that vultures were hawks, but you don't really see a number of hawks congregating. Vultures are necessary in the ecosystem, existing on carrion.

One of my favorite avaians is the turkey vulture, I catch heck for it, but I don't care. A more magnificent flyer, you'll never find.