THINK BIRDS! I’m reminded of that by the imminent start of the annual Project FeederWatch on Saturday (November 10), and also by a certain pair of sparrows nibbling at the fallen seeds in the cracks between my patio stones lately. I’m not so good with sparrows—like many of the gray and yellowish warblers, they often look alike to me, unless I really concentrate—but when I saw them again today I told myself: This will be the year I get the local sparrows straight. “The Sibley Guide to Birds” helped me ID my visitors, and got me thinking: maybe you’d like a copy of the book, too (or another Sibley guide if you have this one)? The latest giveaway.
My visitors are white throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis, distinctive for their (surprise!) white throats and clean, crisp markings around the face. All I had to do was really look instead of saying to myself just “sparrow” and failing to take the time—in this case through a pair of binoculars–and then do a little reading in the Sibley book and online as well, because part of what had confused me was how some among them were differently marked than others, sort of same-but-different.
Apparently it’s just the normal variation in the species, which has two distinct “morphs.” Or so says the website of David Sibley, whose “The Sibley Guide to Birds” you can win by following the details in the box at the bottom of this story.
Among other sparrow-ID tips, this page on keeping the chipping sparrow and American tree sparrow straight might also help, or search All About Birds (from Cornell) for all the sparrow portraits.
learning about birds: some resources
BUT BEFORE YOU ENTER the giveaway, some other ways to connect and learn about all birds, and especially those most familiar ones, those who stay behind year-round (or arrive in time from somewhere less favorable) to settle in and spend the winter with us:
- All About Birds (the best online guide to bird species, from Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
- Telling tricky birds apart (some commonly confused species)
- About feeding birds (from Project FeederWatch)
- Join Project FeederWatch (a winter-long bird survey)
- Join ebird.org (to report your observations in realtime anytime)
- How to make a bird-friendly garden
- How to save birds by preventing window strikes
how to win the sibley guide
TO ENTER TO WIN a copy of “The Sibley Guide to Birds” by David Allen Sibley (or your choice of a Sibley guide if you already have this one), all you have to do is this:
Comment below by telling us whether you feed birds in winter, year round, or not at all, and what species is your favorite to watch (or any other highlight you wish to share about birds in your garden).
I feed year-round—more feeders in winter, and just one small one in spring through early fall (yes, risking a visit by bear, I know). I feed sunflower seed and in the cold months big blocks of beef suet from the butcher shop. I provide unfrozen water year-round (those are waxwings at my frog pond in snow in the above photo)—and most of all, the garden, which is loaded with bird-friendly plants year-round, and in which I use no chemicals of any kind. As far as favorites? I am crazy about woodpeckers.
What about you? (Feeling shy, and don’t want to say? You can simply say, “Count me in,” and I will—but if you have something to share, all the better.)
I’ll choose one winner at random after entries close at midnight Wednesday, November 14. Good luck to all!
I feed the birds in the winter and early spring but during the summer and fall they have coneflowers, sunflowers, cosmos and other plants to eat from. I like the wrens the best.
I put out feeders in the winter, once it becomes trickier for birds to find their own food out in the wild. For suet, I like to make my own. That way I can mix in a variety of seeds, dried fruit and dried insects. YUM! (At least the birds think so.)
Beware of putting feeders out all year round and filling them up every day. A feeding ground for songbirds often becomes a feeding ground for hawks and other birds of prey as well. If you don’t want to watch the songbirds get picked off one by one, try filling up the feeder every few days to once a week instead or only fill the feeders when it is really necessary for the birds, like in winter.
Yes, we feed the birds year around. Yesterday I heard the first of the Harris Sparrows singing in the hedge rows of the woods and fields. They haven’t come to the feeders yet this fall. I’ve started picking up fallen bird’s nests from under the walnut grove.
I would like to be able to identify them. We live on a farmstead surrounded by big fields of corn and soybeans so the birds welcome our oasis.
