We came from here: The thread "Bird Photos, December 2016" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum

It's January again already....post up your bird photos

I saw a bunch of birds in the yard today, but they don't seem to be coming to the feeder. Some of them, like the Red-Shouldered Hawk, should stay away. But I saw a Tufted Titmouse, and what I think was a Palm Warbler. I saw a Red-Bellied Woodpecker. But the only bird that would give me half a chance was this female Cardinal. It's in my Black Cherry tree.

I've had birds at the feeders today, pair of cardinals, several titmice and a Carolina wren are around but still quite nervous. Might be the hawks are around, or they still might be spooked by all the stupid fireworks which did stop soon after midnight, then (would you believe?!) resumed this morning for an hour or so.

I have sparrows around quite often, and there are usually 5 or 6 at a time.

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you all the best for 2017!

GoatDriver, Thank you for starting a new thread for January. Those two photos you posted are amazing; both worthy of framing in my opinion!

Melanie, love the silhouette of that female Cardinal with the pretty sky in the background!

Elaine, I miss seeing those cute little Sparrows. I haven't seen a sparrow since we moved to Sebastian but unfortunately I'm not seeing much in the way of any birds in my yard. I'm still as to what's going on; never before have I had issues with birds NOT coming for seed and suet. I really think it's probably neighborhood cats keeping them away.

That being said, we've had a pair of Sandhill Cranes traipsing through the front yard each morning of late and yesterday I managed to get a couple of photos. They went from my yard, across the street to another yard. The neighbor has one of those electric fences to keep their dogs contained and the Sandhill Cranes were feeding in that yard when the dogs came running out after them. You'd think the cranes would have flown off but one kept eating at the edge of the yard while the other stood it's ground and screeched at the dogs. The birds must have been just to the outside range of the electric fence because the dogs stopped short and didn't advance.

Sandhill Cranes walking through my yard


Not sure what caused the one to do this hip hop thing


They walked over to the neighbors yard; one was screeching at the dogs

Hi, Lin! Great pics of those Sandhill Cranes! I've been seeing a LOT of them lately. I passed about 7 or 8 this morning in the cow pond, and then while I was waiting at a red light, two flew right by me! It was so cool.

Just wanted to say, as moderator, something I also said on the butterfly thread. I know we mostly share photos, and in fact, we have that in the title of this thread, but I hope everyone knows it's okay if they just want to talk birds. You don't have to have a photo to post. I know this is a slow time of year, but it's also a good time to plan! So if you have questions about plants to attract birds to your yard, what feeder is best, etc, feel free to discuss! I like to think of this thread as the "main hub" for bird chat.

No pictures today because I was driving, but I wanted to share something. I was thinking yesterday how it seems like I normally see just the male Grackles. And it made me wonder if they don't hang with the females or if they only hang together at certain times, or what. And I know the difference because the nice lady at Orlando Wetlands Park helped me out. Then, when I turned into Starbucks this morning, there were a bunch of Grackles - and I saw the brown females and the black males! I just found it funny because it was on my mind.

I also saw a Great Blue Heron in the ditch where the Limpkins eat the apple snails. Also, a Little Blue Heron and one of the Egrets. I can't be sure because there's a slope and I only saw part of the bird, but I saw what looked like a Coot in one of the man-made ponds by a housing development. I saw a duck-like shape, dark body, and that white tip on the end of the nose. Knowing my luck, it was probably just a small Muscovy. And when I pulled back into the driveway, I startled the Cardinal who thinks he owns my Jatropha. Weird place to hang out as it's right in front of the house and we come through that door an awful lot.

Well, just as I was feeling really jealous of all your Floridians and your big birds and just as I was wondering how I could photograph the tufted titmouses and black-capped chickadees that keep flitting to and from my little feeder that I just washed and refilled, a small flock of wild turkeys came strutting through my back yard! Either that or a wake, committee, venue, kettle, or volt of turkey vultures (maybe someone can help me to ID them?)

If it helps, I'm in north-central Massachusetts.

The pictures aren't great--when I saw them I just grabbed my phone and shot them through my back door. Had I noticed them a few seconds earlier, I would have been able to get closer, clearer pictures. But now I have some big-bird pics to share with you all, bad as they are!

As for the wake, committee, venue, kettle, or volt thing, I found this: "The term kettle refers to vultures in flight, while committee, volt, and venue refer to vultures resting in trees. Wake is reserved for a group of vultures that are feeding." So what would a group of turkey vultures who are strutting be called? (Wild turkeys?)

A wonderful new year to everyone!

Those are great pictures, Joanna. I think they are wild turkeys, not turkey vultures. Turkey vultures don't strut around in a group like that. They soar, or they sit in trees, or they sort of squat on the ground. They have shorter legs.

I'll bet if you throw a handful of seeds out there they'll come back for you to get more pictures . . . and if they do eat seeds you'll know they're turkeys and not vultures (who mostly eat meat).

dyzzypyxxy said:Those are great pictures, Joanna. I think they are wild turkeys, not turkey vultures. Turkey vultures don't strut around in a group like that. They soar, or they sit in trees, or they sort of squat on the ground. They have shorter legs.

I'll bet if you throw a handful of seeds out there they'll come back for you to get more pictures . . . and if they do eat seeds you'll know they're turkeys and not vultures (who mostly eat meat).

