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calimary

(85,175 posts)
20. Hey, I'm loving these extra treats on this thread!
Fri Jun 26, 2015, 10:57 AM
Jun 2015

Thank you guys for sharing YOUR birdie stories! SO neat to see and read and savor!

I'm amazed at how much we've learned about bird behavior, just hanging out here and observing. I guess that's the scientific method at work, 'eh? Oooooooooohhh, science! Can't have THAT, 'eh?

My husband and I have started "playing" with our birdies. He immediately wanted to start looking up things online, researching just what these species were - what kind of birds do we have in this little microclimate? Then he found there was a formal name for the little birdies I was calling "Tuxedo Birds" because I didn't know what they were. They're "Black Phoebes." And once you discover what the bird is, then you start discovering other stuff about that bird - where its habitat is, in the country; what it eats; its mating and nesting behavior; its migratory habits if any; AND its calls.

And these websites like the Audubon Society - https://www.audubon.org -- OR Cornell University's allaboutbirds.org -- check 'em out!

He started looking for local info, like for example, birds of Westwood and birds of L.A. and thereabouts. Google is your friend! What's really neat is, these sites have recorded bird calls on these various pages. And those are COOL! Sit outside and play with 'em! Click on the bird call and listen! If that's one of the bird species in your neighborhood - YOU CAN START TALKING TO THOSE BIRDS! AND THEY'RE LIABLE TO ANSER BACK!!!!! We found that is exactly what happened. The birds of that species will likely recognize "their" sound. And they'll acknowledge it. Sometimes they'll even look at you. You can see in their head movements that they're recognizing it. They'll think another bird like them is calling out and they'll be looking for it. And they may even recognize that it MAY be coming from YOU!

We've done it with the Black Phoebes and the House Finches and the Nuttall's Woodpeckers and the Mourning Doves and the Western Scrub Jays and it's been ASTONISHING!!! Not only have they talked back, but they've been "working out" in our back yard. We've been sitting outside on our little balcony and watching - while the Black Phoebes (and the newest ones, too, I think) are diving and swooping and flapping and making circles and loops and gliding from one tree branch across the back yard to another tree branch in a tree next-door, and more. Up to our roof and down, yapping and chirping, sailing and zooming over and around and across. My husband is convinced they're yelling for me out there, and that they recognize me. Maybe it's because I have a noticeably contrasting white head (my collar-length white hair, kinda hard to miss). Maybe it's because they recognize me because they're sitting in the trees and on the power lines on our street, overlooking our house, and waiting for birdseed every morning and they see me dumping a cup or two of seeds out there every day. Maybe it's because they recognize me for coming outside and staring up at the nest and taking photos and observing them and checking on them multiple times a day.

It's really amazing. I think they're communicating with me/us. MIND-BLOWING!!!! Always perks me up. Last week during the whole Charleston horror, I spent a fair amount of time observing the birdies. Made me feel a little better.

I try to be a good caretaker. I think the birdies know it. But who can say, really?

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Boids! Squeeeee! shenmue Jun 2015 #1
Sure seems that way! Saw Mom (I presume it's the mom), but in the past I've seen calimary Jun 2015 #2
I've been watching the birds outside my window while it sprinkles... beautiful panader0 Jun 2015 #3
Heard 'em again today. Nothing to see yet. But it rained off 'n' on all day today and it was calimary Jun 2015 #4
+100 narnian60 Jun 2015 #8
Aww! a la izquierda Jun 2015 #5
Dayum - my best friend discovered a little nest in HER mailbox, too! calimary Jun 2015 #6
Squeeeeee! shenmue Jun 2015 #7
Yeah! In that photo you can see the long adult tail feathers. calimary Jun 2015 #12
Man, there is no doubt whatsoever that we've got a full nest up there, for a second time calimary Jun 2015 #9
Cool! I loves da birdies. Enthusiast Jun 2015 #10
When The Bird Flies Down South seveneyes Jun 2015 #11
Okay! Update! Update! Today, Saturday 6/13/15 - THE FIRST SIGHTING!!! calimary Jun 2015 #13
More! I THINK I've seen four of them, but certainly three! calimary Jun 2015 #14
NEW PHOTOS just this afternoon!!! calimary Jun 2015 #15
Thank you, calimary! Enthusiast Jun 2015 #16
Squee! shenmue Jun 2015 #18
I've had birdies too, in my soffit. I thought all were gone now, less poop on my Bug, but Mnemosyne Jun 2015 #17
my neighbor's Robin is sitting on her nest for the 3rd TIME!!!! Ours has just finished her 2nd and a kennedy Jun 2015 #19
Hey, I'm loving these extra treats on this thread! calimary Jun 2015 #20
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