https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Downy_Woodpecker/id
That's year round, folks

Steve
We've had an explosion of Downy's this year. Normally once a week I'll hang out at my local bird feed store to chew the fat for an hour or two. Just about everyone has commented on seeing an unusual abundance of this little cutey. That and Goldfinches.digitS' wrote:I hadn't realized that they had such a wide territory!
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Downy_Woodpecker/id
That's year round, folks. That Downy has got the "adapt to local conditions" skills down pat!
Steve
I have not seen a meadowlark here for years and years! It's probably been well over 10 and maybe closer to 20 years since they were here keeping the killdeer, cows and cowboys entertained.Marlingardener wrote:. . . we could do with a lesser number of grackles ... Meadowlarks are beginning to show up in the field, and we are eagerly awaiting the Kingbirds. ...]
digitS' wrote:I believe I saw a robin today. It showed up in a walnut tree across the road.
The robin was there about the first of December. For all I know, it's the same bird. Sitting down here at home, the 3 most common places to find me all have a view of that tree. The chairs and 3 windows all line up right.
I could claim that a robin has sat in that tree once every 6 weeks since October. Ha! Might be true. I think that there are very few over-wintering and I've seen them no where else. It is a blue-sky, snow-covered landscape day! Yesterday, overcast, and even without snow or rain that day, the streetlights were still on at 10:15 AM! ... If I had wings ...!
Ah well, the robins will all be back by spring.
Steve
Lol, I can't get rid of mine! I like them, though. They are regular feeder lovers, and I'm glad they prevent the ravenous juncos from eating everything in my feeder (and if they got hungry enough, the feeder tooapplestar wrote:Today's favorite is Titmouse. I heard a rustling, then rapid tapping right outside a FR window and there was a cute beady eyed and nervous titmouse cracking open some seed on the grapevine.
That made me LOL.I wish I had my camera when they were falling flat on their backs.
Next thing you know they'll be trying to fly or something.webmaster wrote:That made me LOL.I wish I had my camera when they were falling flat on their backs.
Adorable!Gary350 wrote:Birds are my best friends they eat all the bugs in my garden. I never spray for bugs. I have 25 bird houses. I like wrens best they sing none stop all day and eat 2 times their body weight in bugs every day. I build special bird houses for my wrens.
applestar wrote:Yep, same here, until they have their babies. -- then it's usually the babies, the male, and the female, too... Though I think it's the male that is more diligent and continue to feed them until fledging. Sometimes, after that, I see the siblings staying together for a while.
They usually have at least two broods, maybe three? during the season and are CONSTANTLY looking for baby food (worms and bugs) in the garden.
I feel for you. Cattle egrets are nice though. Their white plumage is beautiful!imafan26 wrote:You have interesting birds. Thanks for the pictures. I will probably only see most of these birds in pictures. Sadly, even our native birds are so rare and dependent on specific native plants for food that most of them won't be seen in home gardens. All I see are sparrows (not as many now), bulbuls (too many), cattle egret (imported by the plantation), finches (pets people deliberately let go), parrots (also escaped or released pets), Sharma (rare, and has a beautiful song), cardinals, great northern cardinals, golden plover (they migrate from the Aleutians every winter), occasionally a pheasant, native white owl (very rare I have only seen it twice on the Big Island's Parker ranch, mynah, spotted neck doves, small grey dove, mejiro (Japanese white eye), pigeons, and feral chickens.