Birdwatching Documentary: The Wonderful World of Birds

Birds are fascinating creatures. Watching birds zip past, float in the wind, or towering in mid-air always amazes me. People of all ages watch birds. It’s an activity you can keep doing all your life, in any part of the world. Birding is the fastest-growing outdoor activity in the United States. It is a totally accessible activity. You can’t go wrong with birding, you’ll be rewarded by the sights and sounds of beautiful and interesting feathered creatures.

Birds have always delighted people all over the world, because of their beauty and their power of flight. And they are beautiful, some are spectacularly beautiful. Brilliant colored and breath-taking hues. I find almost all birds delightful in some way. I want to share with you the joy of birdwatching, and identify the different kinds of birds you see in New York, and other parts of the nation. Identifying birds is at the very heart of birdwatching. I hope these tips will help you on your next birdwatching adventure!:

Below is the alphabetic list of birds, including the selection of state birds:

American Crow

American Crows are familiar over much of the United States. A large, intelligent, all-black bird with cawing voice. They usually feed on the ground and eat almost anything. Their flight style is unique, a patient, methodical flapping that is rarely broken up with glides. They are common sights in treetops, fields, and roadsides, and in habitats ranging from open woods and empty beaches to town centers. They usually feed on the ground and eat almost anything—typically earthworms, insects and other small animals, seeds, and fruit; also garbage, carrion, and chicks they rob from nests. Their flight style is unique, a patient, methodical flapping that is rarely broken up with glides.

American Robin

American Robins are common sights on lawns across North America, where you often see them tugging earthworms out of the ground. Robins are popular birds for their warm orange breast, cheery song, and early appearance at the end of winter.  

Since robins sing frequently, you can find them by listening for their clear musical whistles. In winter they may disappear from your lawn but could still be around. 

American Robin is the State Bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

American Goldfinch

The American goldfinch is a small North American bird in the finch family. Goldfinches are among the strict vegetarians in the bird world, selecting an entirely vegetable diet, where it takes primarily sunflower.

The American goldfinch lives at the edges of forests and plains across North America in areas filled with brush and thistle plants. It can also be found in backyards and parks.

The American goldfinch is the state bird of New Jersey, Iowa, and Washington.

American Yellow Warbler

North America has more than 50 species of warblers, but few combine brilliant color and easy viewing quite like the Yellow Warbler. In summer, the buttery yellow males sing their sweet whistled song from willows, wet thickets, and roadsides across almost all of North America. The females and immatures aren’t as bright, and lack the male’s rich chestnut streaking, but their overall warm yellow tones, unmarked faces, and prominent black eyes help pick them out.

Black-billed Magpie

The black-billed magpie also known as the American magpie, is a bird that inhabits the western half of North America, It is black and white, with black areas on the wings and tail showing hints of blue or blue-green. Their tails makes up half or more of the total body length.

Black-capped Chickadee

A bird almost universally considered “cute” thanks to its oversized round head, tiny body, and curiosity about everything, including humans.  The chickadee’s black cap and bib; white cheeks; gray back, wings, and tail; and whitish underside with buffy sides are distinctive. Its habit of investigating people and everything else in its home territory, and quickness to discover bird feeders, make it one of the first birds most people learn.

The Black-capped Chickadee is the State Bird of Maine, and Massachusetts.

Blue Jay

This common, large songbird is familiar to many people, with its perky crest; blue, white, and black plumage. Blue Jays are most often detected by their noisy calls. They usually fly across open areas one at a time, often silently. Also watch for them at feeders.

California Gull

The California Gull is common in inland areas in the West. These medium-sized gulls breed in colonies on islands, lakes and rivers. In the winter they head to the coast where they cruise up and down the shoreline with other gulls.

The California gull is the state bird of Utah.

Canada Goose

Canada goose is one of the most familiar wildlife species in New York State. The big, black-necked Canada Goose with its signature white chinstrap mark is a familiar and widespread bird of fields and parks. Thousands of “honkers” migrate north and south each year, filling the sky with long V-formations. But as lawns have proliferated, more and more of these grassland-adapted birds are staying put in urban and suburban areas year-round.

