Connect with Nature!
You know how it is. Once someone gets a bad reputation, they’re deemed responsible for all kinds of mischief, deservedly or not. So it is with cowbirds, who leave the care of their young (from eggs to adulthood) to other species. The unlucky foster parents are often warblers, sparrows or finches. Read more...
The Sharp-shinned Hawk is a very impressive hunter of almost entirely small birds! Perhaps you’ve seen one as you stood at your window, watching an array of small birds feeding at your feeder: suddenly the birds fly off helter-skelter! A small hawk flashes in, turns abruptly, extends its long legs forward and grabs a songbird right off its perch! Read more...
Is there anything cuter than watching California Quail parents stroll into your backyard with a covey of young to eat millet or cracked corn and drink water from your birdbath? Read more...
Downy Woodpeckers are family favorites! We all love to watch the “Downies” who feed regularly at a suet feeder hanging from a wrought iron crane outside our family room window. Read more...
Our native pigeon is a lovely, soft gray color with a gracefully-shaped body that is longer and sleeker than that of a Rock Dove (a.k.a. city pigeon). Band-tailed Pigeons will readily come to an open, platform feeder offering millet, cracked corn and sunflower chips. They'll come to any feeder offering those food choices, as long as the feeder is large and stable enough to accommodate these relatively large backyard birds. Read more...
Chances are good that the bright flash of yellow you see in your back yard is a male American Goldfinch. This gregarious 5" bird can be seen all across America, along roadsides, in open woods and fields, farm and suburban yards. Read more...
Among the most beautiful birds in the Western Hemisphere are the wood warblers. These tiny birds appear in a dazzling array of yellows, blues, greens, reds, and grays Read more...
House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) are familiar birds, largely because they thrive in altered habitats, including forest clear-cuts, parks, brushy thickets, and residential areas, and because of their habit of nesting in man-made objects, such as bird houses, mail boxes, old hats, and other objects left outside. Like other wrens, House Wrens have loud bubbling songs and harsh scolding call notes. Read more...
Black-headed Grosbeaks are striking summer residents throughout much of the western U.S. Read more...
Although Western Tanagers (Piranga ludoviciana) are brilliantly colored and nest across much of the western United States and Canada, they can be hard to see most of the time. They nest in mountain forests and tend to stay hidden in the shade. During spring migration, however, these colorful birds become a common sight in yards, parks, and bird baths throughout the Willamette Valley. Read more...
With their slender build and long tails, White-crowned Sparrows are dapper birds! They winter across much of the Lower 48 and into Mexico, and can be found in the Portland area year-round Read more...
When you attract songbirds to your yard, chances are good that you will eventually attract avian predators as well. While some people don’t like the idea of hawks feeding on “their” birds, many others welcome this opportunity to see raptors up close. Read more...
Did you know that the Portland area is the year-round residence of one species of hummingbird? Anna’s Hummingbirds, the largest of coastal Pacific Northwest hummers, are non-migratory! Both sexes are primarily greenish in color, but in sunlight males flash purplish red iridescence on their foreheads, throat patches, and sides of neck. Read more...
Dark-eyed Juncos are common sparrows found throughout North America. They show a great deal of geographic variation, with many subspecies divided into five recognizable groups. The group found locally is known, appropriately enough, as Oregon Junco. Read more...
With the arrival of autumn weather in late September and early October come Golden-crowned Sparrows. This species nests in Alaska, the Yukon Territory, and British Columbia, then spends the winter along the west coast from southern British Columbia to Baja California. They remain in the Willamette Valley until mid-May. Read more...
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