For the Birds
Author's posts
May 30 2023
How to Attract Robins to Your Garden
Few backyard birds feel quite as familiar as the American Robin (Turdus migratorius). With its warm orange breast, cheerful spring song, and unmistakable habit of running across lawns in search of food, the robin is often one of the first birds people learn to recognize. The good news is that robins are relatively easy to …
May 28 2023
Creating Your Own Oasis: The Benefits of Having a Bird Bath in Your Garden
A garden can provide birds with far more than flowers and greenery. With the addition of one simple feature—a dependable source of fresh water—it can become a genuine gathering place for wildlife. Bird baths are among the easiest ways to make a yard more welcoming to birds. While feeders tend to attract species interested in …
May 27 2023
How to Choose the Best Birdhouse for Your Backyard
A birdhouse can be much more than a charming garden decoration. Choose the right design, place it in suitable habitat, and you may give a cavity-nesting bird a safe place to raise its young. The key is choosing a birdhouse for the birds rather than simply for its appearance. Different birds need different entrance-hole sizes, …
May 20 2023
Mexican Jay: Identification, Habitat, Diet & Behavior
A flash of soft blue moves through an oak tree, followed by a nasal call from somewhere deeper in the woodland. A moment later, another blue bird appears—and then another. If you are birdwatching in the mountains of southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, western Texas, or Mexico, you may have encountered a flock of Mexican …
May 18 2023
9 Birds With Orange Beaks: Identification, Habitats & Species Guide
A bright orange beak can be one of the easiest field marks to notice when you are trying to identify an unfamiliar bird. Against black, white, gray, or brightly colored plumage, an orange bill can stand out from surprisingly far away. But an orange beak alone usually is not enough to identify a bird. Bill …
May 17 2023
Are Birds Dinosaurs? How Birds Evolved From Dinosaurs
Look closely at a robin hopping across the lawn, a hawk circling overhead, or a chicken scratching through the dirt, and you are looking at the surviving members of one of the most extraordinary groups of animals ever to walk the Earth. Birds are dinosaurs. More precisely, modern birds are avian dinosaurs—the only dinosaur lineage …
May 14 2023
Mexican Spotted Owl: Habitat, Diet, Behavior & Conservation
Quiet, elusive, and beautifully patterned, the Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) is one of the most distinctive birds of prey in the American Southwest. It spends much of the daylight hidden within shaded forests or steep canyon country, emerging after sunset to hunt rodents and other small animals. The Mexican spotted owl is not …
May 14 2023
Elegant Trogon: Identification, Habitat, Diet & Behavior
Brilliant green feathers, a fiery red belly, a long patterned tail, and a habit of sitting almost perfectly still among the branches make the Elegant Trogon (Trogon elegans) one of Central America’s most memorable forest birds. Despite its spectacular coloring, the Elegant Trogon can be surprisingly difficult to spot. It often spends long stretches quietly …
May 14 2023
Arizona Woodpecker: Identification, Habitat, Diet & Behavior
The Arizona Woodpecker is one of the most distinctive woodpeckers in the United States. Instead of the bold black-and-white back seen on many familiar North American woodpeckers, this southwestern species wears warm brown upperparts, a large white cheek patch, and heavily spotted underparts. Its limited U.S. range makes an Arizona Woodpecker sighting especially memorable. In …
May 14 2023
Ptarmigan: Identification, Habitat, Diet & Adaptations
Ptarmigan are among the most remarkable birds of the far north and high mountains. These compact members of the grouse family survive in environments where winter can bring deep snow, bitter winds, scarce food, and months of freezing temperatures. Their most famous adaptation is their seasonally changing plumage. Many ptarmigan are mottled brown, gray, and …