Cedar-waxwing

The cedar-waxwing is a member of the  waxwing family of passerine birds. It is a medium-sized,  silky, shiny collection of brown, gray, and lemon-yellow, black mask, and brilliant-red wax droplets on the wing feathers. This bird is named for its wax-like wing tips.

Chipping Sparrow

Chipping Sparrows are common across North America wherever trees are interspersed with grassy openings. Their loud, trilling songs are one of the most common sounds of spring woodlands and suburbs. Particularly in fall and winter, watch for small flocks of Chipping Sparrows feeding on open ground near trees. In spring and summer, listen for the male’s long, loud trill, then look for the male in the upper branches of a nearby tree.

Eastern Bluebird 

Male Eastern Bluebirds are a brilliant royal blue on the back and head, and warm red-brown on the breast. Blue in birds always depends on the light, and males often look plain gray-brown from a distance. Females are grayish above with bluish wings and tail, and an orange-brown breast. Blue tinge in the wings and tail give the grayer females an elegant look. 

You can find Eastern Bluebirds in open country with patchy vegetation and large trees or nest boxes. Meadows, old fields, and golf courses are good places. Bluebirds typically sit in the open on power lines or along fences, with an alert, vertical posture. When they drop to the ground after an insect, they make a show of it, with fluttering wings and a fairly slow approach, followed by a quick return to the perch.

Eastern Bluebird is the State Bird of New York, and Missouri.

Eurasian Bullfinch

Bullfinches are thick-billed finches in the passerine family. The name ‘bullfinch’ comes from the bird’s front heavy, bull-headed appearance. They are with bright pinkish-red breast and cheeks, grey back, black cap and tail, and bright white rump. They feed on the buds of various trees . The bullfinch is not native to North America. It is Eurasian native, and a visitor to North America, and can be seen in woodlands occasionally. Bullfinches were once popular cage birds. They can be taught to imitate a special bird flute or whistle. The short, stubby beak is specially adapted for feeding on buds.

European Starling

European Starlings are among the continent’s most numerous songbirds. They are stocky black birds with short tails, triangular wings, and long, pointed bills. Though they’re sometimes resented for their abundance and aggressiveness, they’re still dazzling birds when you get a good look. Covered in white spots during winter, they turn dark and glossy in summer. For much of the year, they wheel through the sky and mob lawns in big, noisy flocks.

Fox Sparrow

Fox Sparrows are dark, named for the rich red hues that many Fox Sparrows have this species can range from foxy red to gray to dark brown. Since they breed primarily in remote areas, many people see them in winter when the birds move into backyard thickets.

Great Egret

The elegant Great Egret is a dazzling sight in many a North American wetland. It may be wading slowly or standing stock-still, peering intently at the water as it searches for fish.  Though it mainly hunts while wading, it occasionally swims to capture prey over the water and dips for fish.

Hermit Thrush

The Hermit Thrush is a state bird of Vermont. It has a rich brown upper body and smudged spots on the breast. Typically found on forest floor, where it hops while foraging in the leaf litter.

The Hermit Thrush is the State Bird of Vermont.

House Sparrow

House Sparrows are some of our most common birds. Their constant presence outside our doors makes them easy to overlook. The best way to find a House Sparrow is to visit an urban area and watch them hopping on the ground . You can easily attract them with food and they may feed out of your hand. In the countryside, look out for bright, clean versions of the city House Sparrow around barns, stables, and storehouses.

Mallard

Mallard the most familiar of all ducks, Mallards occur throughout North America in ponds and parks as well as wilder wetlands. The male’s gleaming green head, gray flanks, and black tail-curl make it the most easily identified duck. Mallards have long been hunted for the table, and almost all domestic ducks come from this species. 

Domestic ducks can be common in city ponds and can be confusing to identify—they may lack the white neck ring, show white on the chest, be all dark, or show oddly shaped crests on the head.