I see many woodpeckers in the woods around my home that are amazing. However, I am delighted by all kinds of birds. -Julie
We feed all year long…love watching the Downy Woodpeckers, Pilated Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, but, love the most watching the Bluebirds making their nests in the Spring!
I do feed birds year round. Sometimes there will be one or two different species passing through at migration, usually the food is eaten by wrens, swallows, finches
blackbirds, etc. I will get an occasional bluejay but my favorite to watch for and to feed are the cardinals. I throw peanuts out most mornings and if I forget or am late I can hear a cardinal calling impatiently. How do I surmise they are calling to me? As soon
as I put the peanuts out and he has one he stops calling for that day. I would really enjoy having the book to learn about and i d birds.
I’m amazed by the variety of birds at my house in Columbia County….and I’m not familiar with most of them. I’ve had Sibley’s on my to- buy list,so fingers crossed!
I feed year round. Some of the feeders have just the black oil sunflower seed and two other feeders are dedicated to shelled sunflower seed. I love watching the birds. When I can I try to learn how to identify bird species from watching and listening to their calls. I know when the Cardinals are around, even when I’m visiting my girlfriend In Millerton, New York. Sitting out on her back deck, I could hear the Cardinals, but we could not see them. Next year I will add a hummingbird feeder and also plant the Cardinal vine as well. Thanks!
I feed birds all year. Love all the woodpeckers at the suet feeders. Hummingbirds are the favorite in the summer. I have 8 feeders and it is a job to keep them filled every other day. It’s amazing how many birds come to the feeders. So much fun to watch!
We keep a feeder filled with black oil sunflower seeds and hang a suet block off it year round as well. There’s plenty of activity throughout the day; so much so that the feeder must be refilled and a new suet block hung every other day. Visitors are of every stripe — from all sizes of woodpeckers to nuthatches and even the ground feeders like cardinals manage to perch and eat. Friends invariably head for the window to see what is feeding when they visit. Non-stop pleasure!!!
Much to my husband’s chagrin, I use nature’s birdfeeders as much as possible. I leave dead trees, asters, goldenrod, milkweed, and all types of “weeds” standing through the winter. Feathered friends that don’t migrate reward me daily with their visits. A splash of cardinal red or chickadee antics brighten my day. It’s part of a sustainable system and there’s less yard work to do!
I feed chickadees, nuthatches, goldfinch, woodpeckers, cardinals, bluejays, mourning doves, juncos, sparrows, squirrels & chipmunks, and provide water for them
There is a pine tree in our yard that we refer to as the bird condo. Chickidees live there and greet me each morning as I go out to remind me to put out birdseedl. Chirp, chirp, chirp — give me my breakfast. We used to put it in a bird feeder but that became a bear magnet so we now just put some seed on the deck rail. We have a number of chipmunks and a squirrel who are like vacuum cleaners for birdseed but we let them have a share too. We also get cardinals and bluejays and juncos, oh my.
I plan and plant for the birds but I live in an urban area where birdseed attracts rodents so I never put out feeders. One of my favorite summertime activities is watching the goldfinches hanging off the sunflower heads and picking out the seeds!
I am a “snowbird”…When I pack it in in CT. and depart for Miami ( where they are still counting The Election Votes!), I leave behind my beauty berry bush and most of the seed pods of my perennials for the birds that criss cross my property in Winter.
Who they are..I know not.
I feed the birds all year…more so in the winter. I love to see all of the different woodpeckers that come to the suet, but one of my favorite birds is the nuthatch. Watching as they walk down the side of a tree is the best.
I feed the birds year round and have been a part of project feeder watch for five years. I still skip a beat at the sight of a male red cardinal in a snowy landscape. Somehow cardinals escape me – even in the middle of Maine it took a few years to see one regularly at my feeders. The more I plant and expand my garden here, the more frequent their visits. I was just blessed with a visit from migrating evening grosbeaks – truly a sight! Chickadees always capture my attention. I put out black oil sunflower seed, suet, and peanuts to the blue jays. We have a little game in the summer where I hide the peanuts throughout the garden then sit back and watch the jays find each and every one! Now that’s entertainment.