Thanks Elaine, I thought so judging by all the terms applied to groups of turkey vultures.

I'd love to "seed" them. But I've had a problem with nesting chipmunks and don't want to entice them. Is there something wild turkeys like that chipmunks don't like?

I think they mostly stick to the wooded area where they can't really be seen (they're actually in these pictures!) But I'd love to have them strutting around here more often.

Always fun to watch the birds/seagulls at play in San Francisco, photos taken on New Year' eve:
Roof line look outs:




just scooping in and out, floating happily:



Or patiently waiting for some snacks from the people around:

Goodness, aren't your chipmunks all hibernating with all that snow around, Joanna? Maybe if you start out just putting some seeds out near the woods there, the turkeys will get it all and the chipmunks won't have a chance at it even if they aren't sleeping. Then move the seed supply gradually a little closer to the house so you can see the turkeys better.

Love the seagull shots, Tarev.

I have not seen our chipmunks for awhile now. We have not had much snow here and just finally started to have some cold weather.

We were out and about today and saw lots of both hawks & American Kestrels perched.

@joannakat Those are Eastern Wild Turkeys, same species as we have here in the southeast. Turkeys love whole corn, they will eat just about any grain ....but so do chipmunks..

@tarev The Seagulls are funny birds, interesting to watch them.

dyzzypyxxy said:Goodness, aren't your chipmunks all hibernating with all that snow around, Joanna?

good point. I'll give it a try. We've still got some jays and cardinals out here too so if the turkeys don't come back, at least the seed won't go to waste. Don't hold your breath for good pictures though--I only dream of having a real camera! Meanwhile, my phone does what it does, which isn't too awful.... right?

@johannakat, How cool to have the wild Turkeys visiting your yard! We've spotted them a time or two strolling around our neighborhood ... there's a preserve nearby with lots of wildlife so I suppose the turkeys venture out on occasion to see what goodies they might find in peoples yards. The Audubon site says their diet consists of mostly plant material; acorns, seeds, grains, berries, buds, grass, roots, bulbs and they sometimes will also eat insects, spiders, snails, frogs, lizards, snakes and crabs!!

@tarev, cool pic's of those gulls!

plantladylin said:@johannakat, How cool to have the wild Turkeys visiting your yard! We've spotted them a time or two strolling around our neighborhood ... there's a preserve nearby with lots of wildlife so I suppose the turkeys venture out on occasion to see what goodies they might find in peoples yards. The Audubon site says their diet consists of mostly plant material; acorns, seeds, grains, berries, buds, grass, roots, bulbs and they sometimes will also eat insects, spiders, snails, frogs, lizards, snakes and crabs!!

@tarev, cool pic's of those gulls!

Yes, I agree! I love it when wildlife ventures into visible areas. It seems like Florida is some kind of heaven for birds and I LOVE birds! Thanks for the input on diet--I'll throw some seeds out there and see what happens. I'm okay with the squirrels and chipmunks partaking as well as long as they don't nest up against my foundation. But it being winter and all, I guess that's not a concern.

Awesome photos from many of you to start off the New Year! Thanks for sharing them!!!!

Lin - I've been seeing more birds today. I even had some Blue Jays which I had not seen in awhile. Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to take any photos. Maybe tomorrow if I get lucky and they return.

The Panasonic website says my camera repair status is "completed"!

And with my LASIK, I can see ALL the birds! Hopefully, pictures to come when they ship it back to me!

So my camera was delivered yesterday...sort of. They had to send me a replacement one which is fine. It's the same model, but I kind of freaked out at first because it's the silver and black version where I had the all-black. But once I checked the model number, things were all good.

I went outside this morning to go to Starbucks, but first I thought I'd walk around and see if I could take any bird pics. So here we go!

FYI, I can't find my bird book because my stuff is still strewn about the house since I remodeled my room. I can't find anything! It took me an hour to find the batteries and cable for my camera. So please help with IDs because I'm not sure where my reference is. I visit All About Birds but sometimes I don't where to start!

This yellow bird let me get exactly two photos.



This one I know! Red-Bellied Woodpecker.



Downy or Hairy Woodpecker. Can't see enough of it. Why don't they just hold still?



I know this is a Cardinal but I'm trying to decide if it's a male coming into his coloring or what. Also, it's good that they've figured out the feeder. Usually, the Cardinals eat off the ground.




There was a Carolina Chickadee that landed on the feeder while I was taking the Cardinal pics, but it was too quick for me. Then, I noticed this guy in front of my rain barrel. Is this a Palm Warbler? We discussed them this time last year, but I didn't have my good camera back then.



The Mourning Dove always eats on the ground. They're a little chubby to get on the feeder. Plus, they're more of a platform bird feeder kind of bird. We have a platform feeder at MOSI and I see them on that sometimes.



Oh hey, I took another picture of the Cardinal. I was sneakily moving closer using the shed as cover.



And on my way to Starbucks I had the red light so I snuck a picture of a Sandhill Crane. I could have focused in closer, but I had to watch the light.

I am going to guess that your first bird is a Pine Warbler. I also think the one may be a Palm Warbler in photo #5 at your rain barrel. But my ID skills are not what they used to be.

Better than mine, Claudia!