Tracking Your Yard Birds

One way to be a birder and to contribute to science without becoming a crazed-birding-nut-job-nerd like me, is to simply keep track of the birds you see in your yard and submit your observations to eBird. In the birding world we call these "Yard Birds". Scientists recognize the value of what normal people see at their homes. The Audubon Society has partnered with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to create a program called "The Great Backyard Bird Count" to encourage people to count birds at home and to submit those observations to science.

Since moving to Avimor my family has been enjoying the new mix of birds we get to our backyard feeders and bird bath and we have started our count. Everywhere we have lived has had a different variety of yard birds. At our home in Arizona we had almost 70 different species. Michael Wiegand, who lives up in Pearl, Idaho has had over 100 species at his place. The dozens of feeders he puts out plus his geographic location has created his own little birding hotspot.

Here is what we have seen so far at our Avimor home:

1. Mallard - flyover

2. Canada Goose - flyover

3. California Quail - love the seeds that fall from the feeder

4. Red-tailed Hawk - flyover

5. Swainson's Hawk - flyover

6. American Kestrel - slope behind our home

7. Mourning Dove - love the seeds that fall from the feeder

8. Black-chinned Hummingbird - feeder

9. Western Kingbird - slope

10. Eastern Kingbird - landed on our pine tree last Sunday

11. Black-billed Magpie - slope

12. Bank Swallow - regular fly thru yard, but also land on slope

13. Barn Swallow - fly thru

14. American Robin - regular visitors, but don't eat seeds

15. Cedar Waxwing - visited our main tree this morning and prompted this blog entry - not a feeder-eater as far as I know.

16. Black-headed Grosbeak - feeder

17. Red-winged Blackbird - feeder

18. Western Meadowlark - slope

19. Brown-headed Cowbird - feeder

20. House Finch - feeder, especially thistle sock type feeder

21. Pine Siskin - thistle sock feeder

22. American Goldfinch - thistle sock feeder

23. House Sparrow - seeds on patio

24. Killdeer - vist the yard frequently but not to eat

25. Bullock's Oriole - flyover

26. American Crow - flyover

27. Common Raven - flyover

28. Say's Phoebe - regular visitor to the tops of the surveying stakes next door

Some people like to impose upon themselves certain rules for counting yard birds, like "the bird must land on my property" or "the bird must land or flyover my property". When it comes to "yard birds" I am a little more lax in my personal rules. I have always counted any bird that I can "see" from my yard without the aid of binoculars. I hear many other types of birds from around the community from my home, and if I used my 8 x 42 Eagle Optics SRT Rangers, I could look down at the creek and count a lot more birds, but I had to draw the line somewhere. As you can see from my list above, I do qualify my sightings when sharing with others who may be more strict about what they count.

Some Avimor Bird Firsts

Now I am sure that these birds have been to Avimor before, but this is the first time that I have seen them and made an official record of their presence.

On Saturday, we observed the Eastern Kingbird. I have seen at least one every day since. The Eastern Kingbird is pictured at the top of the previous blog post.

During the Saturday bird walk, we walked past my home and we observed a House Sparrow feeding on the seed on my patio.

"The House Sparrow was introduced into Brooklyn, New York, in 1851. By 1900 it had spread to the Rocky Mountains. Two more introductions in the early 1870s, in San Francisco and Salt Lake City, aided the bird’s spread throughout the West. House Sparrows are now common across all of North America except Alaska and far northern Canada." (All About Birds).

I suppose as we add more homes and buildings we will get more and more House Sparrows.

I regularly see Brewer's Blackbirds, with their distinct yellow-eye along the side of Highway 55 around Shadow Valley Golf Course and this morning I saw a male and female pair feeding on the walk and grass around Avimor Town Lake.

Avimor Bird Walk - June 2009 Report

Shon & Aiden joined me for a hike up Spring Valley Creek Trail this morning bright and early at 7am. Right around the Avimor Town Lake we observed a Eastern Kingbird. The hike was incredible. We had a little bit of drizzling rain, but the abundance of birds and wildflowers made it fantastic. There was some great rocky and steep terrain which is ideal for Rock Wrens. I played some Rock Wren calls on my Zune and one flew right to the rock next to us, much to Aiden's delight.

On the way back, we heard a Canyon Wren in the same area. Up above on the rocks we saw a lone Chukar.

