Brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)
After many years, the brown thrasher in 2014 was a new addition to the list of birds seen in our yard. And what a handsome bird it is! I love his speckled breast, his piercing eyes, and the reddish-brown color.
- Learn more:
- Cornell’s All About Birds: Brown thrasher
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Cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
A beautiful bird. They always look more like a painting than a real bird. Their coloring seems just too perfect. They’re generally here in at least a small flock, which announces itself with an unusual twittering sound. They love berries of all kinds.
- Learn more:
- Cornell’s All About Birds: Cedar waxwing
- American Bird Conservancy: Bird of the Week
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| 14 | 4/23 | · | 25 | · | 3 | 2 | 3 | · | · | · | |||
| 13 | 5/8 | · | · | 9 | 4 | 2 | 6 | · | 1 | · | |||
| 12 | 6/7 | · | · | 2 | 3 | 2 | · | · | · | 4 | |||
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| 09 | 4/8 | · | · | · | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | · | · | · |
| 08 | 4/9 | · | · | · | 2 | · | 1 | · | 1 | · | · | · | · |
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European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
A real plague. Every starling in the yard represents many, many native birds that would be here otherwise. They not only take a lot of food — both natural and from our bird feeders — but they also take over nesting places.
NOTE: Neither starlings nor house sparrows are legally protected as are native birds.
As Hilton Pond says: If we humans had it to do over again, we probably wouldn’t have released that initial flock of 60 European Starlings in New York’s Central Park in 1890. … Introducing birds to a different continent just because they’re mentioned in Shakespeare’s writings probably wasn’t ever a good idea. Those initial small flocks of starlings now number more than 200 million individuals that range in marauding, murmurating flocks from Alaska to Mexico and the Caribbean.
- Learn more:
- Cornell’s All About Birds: European starling
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| 02 | 50 | 50 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 25 | 5 | · | · | · | 80 |
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