We feed the birds year round. Among my favorites are the yellow finches and the humming birds in the summer. I have chickadees,cardinals and woodpeckers visiting the feeders year round. Here in Wisconsin where the winters are so long the birds birds brigthen our day.
Over that last few years our bluebird houses have added many bluebirds to the population. It is so much fun to see the couple find the house and then see the eggs, followed by little baby bluebirds. We feel as if they are part of our family. Now we even see them in the winter, here in the beautiful mid-Hudson Valley of NY. We put out feeders only once the flowers are gone in the fall and enjoy watching all kinds of birds feeding at the feeders.
I currently feed only in the non winter months but I may change that this year. My favorite birds to watch are cardinals but really I just like watching all birds. I started keeping track this year of all the birds at our feeder.
We have lots of wild turkeys and, like Ben Franklin, I’m coming to appreciate them. They are way smart and, at times, almost giddy. Conversely, my new favorite bird is the turkey buzzard or turkey vulture. They are so ungainly and ugly sitting massed in a bare tree but when they are in flight, they are beautiful, both their underneath wing pattern and the enviable way they can soar for very long periods of time without ever having to flap their wings.
I successfully fed a host of finches, sparrows, chickadees, robins, tanagers, pine siskins and flickers this spring and summer and in the fall the seed eaters thoroughly enjoyed the end of my summer flowers. Now I am putting together the winter feeding system. I have successfully added red pepper to my bird feeders…birds do not seems to mind and the red squirrels definitely stay away from pepper.
I would be over the moon to win a bird guide!
i feed all year with feeders and plants. Right now they are finishing off the sunflowers and coneflowers. My yard cats are no threat to them to the point of watching the blue jays enjoy the bowl of cat chow. Love the woodpeckers
I feed birds year round and have a large yard with very old trees, both deciduous and evergreen. I also have a garden planted with a variety of shrubs and vines. As a result of this environment, I have many varieties of birds. Late this summer I had a pair of quail visit for a week, and saw a Cooper’s Hawk at my birdbath twice. Many Northern Cardinals have made my property their home, and I realize my many bird residents have enriched my life tremendously.
I feed by handfuls in the summer. I put up my feeders yesterday for the winter and within an hour this morning chickadees, titmice, a pair of cardinals, downy & red-bellied woodpeckers, nuthatch had all arrived. I watched the blue jay pick up peanuts from the ground, go behind the rhododendron and bury them, craftily hiding the hole by placing a leaf on top. A blue jay has trained me to open my studio window and place peanuts on the sill. He/she taps on the window loudly…and I dutifully respond.
I feed year round. In the summer it is humming birds and Baltimore Orioles that I mainly focus one. In the cold months any bird that overwinters can stop on by. We also have chickens, so there is an abundance of corn everywhere 24/7.
Oh, my!! What a treat that would be. I’ve been part of FeederWatch for many years. Being in the woods, I’m lucky enough to have some rare birds that I’ve shared with David Bonter, the caretaker of FeederWatch. Almost embarrassed to say I have 13 feeders out and about, plus heated water. All that seed puts a dent in the budget, but what glorious sights outside the windows. On a gray day, it really lifts the spirits to see 30+ goldfinches all together saying “thanks”. And at dusk the cardinals all come at once. Counting for FeederWatch is a good thing!!!
We feed year round. In the summer we need to bring the feeders in at night so the bears don’t get them. In the fall now we put out suet. We love to watch all the different types of woodpeckers come to it, our favorite is the pileated woodpecker they look so ancient.
We feed year round, and also have many birdhouses in the hedgerows that are home to sparrows and tree swallows, but this year we also were lucky enough to have a few pairs of bluebirds nest. They are such an incredible color, and help keep the fly population down.