Here is the complete list of what we saw on the hike:

Chukar 1
California Quail 12
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Mourning Dove 2
Western Kingbird 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Black-billed Magpie 2
Bank Swallow 36
Rock Wren 3
Canyon Wren 1
American Robin 2
Cedar Waxwing 12
Yellow Warbler 4
Yellow-breasted Chat 5
Chipping Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 3
Black-headed Grosbeak 3
Lazuli Bunting 8
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Bullock's Oriole 4
American Goldfinch 1

Ian and Peggy joined me at 9am for the walk along the Greenbelt. We enjoyed Gray Catbirds and Bullock's Orioles along with the pair of Swainson's Hawks. Here is the list we saw during this walk:

Mallard 1
California Quail 4
Swainson's Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Killdeer 5
Mourning Dove 8
Black-chinned Hummingbird 1
Western Wood-Pewee 4
Western Kingbird 1
Bank Swallow 24
Barn Swallow 6
American Robin 9
Gray Catbird 4
European Starling 1
Cedar Waxwing 1
Yellow Warbler 6
Yellow-breasted Chat 3
Western Tanager 2
Song Sparrow 10
Black-headed Grosbeak 4
Lazuli Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 20
Western Meadowlark 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 8
Bullock's Oriole 7
House Finch 3

Distinguishing Idaho Flycatchers

With experience, a birder goes from "identifying" birds to "recognizing" them. When it comes to the Flycatcher family, I am still in "identifying" mode. I have to make notes of the field marks of each bird, and then look in my Sibley's Field Guide to figure it out.

Several flycatchers in the Epidonax genus are so hard to tell apart looking through binoculars that their unique sound is often the only way. I've been pulling out my Zune MP3 player recently with the BirdJam software on it to help me. So far at Avimor I am pretty confident in "identifying" Western Wood-Pewees, Willow and Dusky Flycatchers. I now "recognize" the call of the Western Wood-Pewee very well.

Check out these tips to identifying Idaho Flycatchers. Click on the name of the bird to go to All About Birds where you can also listen to the calls they make.

Olive-Sided Flycatcher
Western Wood-PeweeWillow FlycatcherDusky FlycatcherHammond's FlycatcherGray FlycatcherOther Flycatcher's you may see regularly in Idaho are Say's Phoebe, Western Kingbird, and Eastern Kingbird. Less frequently you may spot a Cordilleran, Pacifc-Slope, Ash-throated or Least Flycather.

Idaho Hummingbirds at Avimor

Hummingbirds are a blast to watch and they are some of the most beautiful birds. We have a couple feeders up at our Avimor home and we have several Black-chinned Hummingbirds visit every day. Sunday afternoon I sat on the patio with two of my girls and watched as a male perched atop our tree and would buzz down and run off any other hummer that approached the feeder. In his hot pursuit they would almost run into us as we sat there. My girls laughed and laughed as that little bully chased off the other hummers.

Idaho may not have the variety of hummingbirds that Arizona and Mexico have, but they are still fun. They can be tricky to identify, so a little study helps. Here are five species that you may see in Idaho in the order of probability based on my own experience. If you see anything other than the Black-chinned at Avimor, please let me know when and where!

Black-chinned

Calliope

Rufous

Broad-tailed

Anna's

Great Horned Owlets - Coyote - Spotted Towhee

This morning I took a hike up Burnt Car Draw. There were lots of Lazuli Buntings, Lark Sparrows and Meadow Larks. A few Bullock's Orioles and Robins too.

I enjoyed watching a coyote stalking rodents and bounding around the tall grasses in the meadow. It didn't notice me until I got within about 30 yards and then it scampered up the rocky bluff to observe me from a safe distance.


I had a Spotted Towhee that didn't seem too afraid of me as I was within a few feet of it.


I was delighted to find two juvenile Great Horned Owls. They got spooked when I got near them and in turn spooked me as they flew out of the tree I was standing right next to. They flew down the draw to another tree. I'm glad to see that they made it through the critical stage of their lives. Sorry I wasn't able to get any photos of them.

Avimor Nesting Activity - June 2009

Janis' Finch Nest

Avimor resident, Janis Lafluer, has been keeping tabs on a House Finch nest built in her hanging silk plant on her balcony.

She submitted some photos of the nest to Cornell's Celebrate Urban Birds Funky Nests in Funky Places challenge. Her pictures are now online as entry number 20. Check it out here

Thanks for sharing your Avimor bird experience with us Janis and we hope you win something from Cornell.

Burnt Car Draw - Avimor

The family and I took an impromtu hike a little ways up Burnt Car Draw this evening. It was nice and cool after the days rain. It is kind of nerdy, but fun for me that even my young kids are starting to identify a few species very well.

