Birds

Some of My Christmas Day Yard Birds

December 29, 2016 by Larry 5 Comments
California Scrub-Jay

Christmas morning I looked out my window and saw something I had only seen once before in my backyard, a Phainopepla! I watched as he cautiously approached the water feature. Once he flew down to get a drink, I ran to fetch my camera and quietly slipped out the back door.

I never got a photo of him so I’m posting this one from Wikipedia. If you click on the photo it will take you to the larger original. Clicking on most of these photos will open a new tab taking you to my 10000 Birds posts on that respective species 😉  The post on the California Scrub-Jay above is here.

Phainopepla Male

One of the first species I noted were a pair of Anna’s Hummingbirds. They will begin mating and nesting behavior here soon…

Anna's Hummingbird Male

And there are Oak Titmouse aplenty!

Oak Titmouse

Another California endemic, the Nuttall’s Woodpecker made an appearance…

Nuttall's Woodpecker Male

As did the family oriented Acorn Woodpecker.

Acorn Woodpecker Male

There are now several Eurasian Collared-Doves using my yard…

Eurasian Collared-Dove

And Red-shafted Northern Flickers, which nested here last year!

Northern Flicker Male

A Turkey Vulture was soaring above…

Turkey Vulture In Flight

And a bit later, a Red-tailed Hawk.

Red-tailed Hawk in Flight

There were a plethora of House Finches but not a Purple Finch in sight.

House Finch Male

Of course the male above had plenty of females to impress.

House Finch Female

One of my resident cavity nesting birds, the White-breasted Nuthatch made his appearance…

White-breasted Nuthatch

And snowbirds were flitting about everywhere you looked. Click on photo for the surprise.

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) Male

I almost forgot the Ruby-crowned Kinglet!

Ruby-crowned Kinglet Male

Written by Larry
Larry Jordan was introduced to birding after moving to northern California where he was overwhelmed by the local wildlife, forcing him to buy his first field guide just to be able to identify all the species visiting his yard. Building birdhouses and putting up feeders brought the avian fauna even closer and he was hooked. Larry wanted to share his passion for birds and conservation and hatched The Birder's Report in September of 2007. His recent focus is on bringing the Western Burrowing Owl back to life in California where he also monitors several bluebird trails. He is a BirdLife Species Champion and contributes to several other conservation efforts, being the webmaster for Wintu Audubon Society and the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Urban Bird Foundation. He is now co-founder of a movement to create a new revenue stream for our National Wildlife Refuges with a Wildlife Conservation Pass.