Mountain Thrush

The Mountain Thrush is an Uncommon thrush of humid evergreen and pine-evergreen forest in highlands. Feeds mainly in fruiting trees and bushes. Striking male is black with a yellow bill, and eye-ring. Female is brown overall with black bill and yellow legs. And they are great singers.

Mute Swans

Mute Swans in North America descended from swans imported from Europe from the mid 1800s through early 1900s.

Northern Cardinal

The male Northern Cardinal is perhaps responsible for getting more people to open up a field guide than any other bird. They’re a perfect combination of familiarity, and style: a shade of red you can’t take your eyes off. Even the brown females sport a sharp crest and warm red accents. Cardinals don’t migrate and they don’t molt into a dull plumage, so they’re still breathtaking in winter’s snowy backyards. In summer, their sweet whistles are one of the first sounds of the morning. The brilliant red of a male Northern Cardinal calls attention to itself when males are around. 

You can also find cardinals by getting a sense of the warm, red-tinged brown of females – a pattern you can learn to identify in flight. Away from backyards, cardinals are still common but inconspicuous owing to their affinity for dense tangles. Listen for their piercing chip notes to find where they are hiding.

The Northern Cardinal is the State Bird of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Pileated Woodpecker

The pileated woodpecker is about 15 inches in length and is one of the largest woodpeckers found in North America. It has a black body, a red crest, white stripes on its neck, and black and white stripes on its face. They are found in forests throughout New York. They eats insects, fruits, and nuts, and a large part of their diet is made up of carpenter ants. They use  their sharp bill to pull bark off trees to expose ant colonies. They use their long, sticky tongue to poke into holes and drag out the ants.  Although the pileated woodpecker is adapted to clinging to the sides of trees, it is a strong flyer and it sometimes hops around on the ground. They ”drums” on hollow trees with their bill to claim territory., and they make their nest in a tree cavity.They also dig out large holes in trees to create roosting and nesting spots and to expose insects!

Purple Finch

Purple Finch is the State Bird of New Hampshire. For many of us, they’re irregular winter visitors to our feeders, these chunky, big-beaked finches do breed in northern North America and the West Coast. 

The Purple Finch is the State Bird of New Hampshire.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are pale, medium-sized woodpeckers common in forests of the East. Their strikingly barred backs and gleaming red caps make them an unforgettable sight – just resist the temptation to call them Red-headed Woodpeckers, a somewhat rarer species that’s mostly black on the back with big white wing patches. Learn the Red-bellied’s rolling call and you’ll notice these birds everywhere. They are loud and call frequently during spring and summer. Keep an eye out for this species in eastern woodlands all year round, particularly at middle heights and along main branches and trunks of trees. They are loud and call frequently during spring and summer.

Red-winged Blackbird 

One of the most abundant birds across North America, and one of the most boldly colored, the Red-winged Blackbird is a familiar sight atop cattails, along soggy roadsides, and on telephone wires. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel. Females are a subdued, streaky brown, almost like a large, dark sparrow. Their early and tumbling song are happy indications of the return of spring.

You can find Red-winged Blackbirds in the breeding season by visiting cattail marshes and other wetlands, or simply by watching telephone wires on a drive through the country. Where there’s standing water and vegetation, Red-winged Blackbirds are likely to be one of the most common birds you see and hear. Listen for the male’s conk-la-lee! song. In winter, search through mixed-species blackbird flocks and be careful not to overlook the streaky, brown females, which can sometimes resemble a sparrow.

Ring-necked Pheasants

Ring-necked Pheasants stride across open fields and weedy roadsides in the U.S. And it is the state bird of South Dakota. Because they live in tall vegetation and old fields, Ring-necked Pheasants can be hard to see even in places where they’re numerous.

Ring-necked Pheasants is the State Bird of South Dakota.