Getting up in the hills takes you to another bird habitat, which means different species. This evening we were treated with a Chipping Sparrow perched on top of some bitter brush just singing away (kind of buzzing actually). We saw lots of Meadow Larks, Horned Larks, and even a few Lark Sparrows. All three have the name Lark, but they are very different birds. Here are some pictures so you can tell the difference:

Western Meadow Lark

Horned Lark

Lark Sparrow

Gray Catbird Update: I observed three separate Gray Catbirds this morning along Spring Valley Creek. Pretty cool that I've been able to see a new life bird so frequently in the last week.

Lucky to Live in an Idaho Birding Hotspot - Avimor!

Robert had a new and totally unexpected "life bird" this morning along Spring Valley Creek, a Gray Catbird. This makes "life bird" #299 for him. When, where, and which lucky bird will make #300?

Another cool Avimor first was a Spotted Sandpiper spotted on on the rocky shore of Avimor Town Lake.

Some other cool stuff:

56 species of birds were seen at Avimor in May 2009. That's pretty darn good for our foothills location. A pretty great month for birding at Avimor considering that 58 species have been seen here year to date.

The Parks boys discovered a Mourning Dove nest on the ground on the side of the hill very near the homes. Robert had seen Mourning Dove nests on wide horizontal branches before, but never on the ground. The All About Birds website says that it is common for them to nest on the ground in the west. Below is photo by Robert on Sunday, May 31st. An Avimor customer whose home will start soon observed the Swainson's Hawks mating the other day. Robert observed them mating again this morning. The nest is very near the Avimor Entry Tower, so it will be fun to watch more chicks being raised. Photo below by Robert.
There are now no Great Horned Owl chicks in the nest. I don't see them in nearby trees, but hopefully they are alive and well and just concealed by the dense foliage.

Avimor Birding Quick Update!

Swainson's Hawks are nesting just north of the Avimor Entry Towers. Very cool!

There are three or four Red-Tail Hawk nests with growing chicks up in the draws.

One of the Great Horned Owl chicks is missing. Shon says he saw it jumping from branch to branch recently, so it could still be around and just hidden. I hope it didn't join the great circle of life already. The other chick still seems to prefer the comfort of the nest.

The Lazuli Buntings seem to have moved on, or at least up into the draws to nest.

Black-headed Grosbeaks and Bullock's Orioles are still abundant.

Come Celebrate Urban Birds at Avimor!

Saturday May 16th

1pm to 4pm

FREE!

Art projects for kids

Bird Walks

Native Plant Gardening

Live music by Bellamy Rose

4pm to 7pm

Bring a picnic and come and join us!

Warblerville at Avimor

This morning we had lots of Warblers at Avimor including Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Yellow-breasted Chat, Orange-crowned, Nashville, and the new one for the Avimor life list, Wilson's.

Idaho Bird Photography at Avimor

I get daily e-mails from the Yahoo Group called IBLE (Idaho Birders Linked Electronically). It’s a great central place for birders from around the state to share what interesting birds they’ve been seeing. The birding at Avimor has been so fabulous the last few days that I made a couple of posts to the IBLE site.

A photographer named Matthew Deren from McCall saw my post and contacted me to get photos of the Yellow-breasted Chat and the Bullock’s Orioles that we’ve been seeing here. Matt has been working on a book tentatively called “West Central Idaho: Transition in the Rockies” for the Brundage Nature Foundation.
He showed us a small sample of what the book will be. His photography is absolutely amazing. He has captured some amazing moments in wildlife as well as stunning photos of wildflowers that left us at the Avimor office ooing and awing. You can look forward to this book being available for purchase this fall. This blog post today displays a few of the un-edited shots Matt was able to get this morning and he graciously gave me his permission to use them.

Idaho Birding at Avimor in May

Birders in Idaho really enjoy the month of May as every day has new surprises. Today at Avimor we had a Swainson's Hawk hanging out near the entry towers nearly all day long. I have been seeing Swainson's Hawks in the valley for a month or so now, but this is the first I have seen at Avimor.

We had Black-capped Chickadees this morning. These cute little birds hang out year round, but I haven't seen them at Avimor for a couple of months. We had a good sized flock of Cedar Waxwings today mingling with about four dozen Lazuli Buntings. A mother Killdeer was running around with two little Killdeer hatchlings. I saw a handsome male Black-headed Grosbeak today as well.

Avimor Bird Walk: May Report

What a glorious day for birding! We saw 33 species today and lots of beautiful and colorful birds.

