NICK'S LIFE LIST
I've been watching birds for a long time, mostly in Northern Virginia. I have seen a lot of strange and rare birds. Here is the list:
Anhinga.
I saw a bunch of them in Florida in a shallow lake along with alligators.
Cardinal.
I see them all the time in my back yard at the feeder, male and female.
Robin.
They too are in my back yard and eat worms and sit near the feeder.
Bald Eagle.
A rare bird and our national bird; I saw 8 of them out west and 5 or 6 here. The best places to look for them are in the mountains or at the water front.
Golden Eagle.
They are basically only out west. I saw 7 at Philmont Scout Ranch.
Red-tailed Hawk.
I see them about every week soaring over the back yard. They are fairly common.
Broad-winged Hawk.
I’ve only seen this bird a couple of times. They are kind of smallish.
Sharp-shinned Hawk.
I see them at our local park and sometimes over my back yard. They have a special flight pattern: flap, flap, flap, glide.
Chickadee.
They are at my feeder all the time. They are very brave.
Junco.
They are only around our area in the winter. They are kind of shy and like to grab a seed and fly away if anything else comes up.
Pileated Woodpecker.
One of the biggest woodpeckers. I see them sometimes.
Red-bellied Woodpecker.
We have a pair in our back yard. They come to my feeder.
Downy Woodpecker.
I don’t have much to say. They are smallish (6" maybe).
Tufted Titmouse.
Very shy and often come to my feeder.
Crow.
Can be a pest to hawks and eat all the seed on the ground.
Grackle, Starling.
They both are really a pest not only to the feeder, but to the birds. Grackles drown sparrows in bird baths and eat all the bird seed. Flocks of grackles come to our feeder every year and would have eaten all the seed if I had not invented a way to keep them away. See our tips page to see the solution.
Mourning Dove.
They are gray and big. They feed politely and sometimes come in flocks. They don’t like the grackles.
Sparrow.
We get sparrows in the fall and they eat from the ground.
Goldfinch.
You think that they are other birds in the winter, but usually you can tell because they have a tint of gold still on them. The picture at the top is a goldfinch at my feeder.
House Finch.
They are purple on the head. No, they aren’t injured! It’s just their natural color.
Turkey Vulture.
People often confuse them with the Red-tailed Hawk. They have a slight V in the way they hold their wings and soar always. They have a red head. If you're lucky, you will be able to see the red head on a sunny day.
Black Vulture.
Same as a turkey vulture but it has a black head and is smaller.
Cedar Waxwing.
It is a small bird which I have only seen a couple times. It looks like someone dipped their tail in a yellow paint bucket.
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