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KYM Birding and Natural History Thread

Last posted Aug 20, 2014 at 05:56PM EDT. Added Aug 19, 2014 at 12:11AM EDT
20 posts from 7 users

So I've noticed that people frequently request Tits on this site so I figured we should have a thread dedicated to Birding. Of course it doesn't have to be just birds, it can also be about trees, mammals, and other organisms in your local area, meaning natural history. Natural History is "the scientific study of animals or plants, especially as concerned with observation rather than experiment, and presented in popular rather than academic form." So basically the point of this thread is to share observations, learn about species, get in touch with nature, and get us basement-dwellers outside! This site can be used to help identify birds if you live in the US or Canada, if not then tough luck.

For starters, I live in the Midwestern United States, (no need to give out detailed location) and saw a Goldfinch land on a tall Dandelion (at least 2ft tall) in my back yard. it then proceeded to eat the seeds until some House Sparrows appeared and scared it away.

House Sparrow:

Goldfinch:
<img src="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/american_goldfinch_glamour12.jpg"200">

I live in the bloody desert in a big city (Vegas), so the only bird that exists here is this:

I actually don't mind pigeons too much. I actually like the, when they're not crapping on my stuff. As for other birds I've seen while traveling, I see ravens a lot. Crafty little things. Sometimes I like to imitate the sounds they make the best I can and they respond. Not the prettiest birds but maybe the smartest.

Good ol' European Robins. These fluffy bastards are everywhere in Scotland, and I love that.

And Pizza Guy, that looks like an American Robin.

Last edited Aug 19, 2014 at 12:28AM EDT

Southern Ontario here, we have quite a variety of birds.

I see cardinals very often, which is always nice because the males are quite a spectacular colour of red.

Lot's of mourning doves around here too, they're easily recognizable due to their call


In terms of birds of prey, I see red tailed hawks every once in a while, along with the occasional group of turkey vultures.

@Pizza Guy
That is indeed a Robin, I live in Michigan and thats the state bird.
Wikipedia's list of birds in Jersey. It looks like you have the several of the same species Michigan has, I'll post some of the common ones in a bit to see if you recognize them.

@Sam
This is a site about the birds in the Vegas area, if you keep your eyes open you can actually find a lot of biodiversity. If you want to mess with people you can call Pidgeons "Rock Doves" because that's their actual name but no one knows it.

@Crouching Sloth
I see Red-tailed hawks all the time in my area, and people tend to tell (probably made up ) stories about them taking small dogs.

@Dr.Sockpuppet
We have some European birds too! The House Sparrow and European Starling were both brought to the North America from Europe.

@Lord Starscream
While I could see a hawk maybe scooping up a small dog, I don't think I've ever heard of a legit case myself. Coyotes, on the other hand, attack small dogs around where I live all the time. I have a Maltese, and we have to be careful with him just in case.

Also forgot to mention, there's a small pond close to where I live, and every once in a while we'll see some absolutely gorgeous Great Blue Herons.

I also see several varieties of woodpeckers, but they're fairly rare.

Last edited Aug 19, 2014 at 12:52AM EDT

@Lord Starscream
Wow, that list is incredibly similar to what I see on a regular basis!

Since this thread covers more than just birds, I thought that I'd bring up some insects.

This is a picture I took of some beetles I saw near my house a little while ago. Anybody familiar with the species?

neet wrote:

@Lord Starscream
Wow, that list is incredibly similar to what I see on a regular basis!

Since this thread covers more than just birds, I thought that I'd bring up some insects.

This is a picture I took of some beetles I saw near my house a little while ago. Anybody familiar with the species?

Thoose are Japanese Beetles. I get those in my area, ironically they go after the Japanese Maple in my yard frequently.

Some more insects living in my area.

Cicadas are pretty common in the summer (and pretty loud).

Also, I've seen some very bright green katydids.

The most common bug where I live aside from ants are these cute little buggers:

There are occasional spiders (my favorite) and maybe I see a cockroach very rarely, but for what I normally see that's about it.

Skeletor-sm

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