American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

The quintessential early bird, American Robins are common sights on lawns across North America, where you often see them tugging earthworms out of the ground. Robins are popular birds for their warm orange breast and cheery song.

This little guy visits me often. :)

Click below to hear his song and calls:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/sounds



Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)

The Bewick's Wren was formerly common across the Midwest and eastern mountains. Eastern populations dropped drastically starting early in the 20th century, and now it is nearly restricted to the West.

As of now, I'm only able to take a picture of this Bewick's Wren through the window.

Hopefully, he'll allow me to take a picture when I'm outside. This one doesn't  warm-up to humans as well as some of the other yard birds.

Hear his lovely song by clicking below:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bewicks_Wren/sounds

Red Breasted Nuthatch -

 

An intense bundle of energy at our feeder, that moves so quickly it is very hard for me to photograph.  Red-breasted Nuthatches are tiny, active birds of north woods and western mountains. These long-billed, short-tailed songbirds travel through tree canopies with chickadees, kinglets, and woodpeckers but stick to tree trunks and branches, where they search bark furrows for hidden insects. Their excitable yank-yank calls sound like tiny tin horns being honked in the treetops. They seem to enjoy the suet I provide.

Click below to hear their song.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-breasted_Nuthatch/sounds

Northern MockingBird

These healthy northern mockingbirds visit our yard daily. They usually sit out on our deck chairs waiting for their daily feeding of mealworms. They are somewhat trained. When they are hungry, they come to our back windows and squak-- click below to hear their song. 

   http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/sounds   

 

 

 

CLICK ON "OLDER POSTS" BELOW TO SEE MORE BIRDS

Hooded Orioles - Male & Female (Icterus cucullatus)

 

These beautiful bright yellow-orange Orioles frequent the backyard. They try to sip sugar water from the hummingbird feeders.

I placed a tiny container of grape jelly in a oriole feeder and found that was their favorite.
Enjoy our purple morning glories too :)

The picture above and these next four are Males. The last picture is a female.

Click below to hear their song....

Female Oriole in my tomatoe bush

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Oriole/sounds

Band-tailed Dove (or pigeon)



Band-Tailed Dove or Pigeon
I hope to get a better picture in the future showing this birds bright orange beak and bright yellow legs.
This bird in our southwestern region prefers oak or pine-oak woodlands, where it can feed on acorns. I usually see them sitting in our pine trees. When I administer safflower seed into me feeders, I see them more often. They seem to enjoy that tye of seed. 
They have a deep owl-like whoo-hoo. With that sound, it's very obvious they are in the yard. 
Click below and listen carefully to the background Whoo-hoo at the site below:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Band-tailed_Pigeon/sounds 



Dark Eyed Junco




Dark Eyed Juncos visit our yard every winter. Here he is after a heavy heavy rain where mud has splashed on his terracotta feeder. It will get a good washing when the rain stops. They usually arrive late November and seem to like safflower seed the best.
Click below for song variations:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Dark-eyed_Junco/sounds

 

Townsend Warbler

 This little townsend warbler arrives every winter and leaves by spring time. There is always only one bird in the winter. We never see a mate or another male bird.

 

A bird of the Pacific Northwest, the Townsend's Warbler nests in coniferous forests from Alaska to Oregon. It winters in two distinct areas: in a narrow strip along the Pacific Coast, and in Mexico and Central America.

We are fortunate they chose Yorba Linda as a winter home.

Click below for its song:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Townsends_Warbler/sounds

Pin Tailed Whydah

This Pin Tailed Whydah lives in our neighbor's beautiful garden.
He is very aggressive, chasing other birds away from the feeder.
He is one bird that really puts on a show, flying from limb to limb, then to the ground then back up in the tree again., wish I had one in my yard. :)

Click below to hear their singing:

http://www.xeno-canto.org/species.php?species_nr2=7450.00 

American Gold Finch

Male Gold Finch eating thistle seed.
Click below to hear their song:
http://www.birdjam.com/birdsong.php?id=23

Black Phoebe Flycatcher

This Phoebe and others like it, keep the yard almost free of flying insects. They also eat spiders from their webs.

Hear his song below:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Phoebe/sounds

Cedar Waxwings

These birds hang around trying to strip the berries from our blackberry and blueberry bushes.. Flocks of them will swarm a fruit bush and leave it striped within a minute. I've noticed they were eating the red berries/peppers on my neighbors brazilian pepper tree. I understand it's not their norm to eat peppers but perhaps they were very hungry that day. I have seen up to about 50 or more sitting in our pine trees. They fly in large flocks.
Click below to hear their sound:
http://pjdeye.blogspot.com/2009/05/waxwings.html

Hummingbird

This little guy feeds all day about every 5 minutes.

Click below to hear his sound:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Annas_Hummingbird/sounds

Hummingbird nest in our front porch fig ficus tree. Notice our dog's fur and bits of newspaper weaved within other materials. I compared the nest size to the size of a quarter. 

Cooper's Hawk

We have to be concerned about this Cooper Hawk.

Among the bird world’s most skillful flyers, Cooper’s Hawks are common woodland hawks that tear through cluttered tree canopies in high speed pursuit of other birds.

It dives in for smaller birds. We move the bird feeders around the yard so the hawk doesn't develope a food diving routine and we will place some feeders inside a larger wire housing so the hawk can't swoop in on them. Notice this birds striped pajamas and cute yellow legs. I think he is quite beautiful.
Click below to hear one of it's changing screech sounds:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/sounds

Male Bluebird at our feeder

Little Blue loves to perch on my garden rake handle.







This male bluebird comes to the feeder regularly to gather worms for his brood.
He shares the feeding responsibility with the female bluebird.
He's very friendly.

Click below to hear its song:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Bluebird/sounds 

Red-Tailed Hawk

Overhead shot of hawk circling the yard for prey. Double click on all pictures for magnification. Notice the beautiful design under his wings. Awesome!