Common Grackle

The Common Grackle is a large (nearly 12 inches) bird whose tail accounts for over half of it's total length. They are a dark black with a metallic purple, bronze, or green head and highlights on its body. These birds can decimate crops and are considered an agricultural pest.

This year, I haven't seen many of these guys although last year I had flocks of them during the early spring. They like cracked corn and sunflower seeds at backyard feeders.

Edited to add: now in mid-spring I have tons of these guys at my feeders!

Birds in the snow

We got about 4 inches of snow with a pretty thick layer of ice on top. I was taking random pics of the birds in the snow and ice today. These were my favorites. I am going to try to go for a walk in the snow tomorrow and see what other pics I can take.

American Robin

The American Robin is one of the most recognized and common backyard birds. It is found year round nearly everywhere in North America and to many is a sign of spring.

These birds are frequent visitors to my yard and lawn and like to pull up worms after a rain. As common an occurence as they are, it has taken me this long to get a semi-decent picture of one.

Last spring, I had a pair build a nest and raise a brood in my plum tree out front. When the babies fledged, I ended up with one literally on my front door step.

Brown-Headed Cowbird

This is a female cowbird. These birds are
damaging to the songbird populations.
They used to follow the buffalo herds and would lay eggs in other birds nests and let the other birds act as foster parents.
The cowbird baby was usually bigger and stronger than the foster parents babies and will out compete them for food and sometimes even push them out of the nest.
The male looks similar to the female but has a darker body and a brown head.

Yellow Rumped Warbler

This afternoon I saw a Yellow Rumped Warbler at my suet feeder. I have never even managed to identify any kind of warbler since I became interested in bird watching. I pulled up from work and saw what I thought was a sparrow on the roof of my house. As I was getting my stuff together to get out of the car, it flew to the suet feeder directly in front of the car on the window.

I noticed then that it had a patch of yellow on its head and rump and a little yellow under its wings and knew it was a sparrrow. Well that and the fact that I have never seen a sparrow on my suet feeders.

I wish I could have gotten a picture, but it was pouring down rain and it flew away when I tried to clear the windshield to snap a pic with my cell phone. Oh well. Maybe now since it knows where there is a ready supply of food it will come back when I am inside with camera waiting.

Edited:: I stopped cleaning today to look out my front window and loe and behold, the warbler was back. While not the greatest picture, I think it is cool. The warbler was midflight trying to steal bites of suet when I snapped the picture. Since then he comes nearly every day and eats seed that are on the ground and suet.

Dark-eyed Junco

This bird is a winter visitor to all 50 states. They are ground feeders and will congregate under the feeder to eat the seeds discarded by other birds.

They are members of the sparrow family and are quite fun to watch forage through the leaves for food. I had never managed to attract them to my yard until this year, but if you live in wooded area, they are plentiful.

House Finches

This is a male and a female house finch. The females are all brown with a spotted stomach and the males are brown with a red head and chest. These birds like Niger seed the best, but also eat sunflower and safflower seeds. They aren't shy birds at all and will sit in the tree and watch me when I go out to fill the feeders. These are a regular visitor to my feeders and like to live in close proximity to houses and humans.

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

This yellow bellied sapsucker showed up for the
first time last weekend for the first time and has been here regularly since. Not only do I get to add this bird to my backyard bird list, but also my life list as I had never seen one until now. This bird is not a shy bird at all and even stands its ground against the pest starlings. He really likes the suet feeders.

Dove just sitting under the bird feeder

Mourning doves are a common occurrence at my feeders. They tend to eat from the ground, picking up all the seed that is scattered by other birds. They are very tame birds and actually have the largest numbers in suburban areas. The males start making the characteristic dove call when they are looking for a mate. They can mate anytime of year, but this especially starts in late winter. Once they find a mate, they will stop calling.

Tufted Titmouse having a rough day

The picture of the Titmouse on the right just makes me laugh whenever I look at it. The poor bird just looks like he has had a rough day. These birds love my new feeder that is a combo feeder of black oil sunflower and safflower seeds. In fact so far it is the only bird I have seen regularly go for the safflower seeds.
This is the first year that I have regularly attracted these birds to my yard. Last year, I would see one once in awhile but never daily. These are one of my very favorite backyard birds. They are very active, friendly birds. The best thing is that they are around year round in Tennessee, so I can always count on seeing them.