My 7 favourite birds in North America

I am participating in the Write Tribe Festival of Words from September 1 - 7. The theme for this festival is "7" and this post is about my seven favourite North American birds. What are your favourite birds?


Where I live in rural Ontario, Canada, we are lucky to see a variety of birds all year around. 

Here are seven of my favourites.





My most favourite bird is the cardinal. His happy chirp brightens the dullest day and I love seeing his bright red plumage against the monotone background of winter.  I love that he stays around all year and I put out sunflower seeds to attract him to the feeder. Here is a photo I took of him. His wife is sweet, too, and comes on the bedroom window sill to say hello to me.




(from morguefile)

I adore the mourning doves with their sad cooing sound. They are such sweet gentle birds. I remember how devastated I was when my cat killed one right in front of me and I couldn’t do a thing. 



(from morguefile)

Blue jays are another bird who stay around in winter. They are fun birds, so colourful with their blue, black and white markings. I love their cheeky, brash ways and their sharp, shrill cry. They enjoy stealing food out of our husky's food dish which is fun to watch.



(from morguefile)

I love the tiny chickadee and their happy little cry of chickadee, chickadee. I admire that such a tiny bird can survive the intense cold of a Canadian winter.




Nothing says spring more than the arrival of the robin coming back in April from the warmer southern States where they spend the winter. Last year, a robin made a nest in this tree and we watched the baby birds hatch and grow into adults. Here is a photo I took of the babies.





This is another bird that migrates south for the winter. I love the cheerful whirring chirp of a red winged blackbird. You can see this bird on the back roads sitting on fence posts next to the cornfields and meadows or up on an overhead wire. This bird always looks like he's enjoying life and living in the moment which reminds me to do the same.

As you can see, I didn’t include crows or grackles in my favourite birds list. Although I admire their survivor instincts and ability to scavenge, they are not nice birds, especially gluttonous grackles who like to raid my feeder and terrorize all the other birds.

Comments

  1. I love all these birds. Early morning twittering and chirping always makes me happy. We have a family of cardinals and blue jays who reluctantly coexist in our back yard. And mourning doves always remind me of the lake!

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    1. I agree, Talya. Their happy chirps always cheer me up. It helps me cope with the long winters having the jays, cardinals, and chickadees while the robins, doves and red-winged blackbirds are down visiting you.

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  2. I love all the most colorful birds best too...the cardinals, blue jays, and even the orioles. Since hummingbirds swoop by my front window I love them too!! Which reminds me, I must get some of that hummingbird food.

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    Replies
    1. I love the hummingbirds, too. You're making me keen to put up a feeder to attract them as I have seen them flit by but I don't have food for them so they tend to go for the nectar of flowers.

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  3. Wonderful list of birds! I love watching hummingbirds in my garden every morning. They are high-spirited and feisty little birds! I also love ravens. Heck, any bird fascinates me! Thanks.
    Penny
    http://pennymcdanielspiritualguidance.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. **************(My new kitten did that!)
      Hummingbirds are incredible birds for sure, Penny. I would have them on my list but I don't see them as much as the others. If I put up a sugar syrup feeder, I probably would see them more. Ravens are majestic birds, moreso than their cousins, the crow. Even the natives write about them in their legends.

      Going over to check out your blog now!

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  4. That has been one of my regrets - that I never took to birding. Would you believe it that it was just today morning I spotted a couple of unusual birds from my house and was kicking myself for not knowing what they were?

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    Replies
    1. I bet there are amazing kinds of birds in India that are quite different from here in Canada. I never saw myself as a real birder but lately I do enjoy watching them on the feeder, especially in the bleakness of winter.

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  5. that was quite informative post...i'm aware a lot of snake species, this adds variety to my knowledge about creatures

    you can check out my post here-
    Karan - Brother

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  6. It's never to late to start bird watching... and to get a Petersen's Guide and learn to know what bird is what... so much fun to do... especially if you live in an area like yours... I loved bird watching when I was younger... still look.. but only when I see one ..

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    Replies
    1. I wouldn't say I'm a "birder" all serious like some of the clubs but I do enjoy watching the birds on the feeder and in the backyard raiding Tanner and Loup's food dishes. Always interesting to see.

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