BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Gardening Name a bird seen in your garden this winter....

I have seen many doves sitting in my garden, what about you?

I haven't seen very much of my blue jay couple. I've had the usual sparrows and finches. The black birds that we normally have are Gackles. They haven't returned, nor have the Robins. I do have at least 6 squirrels that own my backyard. I don't know if I want to say they are more fun to watch than the birds, but they are more fun to watch. I have almost a pick-up box full of sunflower seeds to feed whoever wants to eat, so the squirrels are also welcome.

Hi Kimmie, I've never posted here but when I saw the subject line, I just couldn't resist. We live in the extreme heart of the desert and really missed our birds for a long time---just assumed we couldn't have any here. But, with time we made a wonderful area for them and they routinely are here like clockwork. Hummingbirds drink several times a day (at even specific times of day) out of the fountain we keep running. Everyday we also have morning doves, evening doves, and a few white wing doves (narrow white band along the bottom of the wing). We also have Gambel Quail (the ones with the top knot), finches, two kinds of sparrows, cactus wren which we mostly only hear, road-runners, and a mockingbird sometimes. We also have a raven which sits many mornings on the power line pole. Oh, and we have some Grackels (with some being Boattail Gracels)--especially one we call "broken-wing." She's been here 3 years now and we assumed she'd never make it through the first year. Something is wrong and neither wing closes against her body but she can fly. But, this is her 3rd year. We've never had robins, jays, cardinals, or some of the other common ones in more moist areas. Oh, and of course, we have a few pigeons which we shoe away. And there are sea gulls (we're a few blocks from the Colorado River) but they aren't usually in the back yard.

Finches, sparrows and doves....oh my. So glad you stopped in Glenda. Please do come and visit us again really soon.

Today I was blessed by a pair of Pine Siskins that visited my feeder this morning. I heard their "zzzzzzt!" call and then saw them in the redbud tree above the feeder. They were the first Siskins I've had in the yard in seveal years.
Then this afternoon the Robins returned! How I missed them! Welcome back dear summer residents!

Today, during what we hope was our final blizzard of the year, my grandson noticed a bird feeding out my kitchen window that I don't recall seeing in my yard before. It was a white-breasted Nuthatch. What I found unusual was that he took one sunflower seed at a time in his bill and flew with it to the tree - must have done that a half-dozen times. I'm sure he was flying to a nest in that tree.

The nuthatches are tidy eaters, no throwing seeds around for them. What they do is tuck a sunflower seed into a crack in the tree bark that will hold it while they hammer it open. Clever birds!

Good to know. I wish I could watch them while they're opening the seeds. The squirrels are fun to watch when they're using both their hands. I can't get a good enough photo of that. And I wish they were neater eater.

Yesterday morning I was letting the dog out, on the chain thank goodness, and I saw five turkeys sauntering across my front yard. I thought for sure the dog would bark like crazy, but she just went, "Woof" and that was it. The turkeys ignored her completely. They just kept walking into my field. I live in southern Michigan and have seen turkeys many many times. Once I saw twenty five turkeys in a corn field (not planted at the time) and at least four of them were males. They had their tails fanned out and they were strutting like crazy. They were beautiful and very fun to watch.

I've had turkeys in the yard too. We have red-bellied woodpeckers regularly.