Have you seen any of these birds?
Yesterday, I finished this gorgeous puzzle. Washington State woodpeckers are a visual letdown after growing up with Red-Headed Woodpeckers in Michigan. Still, woodpeckers are exciting to see. I miss red Cardinals, too.
In Washington State, we have sassy Stellar Jays instead of Blue Jays. Hiking, I've briefly seen secretive Yellow-Breasted Chats in the summer. We also have Black-Headed Grosbeaks, Bullock's Orioles and Yellow Warblers.
Last night I did an exhaustive search, identifying the birds and where they live. Mentally worn out, at midnight I jerked awake on the couch during a vivid dream. Not about birds.
Top Row from left:
- Red-Headed Woodpeckers (East Central U.S.)
- Pine Grosbeak (Alaska)
- Bullock's Oriole (Western U.S.)
- Yellow Warbler (North and South America)
Middle Row from left:
- Northern Cardinal (Most East and Midwest states)
- Scarlet Tanager (Eastern U.S.)
- Eastern Bluebird (Southeast U.S.)
- Yellow-Throat Warbler (Midwest and tropics)
Bottom row from left:
- Black-Headed Grosbeak (West and Southwest U.S.)
- Blue Grosbeak (Southern U.S.)
- Yellow-Breasted Chat (Eastern WA and East U.S.)
- Blue Jay (Midwest and Eastern U.S.)
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8 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I have 1, 3, 6, 7, 10 and 12 out here on my property... Plus a lot more! I like watching the red-headed and pileated woodpeckers. I had a pileated pecking a hole in an old tree, building his home last year. I watched him for days from my bedroom window. I have lots of cardinals and finches and was shocked to see a mass of bluebirds in my back yard over several days. Prior to that... I had only seen them singly or in pairs. Earlier this year I counted 10 of them at one time. They all flew in at one time.
RiverRick
Level 7
May 12, 2019
1
Back in Tennessee, cardinals were everywhere, the same goes for Blue Jays. In Colorado, there are no cardinals, and the Blue Jays only show up very late in the summer, and for just a short time. I have a lot of really pretty small birds, mostly finches and chickadees. I quit buying bird feed because the squirrels eventually got most of it and destroyed my feeders. My next door neighbor has several squirrel-resistant feeders, so I just let him feed them. I try to keep the bird bath full of water, but with the temps this past 6 weeks, it has been tough. Here is an American Goldfinch from my back yard.
GuyKeith
Level 8
Mar 22, 2019
1
Normally invisible high in trees, this Hairy Woodpecker was shoulder-high, busily drilling for insects in a dead tree. The bird ignored us. We were gobsmacked.
Karen crept right up to it, taking pictures. After 10 minutes, it swooped away.
Tronsen Meadows, WA, January 2019.
LiterateHiker
Level 9
Mar 22, 2019
1
I have seen red-headed woodpeckers, yellow warblers, Cardinals, eastern bluebirds and blue jays. When I was a kid in north Florida we had many red-headed woodpeckers. Now they are almost gone in Florida.
wordywalt
Level 9
Mar 22, 2019
1
Red-Headed Woodpeckers are disappearing in Florida due to habitat loss.
@LiterateHiker Also, I have not seen a flicker in Florida for almost 20 years. They used to be common.
They all look pretty exotic to my British eyes.
Marionville
Level 10
Mar 22, 2019
1
I'd be willing to share a few, IF, you take back all the starlings.
I’ve seen 1,5,6,7 and 12. The redheaded woodpecker is my favorite! They look like a child’s drawing to me. I only see them when I hike near Nichols Lake in the Manistee National Forest in Michigan. There must be quite a population because I see them every single time I visit.
Untamedshrew
Level 7
Mar 22, 2019
1
I spent a lot of time hunting in the Manistee National Forest as a youth. ...from Ludington. Now live down between Coldwater and Jackson, MI. As for your observation, they (Red Headed Woodpeckers), seem to need a fair amount of large, Mature, dead trees as around my place down here in Southern Michigan. When I lived up North and hunted the Manistee National Forest, I noticed that the forestry management seemed to center on replacing the large hardwoods (oaks and beech) with pines. They went to such an extreme in an area of the Sippy Swamp that they girded the beech trees with chain saws to kill them to let the pines grow. That outraged me inasmuch as I know that the only things that live in pine forests are Red Squirrels and Chipmunks...not deer, turkeys, fox and grey squirrels and grouse that need mast crops. Compared to the mast producing hardwoods, pine forests are barren deserts.
I have some pictures of our Red Headed Woodpecker, but do not know how to post them here.
Lots of redheaded woodpeckers around here!
davknight
Level 8
Mar 22, 2019
1
Lucky you!
For me, Washington State woodpeckers are a visual letdown, after growing up with Red-Headed Woodpeckers in Michigan. Still, I am always thrilled to see woodpeckers while hiking.
@LiterateHiker They are noisy critters! They sound like jackhammers when they're pecking on metal light-posts! And bongo-drummers when they're pecking on trees!
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