We feed fall through spring. I, too, love to watch the variety of woodpeckers that appear. Bird seed is the best entertainment investment I can think of.
i feed the birds year round, but rather than buy food, i try providing it by growing plants and letting them go to seed for summer/winter food. plants like Mullein who have hearty thick stocks and are loaded with seed provide great nourishment in the winter. sunflowers, too!
We feed the birds year round. Multiple feeders with different variety of food for them. Many nesting boxes and shrub, trees they like. Heated bird bath in the winter too. Our latest and oddest bird to have in southern Wisconsin is a pileated wood pecker!!
We have been feeding the birds for fifty years year round. My favorite was an indigo bunting that wintered in a window feeder one year.
i live in san diego and my finches are very picky, they will only eat sunflower seeds. I have three hummingbird feeders positioned front, back and side of my house. I have black phoebe’s that eat my bugs. love them all!
I tried feeding all year this year, but then one night when I realized that the neighbourhood skunks enjoyed the seed off the ground I stopped filling for the summer. I have 5 hummingbird feeders, suet, niger, and a couple feeders with straight sunflower seed. I love the woodpeckers, and the happy chickadees, but the nuthatches are my favourite if I had to choose. My daughter throws out the peanuts for the bluejays, and they too call for her. Cardinals are such a treat early in the morning and right at dusk.
I would need some serious help to distinguish the different types of sparrows.
I normally feed the hummingbirds when they are in residence. You have started me thinking that it might be nice to get a good feeder for the winter birds as well. Does anyone have a suggestion for a good feeder – one that discourages the squirrels from looting it.
We have those little red fellows here in the Northwest and they are pretty crafty guys. They once chewed the heavy plastic box that I put the birdseed container in. The clever rascals saw me get the feed mix that contained sunflower seeds .
I feed birds starting about now and into the late spring when most of my plants are up and insects are plenty. Like some other commenters, I live on an old farmstead surrounded by open fields and our few acres with very large deciduous and coniferous trees is packed with birds in the cold weather. We do have many red-tailed hawks so I put my feeders under a lattice work overhang and a few feet from a large American Holly to give them cover. I love all the birds! It makes me so happy on a snowy morning to look out and see three or four mated pairs of cardinals in the holly. Or twenty or so Mourning Doves all fluffed up on a snowy pine branch. When I fill feeders, I always wear the same red buffalo plaid jacket and blue hat. Chickadees can almost be tamed if you are consistant and they learn to recognize you. They flit about get to within less than a foot as I fill the feeders. Also, the White Throated Sparrow has the most beautiful call. Search for a clip ont he internet. You’ll never forget it.
I have fed the birds in winter for years. I so look forward to the activity outside when the snow is high and I am stuck inside!
This year I have been concentrating on swapping out some of my garden plants for more bird-friendly varieties! It has been lots of fun. My favorite (it is so hard to choose just one) ummmm, I think The Cedar Waxwing.
We feed the birds year-round, adding suet and nuts in fall and winter; but stop putting out sunflower seeds for days at a time in summer when mobs of grackles or starlings try to take over. We’re in a fairly urban/suburban area, so we rarely see unusual birds, but love ‘em anyway. The downy woodpeckers are favorites because they are so fearless. Always look forward to the time when we put suet out again!
We love to watch the woodpeckers. We put out a couple of suet feeders and enjoy seeing all of the birds that come to them, but especially the woodpeckers. There are Downy, Hairy, Red Headed, Yellow Bellied Sapsucker and Red Bellied Woodpeckers. I usually have to refer to my Peterson Guide to distinguish which are which. Last year Eastern Bluebirds stayed at our suet feeders all winter and then nested in our Bluebird houses in the Spring.
Carole
I feed only in the winter, as we have bear problems here in Colorado. They will break into any feeder to fatten up in the summer and fall. Count me in!
