The Backyard Birdman

Western Bluebird photo by Walter Ammann

The gentle and beautiful bluebird was once very common in North America.  The bluebird is a beneficial bird, eating many insects that ruin our crops and gardens such as cutworms and grasshoppers.  Today, the number of bluebirds has diminished due to habitat loss, overuse of pesticides and predators. (more…)

Golden Eagle juvenile photo by Hans Nydahl

I was driving home this afternoon in northern California and saw a large bird soaring fairly low over a very large grassy field off the road.  I thought at first it was a Turkey Vulture, as they are abundant in our area, but I noticed it had a definite white tail with a wide black band.  I had to pull off the side of the road and watch it for awhile to make sure I could identify it once I got home. (more…)

American Kestrel (male) photo by Clive Emary

Yesterday my wife and I were relaxing on the back porch, as we like to do whenever we get the chance, listening to the myriad of songbirds in our backyard.  Out of nowhere, I see out of the corner of my eye, a medium sized flash of a bird, rolling and tumbling with the greatest of ease across my pond.  I saw the flash of a striped tail and barred under-wings as she banked before my eyes and disappeared into a smallish scrub oak next to my pond in the midst of my feeding stations.

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White-Tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus) photo by William G. Mancebo

I just returned from a trip to Santa Barbara, California and on the trip back home I drove up Interstate 5, through California’s central valley, which just happens to coincide with the Pacific Flyway.  For those of you who don’t know, flyways are generally considered to be the main north-and-south ”highways” that birds travel during their migrations.  Migration routes are usually considered to be the “lanes” of individual travel from any particular breeding ground to the winter quarters of the birds that use them.  No two species follow exactly the same path from beginning to end. (more…)