Ruffed Grouse 

This plump grouse has a cocky crest and a tail marked by a broad, dark band near the tip.  The rich black ruff of neck feathers, giving them their name. The dappled, grayish or reddish Ruffed Grouse is hard to see, but its “drumming on air” display is a fixture of many spring forests. It can come as a surprise to learn this distant sound, like an engine trying to start, comes from a bird at all. 

Seeing the secretive Ruffed Grouse can be quite difficult—although it can be easy to hear them when they are drumming. To track one down, note the locations where you hear drumming males—this is generally most frequent very early in the morning. Otherwise, you may encounter foraging birds simply by walking slowly and quietly through appropriate forest, or while driving along narrow forested roads. In winter, watch for Ruffed Grouse feeding on deciduous-tree buds in bare treetops along a road.

The ruffed Grouse is the State Bird of Pennsylvania.

Titmouse

Titmouse, also called tit is a small cheery-voiced nonmigratory woodland bird.  These birds are mainly small, stocky, woodland species with short, stout bills.

Blue Titmouse  with a colorful mix of blue, yellow, white and green makes the blue tit one of our most attractive and most recognizable garden visitors. A garden with four or five blue tits at a feeder, and may be feeding 20 or more at times. These birds have small crests on the top of their head, and are slightly larger than chickadees, with which they often flock during the non-breeding season.

The Great Titmouse has yellow  body with a striking glossy black head, and white cheeks It is a woodland bird which has readily adapted to man-made habitats to become a familiar garden visitor. 

Tundra Swan

The tundra swan is one of two native swan species in New York State. A graceful tundra swan is an incredible sight for bird lovers. The average tundra swan has wingspan stretching just over five feet. While the tundra swan is the smallest swan species observed in New York State,  they are still larger than a Canada Goose.

The Tundra Swan stays in flocks except when on a breeding territory. Although most swans spread out to breed, a large proportion of the population on the breeding grounds still can be found in flocks. 

During the breeding season, these Swans sleep almost entirely on land, but in the winter they sleep more often on water. 

Swans have long been associated with ideals of romance. Added to their elegant outlines and all-white plumage is their tendency to form permanent pair bonds by the time they’re 2-3 years old. Once a pair forms, Tundra Swans feed and roost together year-round.

Wood Duck

The Wood Duck is one of the most stunningly pretty of all waterfowl. Males are iridescent chestnut and green, with ornate patterns on nearly every feather; the elegant females have a distinctive profile and delicate white pattern around the eye. 

These birds live in wooded swamps, where they nest in holes in trees or in nest boxes put up around lake margins. They are one of the few duck species equipped with strong claws that can grip bark and perch on branches. 

The Wood Duck is the only North American duck that regularly produces two broods in one year. The ducklings may jump from heights of over 50 feet without injury.

The Wood Duck is the State Bird of Mississippi.

Wood Thrush

This reclusive bird’s cinnamon brown upper parts are good camouflage as it scrabbles for leaf-litter deep in the forest, though it pops upright frequently to peer about, revealing a boldly spotted white breast. You hear the Wood Thrush before you see it.  The Wood Thrush can sing “internal duets” with itself. And it’s loud, flute-clear  song rings through the forests of the eastern U.S. in summer. 

The wood thrush is the state bird of Washington DC

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

On a walk through the forest you might spot rows of shallow holes in tree bark. In the East, this is the work of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, an enterprising woodpecker that laps up the leaking sap and any trapped insects with its specialized, brush-tipped tongue. Attired sharply in barred black-and-white, with a red cap and (in males) throat, they sit still on tree trunks for long intervals while feeding. To find one, listen for their loud mewing calls or stuttered drumming.

Look for Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in young deciduous forests. To find a sapsucker’s territory, keep an eye out for their distinctive, neatly organized rows of sapwells. You’ll mostly likely find them tending to their sapwells, but you might also see them perched at the tips of tree branches when hunting for insects. In spring, listen for their mewing calls and their distinctive irregular drumming. They cling motionless to trees while calling, so if you hear a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, look closely at the trees around you for their sharply contrasting black-and-white face stripes and the bright-red patches on their heads.