Where we live, on the Rio Grande in New Mexico, we are thrilled to watch thousands of Sand Hill Cranes flying overhead this time of year! They are magnificent! (We feed the birds all year long, and spend countless lovely hours watching them.)
I don’t feed birds, but I am an observer and admirer. My two favorite are swans and herrons. We have two swans that live close by on a farm pond. To see a swan fly by is quite a site. Their necks are so long! And likewise, in my little world, I think it is good luck to see a herron. We have a few that live near and when I am running in a.m. I consider myself lucky to see them either in a pond or flying by me. I always notice the birds!
My husband and I truly love feeding and watching the birds. He is very reliable in filling the four feeders that we keep going all year long here in Indiana. we buy a good blend of seeds which draws many varieties of birds….an abundance of cardinal! Mejers carries a suet cake that is very reasonably priced which the birds love. I tried making home made suet cakes but they like. Mejers better. Several years Ago we were able to entice bluebirds to build in the houses in the back yard but they do not socialize with the other birds at the feeder and prefer to feed on bugs, etc. that theyx find for themselves. I would love a copy of the book….may have to look for it at a book store. We keep the Peterson Guide handy but still Wonder about some of the strangers that happen by.
I do not put out bird feeders, but I do feed birds by growing plants that provide food (mostly in the form of seeds or fruit, but no doubt the insects living among the plants are attractive to birds preferring such). Living in southern New Mexico, my best luck with plants thus far in attracting local birds to feed are: Helianthus annus (small heads, black seeds, multi-branching), Centaurea cyanus, Coreopsis basalis, Dill, Catnip, Lycium andersonii, Lycium barbarum, Ratibida columniferum, Salvia farinacea, and Anisacanthus wrightii. Local Goldfinches and House finches are especially attracted to the seeds of Helianthus annus, Centaurea cyanus, Coreopsis basalis, and Salvia farinacea. Mockingbirds enjoy the Lycium andersonii and Lycium barbarum drupes or berries.
I live in a little condo with a small shady patio that I’ve filled with potted plants, such as species Fuchsia, Abutilon and Cymbidiums. I keep a seed feeder and fresh water out year around for my daily visitors – Mourning Doves in the early hours and late evenings, Jays and Towhees throughout the day, and a mixed flock of Chickadees and Titmice. The Abutilon and Fuchsia provide nectar for Hummingbirds, and there is also a group of tiny Finches that feast on the Aphids. It’s busy out there!
I’ve quit feeding the birds in summer because of the chipmunks, squirrels, and less desirable rodents which are attracted
, but when occasionally some snow covers our natural food supply I fill up the feeders. Here on the Washington coast the very cold part of winter doesn’t last very long. I do feed hummingbirds all year long since the Anna hummingbirds stay for the winter after the Rufous ones take off in August. They’ll be back in March. Our winter birds include Stellar Jays, towhees, thrush, as well as the smaller sparrows, chickadees, Oregon juncos, and various finches. My favorites, besides hummingbirds, are the yellow warblers who flit between the woods and our ponds. They don’t come to seed feeders but I’ve seen them sneaking juice from the hummingbird feeders.
I feed black oil sunflower for the cardinals and Nyjer for the finches all year long…grandboy loves to fill the suet feeders for the chickadees that he calls the fast flying birds… woodpeckers are one we are studying to determine all the different kinds but the joy of the year is when the flock of red-winged blackbirds take flight or maybe it is when the limbfuls of waxwings arrive… oh, wait, it might be the first flits of the hummingbirds… oh dear oh my, so hard to decide… :))
I feed all year long, not much, but enough to keep birds coming to garden, hopefully to eat bad bugs. Also have small pond with waterfall, birds love sitting on top of fall to drink.
For some reason we have a large amount of doves in our area near the homes and down near the river we often see Sandhill cranes which are magnificent.