Mourning doves are among my favorite species bird. Hawks and other raptors are also some of my favorites. What is/are your favorite(s) type of bird?
I am partial to corvids first of all, because of their intelligence and problem solving abilities, and after that the raptors. There is a flock of crows I ride past almost daily. For the first few days they fled at my approach, now they just hang out and caw at me. Clearly they recognize me and understand I am no threat.
Can't really say overall except one bird.... the lowly humble Inca dove { columbina inca } from my home state.. They have the most beautiful, haunting coo pattern... I know it's illegal but have always wanted one or a pair. I can dream... I miss the sound of them so much.
In our area I do much enjoy the inordinate amount of hawks in the neighborhood. They're fantastic. Once caught a "kettle" in the fall while playing badminton in the back yard years ago. It was quite a sight, seeing 30+ birds hovering overhead in a swirl of grandeur.
Magpies, they don't come west of the Cascades so I rarely see them. Got this picture of a barred owl in the woods near where I live, hear them often but rarely see them.
I’ve never saw a Magpie.. But do know the ‘eastern’ Barred Owls are displacing the west coast’s Spotted Owls…
@Varn When my kids were little we lived in a really tiny place. The tree in front of the house had a magpie nest and a one of the huge backyard trees had orioles. The magpies never moved their nest but the orioles moved theirs a little higher up and a little farther out so the cat couldn't get it. The magpie nest was a huge ball of twigs.
I like most birds, but I am not a fan of mocking birds or cardinals. Mocking birds because I lived near one for a while. It always sang at night just as I would get comfortable with one of its melodies it would change the tune making it hard to get to sleep.
Cardinals are noisy little critters and I had one terrorize the windows on my house over a couple of weeks. It kept on crashing into the windows...I went outside with a broom and then a hose trying to scare it away, but not such luck...it finally did stop, I think it must have based its brains out against the one of the windows. Mad little fucker.
Having moved from West to East.. those are two of my favorite ‘new birds.’ Though the Mockingbirds will chase off the Cardinals, I don’t have to go far to find a family of them, vivid red & side-lit in the sun
@cava The Cardinals have been such a treat to see & hear that I’m still in love with them. And since the Mockingbirds chase them from my yard, I’ve not been ‘bothered’ by any annoying antics. A Mockingbird going off at 4AM still amazes me, and I’ve never known a more energetic bird! I think one pair raised 3 sets of young - in 3 different nests in one season! I spend a lot of time in my yard ..and they’re right there with me
I often feel the same regarding the question, "what’s your favorite apple?" ‘The last one I ate!’ Favorite bird, the last one having peacefully drank from my birdbath as I watched..
Had to get serious once, when my daughters’ asked, so I decided the (American) Robin (helped having a daughter with the same name, though she was named after Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s Granddaughter/ adpt. Daughter). Though nearly everywhere, Robin’s have something I love about every bird
I'm not a fan of keeping them in captivity, but for intelligence, plumage, and sociability; the parrot species are the coolest.