The birds of the day were a Lewis's Woodpecker, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Yellow-breasted Chat, Lazuli Buntings, Bullock's Orioles, Nashville Warblers, and the GH Owl and Red-T Hawk chicks. The Lewis's Woodpecker was particularly surprising for me today as
I had not seen one in Idaho previously.

Mallard 4
California Quail 7
Red-tailed Hawk 3
American Kestrel 4
Killdeer 2
Mourning Dove 12
Great Horned Owl 3
Lewis's Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 3
Western Kingbird 5
Black-billed Magpie 2
Bank Swallow 6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4
American Robin 12
European Starling 12
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 8
Yellow-rumped Warbler 12
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Western Tanager 1
Spotted Towhee 2
Song Sparrow 5
White-crowned Sparrow 2
Black-headed Grosbeak 1
Lazuli Bunting 12
Red-winged Blackbird 24
Western Meadowlark 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
Bullock's Oriole 3
House Finch 3
American Goldfinch 12

Idaho Birding at its Best: Avimor

This morning I saw the return of a friend from last year: our Yellow-breated Chat, in the same place as last year along the greenbelt going toward the Water Reclamation building. I was surprised to see a Great Blue Heron down in our creek this morning too. Another cool bird to add to the Avimor list is a pair of Nashville Warblers that I observed near the owl nest. Another fine morning for birding at Avimor!

Magnificent May Morning at Avimor

I took a stroll along the greenbelt and Foothills Heritage Park this morning. The birds of color were in incredible abundance. Two dozen Lazuli Buntings deocrating a tree. Several American Goldfinch in their bright lemon yellow plummage. A handful of Yellow Warblers singing from the tree tops, and solitary orange-flamed Bullock's Oriole. I found a Black-billed Magpie nest where the parents were feeding Magpie chicks. Brown Headed Cowbirds were courting. Now that is how to start a wonderful day at Avimor!

The next beautiful bird to be looking out for is the Western Tanager. Last year we exprienced an "irruption" of Tanagers in this area. An "irruption" is a sudden upsurge in numbers.

May means great Idaho birding!

I took a lunchtime hike with Shon and Ian today up the draw going east created by Spring Valley Creek. We saw all kinds of great wildflowers and butterflies. The birding was pretty great, especially for being a mid-day excursion. I think Shon just found a great birding hotspot at Avimor.

We found a Red-tailed Hawk on a nest. We found three young Great Horned Owls that are right at that stage where they are losing their baby-fuzz and are growing flight feathers. Two of them were snuggled up close together. The Momma-owl was also there nearby. In that same area we saw the first Lazuli Bunting of the year, along with an Orange-crowned Warbler. I heard at least three Yellow Warblers, but did not see them. There were several Yellow-rumped Warblers flitting about. I heard a Black-capped Chickadee. We saw White-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Flicker, American Robin, European Starling, Swallows that I couldn't identify, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Willow Flycatcher, Black-billed Magpie, Meadow Lark, and lots of California Quail. I expect to see Bullock's Oriole any day up here at Avimor. I saw one on Sunday at Shadow Valley Golf Course on my way home from church, so they are getting closer.

Here are some warbler pictures that will help you identify some of the warblers common to this area:
Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

Avimor has twins!

This evening my family took a walk with some good friends of ours along the green belt at Avimor. We just had to show off our owl. We noticed Momma Owl sitting up really high on the nest and she flew off to a nearby tree. Up popped a fuzzy white head with ginormous yellow eyes and a bill that looked too big for its face. The kids were all thrilled and fought over my binoculars to catch a glimpse of the new baby owl.

I went back later this evening to try and get pictures, but the beautiful sunset in the background didn't cooperate for good photography. This time Papa Owl was sitting on the edge of the nest and as he shifted over two white fuzzy heads popped up. Twins!

HELP US NAME THE OWL FAMILY: MOM & DAD AND THE KIDS!
Names will be judged on how well they fit the theme and feel of Avimor. The prize will be a WoodLink Deluxe Cedar Bird Feeder! (Thanks to Habiscapes for the prize donation. You must be able to pick up the prize at Avimor.)

Avimor Backyard Birding

We've been living in our Avimor home for just over a week. I put out some birdseed and so far we've had visits from:

Red-winged Blackbirds

Mourning Doves

House Finches

California Quail

Say's Phoebes (not seed eaters)

American Robins (not seed eaters)

Black-billed Magpie

Brown-headed Cowbird

Killdeer

I have seen online posts recently in the birding world that Lazuli Buntings have come back to the Boise area, so we should be seeing them soon around here. Keep an eye out for this amazingly beautiful bird often seen singing from the medium-high tree tops in this area!