Southeast Birds

You wouldn’t think that a foggy morning would be a good time to to go birdwatching due to the fact that you can’t see anything at a distance. Sometimes you get a sweet surprise. The fact that you can’t see birds from a distance also means that they can’t see you. The other morning I got up at 5:00AM and headed toward the lake at Chester Frost Park. As daylight came about, so did the fog. I could hardly see the water right in front of me. I began to think I might be wasting my time. I decided to wait it out a while to see of the fog would subside. Sure enough it did and I started to see the silhouettes of Mallards and Great Blue Herons flying in the distance. (continue reading…)

Wondering what gift to give the birder in your family? With the holiday season upon us, I decided to write a post that will help you with this decision. These ideas, such as bird books, field guides, birdfeeders, birdbaths, scopes, binoculars, and cameras, come from my personal experiences in birdwatching and I have either used or considered using all of the products on this page. All of these products are available at most book stores, birding stores, etc, or you can get all of them at one place, Amazon.com

If you have no idea what the birder already owns or don’t know where to begin, you can always give a gift card from Amazon.com and let them decide what to get.

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mallard

The male Mallard is most recognized by his green head and white ring around his neck. He has a yellow colored beak and orange legs and feet. His body is gray with a black patch on his rear that sports two tail feathers that curl upward and a rusty colored chest.

The female is mostly brown with some black and white. The crown of her head is black and a black streak runs across her eye making the lighter color above her eye look like an eyebrow. Her beak is orange, usually having a black patch, her legs and feet are also orange.

Both, male and female, have a blue speculum with a black and white border on their wings. Although the male tends to be slightly bigger than the female, they are both about the same size, about 20-30 inches in length. Their wingspan usually reaches around three feet.
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Red Winged Blackbird

Description

The male Red-winged Blackbird is a solid black bird except for the orange and yellow patch on his shoulders.

The female has a brown crown and a brown streak that runs across the eye. Her back, chest and belly is brown and white and she has a orange patch around her black beak. Her wings and tail feathers are striped with light brown and dark brown colors.

The male juvenile is covered in black with light brown and orange on the edge of his feathers. He has a yellow patch on his shoulder that will begin to show red as he enters adulthood.

They are a small to medium sized bird at 6 to 7 inches long and weigh about 1 to 3 ounces. They have a wingspan of 12 to 16 inches. (continue reading…)

Description

The male Tufted Titmouse has a gray head and back. His legs and feet are also gray. His wings are mostly gray with black edges, as is his long tail feathers. He has a black patch over his black beak and white that runs around his eyes and to his chest and belly. His sides underneath his wings are orange in color.

The female and the juvenile are the same as the male.

They are a small bird weighing in at .5 to 1 ounce. They are between 5.5 to 6.5 inches in length with a wingspan of 8 to 10 inches. (continue reading…)

Description

The male Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird with long brown legs and feet. He has a mostly blue-gray body and wings accented with rusty and black colors. His long plumes hang from his lower neck and chest, and from his lower back at the start of breeding season. He sports black plumes from his eyes to the back of his mostly white head and a long yellow beak that turns orange during breeding season.

The female is the same as the male. (continue reading…)

Nuthatch

Description

The male White Breasted Nuthatch has a black nape and crown with a white face and chest. He has a long gray beak and his legs and feet are brown with a light brown above his legs and on his rear. His back is blue and his wings are mostly blue, white, and black striped on top, and underneath is white with a black patch. He has short tail feathers matching his wings.

The female is similar to the male but duller in color and some may have a gray cap instead of black, which also may be smaller.

They are a small bird weighing between .6 to 1.6 ounces. Their length can be between 5 to 6 inches with a wingspan of 8 to 11 inches. (continue reading…)

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Description

The male Red Bellied Woodpecker is most recognizable by the red stripe that starts on his forehead and ends at the upper back. The rest of his face and chest are white or gray and he has a mostly hidden red patch on his belly. His beak is long and black and his legs and feet are gray. He has a beautiful black and white striped and checkered pattern on his back and wings. His inner tail feathers have a black and white barred pattern and the outer tail feathers are black.

The female is very similar to the male except the red stripe starts at the back of her head and ends at the upper back. She also has a reddish patch around her beak. Also, her beak seems to be a bit smaller than the male’s beak.

The juvenile has a yellowish stripe like the adults and a yellowish area around the beak and under the eyes. (continue reading…)

black capped chickadee

Description
The male Black-capped Chickadee is recognized by his black beak, black capped head, and black chin with white cheeks. Their chest and belly are white while their sides are a tan to orange color and their back is gray. His long tail feathers are gray and white striped. His wings are a dark gray to black with white stripes. (continue reading…)

Identification

The canadian goose has a black head and neck sporting a white patch under his chin resembling a chinstrap. His chest is light brown or tan and he has a white rump with black tail feathers. His beak is black and his legs are grey.

The female is same as the male.

The babies, known as goslings, are brown and yellow.

They are big weighing about 8 to 15 pounds and are 30 to 45 inches in length. Their wingspan ranges from 50 to 70 inches.

Habitat

The Canadian Goose can be found all over the United States in winter, Northern United States and Southern Canada year round, and Canada in the summer. However, recently they have been seen all over the United States year round. (continue reading…)