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Bird Poop Thread 1: About Bird Poop !

DeacHead said:
What's the optimal way to learn birds on sight? Is there a bird Shazam app?
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Merlín bird ID is good, and helpful. I’m not sure there is an optimal way to learn them. I did it by years of practice and I still rely heavily on my field guide.
 
birdman said:
Merlín bird ID is good, and helpful. I’m not sure there is an optimal way to learn them. I did it by years of practice and I still rely heavily on my field guide.
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Which field guide do you use? The golden oldy Peterson's or is there a newer/better one?
 
Deaconblue said:
Which field guide do you use? The golden oldy Peterson's or is there a newer/better one?
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Sibley is really the way to go now. I have a Peterson's my grand mother bought it for me in high school, but I use the Sibley guides.

http://www.sibleyguides.com/about/

There are some apps available too, but I'm old school and mostly use my book.
 
Got a pic of the hawk in my park. Not a good pic, but what are you gonna do. Now for birdman to tell me it's actually just a very large pigeon.

AI8l12e.jpg
 
We have a hawk in our neighborhood. He hangs around our house quite a bit because my wife wants to feed the entire bird population. The hawk knows this and sits in the neighbors tree to eventually swoop down on either a small bird or sometimes a skink. I wish I could get video of it, because it's awesome to watch. More fun is watching my wife try to chase it away. At least once a month you will find a pile of feathers in our grass.
 
avalon said:
Got a pic of the hawk in my park. Not a good pic, but what are you gonna do. Now for birdman to tell me it's actually just a very large pigeon.

AI8l12e.jpg
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That looks like a juvenile broad winged hawk, but it could be a red-tailed hawk. What state are you in...that can help to narrow it down.
 
birdman said:
That looks like a juvenile broad winged hawk, but it could be a red-tailed hawk. What state are you in...that can help to narrow it down.
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I'm in Philadelphia! These guys visit the park near my house occasionally, but are not around most of the time. (Do hawks migrate?)
 
avalon said:
I'm in Philadelphia! These guys visit the park near my house occasionally, but are not around most of the time. (Do hawks migrate?)
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Philly doesn't help, but I am going to go with the Juvy broad-winged hawk.

Yes Hawks migrate! Eastern US hawks are not as amazingly migratory as western US hawks, but...a lot of red tails, broad-wings in the northeast will move southward in the winter.

Here is a pretty good video of hawk migration in Panama where every year millions of hawks and vultures pass through between South American wintering grounds and North American breeding grounds. They call in the River of raptors.
 
i have some sparrows that build a nest in/above the light next to our front door every year. 5 eggs this year but still haven't hatched.

last year i think some other bird hijacked the nest and tossed out the eggs.
 
You’re not going to see huge flocks like that, but the overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway are good places to watch the raptor migration.
 
I saw a red cockaded woodpecker in Sandhills State Forest in SC last week. No pics though.
 
wakephan09 said:
This has got to be the bird with the most ever penis euphemisms in his name, right? I count three, but there could probably be more.
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I can't think of any others, Woodcock may be in second place. There are some great bird names out there though. "Great tits" in the UK or Kakapo in New Zealand.
 
Saw my first of the season Mississippi Kite this week. They nest in my neighborhood and migrate to Alabama (MS, AR, TX, etc. as well) all the way from Boliva (or further south).

miki2.jpg

(not my photo)
 
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