I'm a birder (birdwatcher)
I grew up in Connecticut and can remember hearing bird sounds as a young person, but not being able to identify what birds were making the sounds that I was hearing. I found out later in life that one of the bird sounds came from Blue Jays.
When I got older I moved to Indianapolis, Indiana and that is where I started seriously bird watching. I really don't remember exactly what it was that made me start watching birds, but one day I just found myself into birds. I would find spots in the city and watch the birds. I would sit in the car at places where I knew there was water and observe the birds. The first time I saw a large bird flying I did not know what the bird was, but I was curious enough to find out. The bird was a Great Blue Heron. I was blessed to have one bird store right next door to my complex and and another bird store that I found that was not too far from me. The one store that had a big impact on my bird watching was Wild Birds Unlimited. This store sold bird feeders, bird food, gifts and many other things for birders. I know I sound like a commercial, but I really appreciated that store because when I did not know what type of bird I had seen, they had a photo album in their store that I could look through and find the bird I saw. They helped me attract the right birds with the right feeder and food. They also let me rent videos from them about birds.
Birding had become my new passion. It was exciting to me. It kind of relaxed me. One day I was out driving and I saw some kind of vulture in a commercial area. Of course I called the birding hotline to report it. What else was I supposed to do? I had never seen a vulture in my life. I wasn't sure if that was a rare bird or not. To help with my birding in Indiana, I purchased a book that showed me pictures of the birds I could expect to see living there.
I lived in an apartment that had a nice size patio that overlooked many trees. I started off with one bird feeder and I ended up with about 11 bird feeders hanging from my balcony. Oh, what a sight that was every day. Hearing birds singing and watching them eat from my feeders gave me so much joy. Birding became my addiction. I would sit on the couch and just watch the birds as long as I could. I had so many birds coming to the feeders that I started attracting squirrels too. I did not want those creatures, but they came anyways. Those squirrels gave me a fit. I tried everything to get rid of them. They would be like circus squirrels and would manage to grab my feeders from the floor above and thrown them to the ground and chew parts of the feeder up and eat the seed. I tried putting pepper on the balcony and they did not like that. It was funny seeing them trying to hop over the pepper. I put oil on the part of the gutter that they would climb down to get on the balcony. I really tried to do anything I could to stop the squirrels from coming, but they always won. My only solution I found was to decrease the number of feeders I had or just go on ahead and feed them. The creatures outsmarted me every time but I would come out on top soon.
My favorite bird at my bird feeder was the Ruby Throated Hummingbird. The first time I saw a Ruby Throated Hummingbird, I was not trying to attract it or feed it. I had plants on the balcony and never even knew about this bird. I was out watering the plants and I thought a bee was trying to sting me. The poor little bird was almost killed by me because I did not know what it was. It turned out that the neighbor downstairs had a feeder and the hummingbird was in my area because of the feeders downstairs. I think it was attracted to one of the plants I had on the balcony that I only had there to make it look more attractive. It was not long after that that I want out and purchased a hummingbird feeder and learned what I could about this particular bird. I learned how to make my own nectar. It wasn't long that I begin to see this bird at my feeder and eating regularly. I think there was 2 hummingbirds, but they did a little fighting for power so I only saw one at a time at the feeder. I had a feeder positioned right at the patio window so I was able to watch the birds up close. These birds are just so fascinating to me. They eat all day long and I enjoyed them usually from the end of May until about September. They came back year after year and I was so happy to see them. You can purchase nectar for the hummingbirds or you can do as I did and make the hummingbird nectar. Here is a recipe for you to try for the birds.
Remember I told you about those crazy squirrels. Well I told you I would come out on top. Well, maybe I didn't. I think it was a tie. I decided to focus on the hummingbirds and get rid of the other bird feeders. Yes, it was sad, but I could not take those squirrels any more. They still came around looking for the bird feeder to be where they last saw them. I purchased plants for hummingbirds and just focused more on feeding those type of birds. If there is a squirrel-proof feeder that works, I have yet to see it.
The biggest bird I ever saw at my feeder
One day I was enjoying watching the birds from my living room which I did often and I saw something come flying in and it landed on the suet feeder I had out for the Downy Woodpecker. I ran to the window to see what had caught my eye. When I approached the window, I scared the bird off. I went to the bird store to talk with someone about the bird. I looked in a photo album that they had and found out it was a Pileated Woodpecker. I had never seen a bird that large come to the feeder, so I purchased a feeder that could accommodate the size of that woodpecker which I think had to be about 15 or 16 inches. Even though I purchased a special suet feeder for it, I did not see it much any more. I think I scared it away, but that was alright because the other woodpeckers came to eat from it including the Red-bellied Woodpecker. While I was out sitting by the Fall Creek area, I saw the woodpecker again crawling on a tree. It was pretty cool to see this beautiful bird again.
My little Roller Coaster Bird
That is the name I have given to the American Goldfinch. They fly in the pattern of a roller coaster to me. They come in fast, they leave fast and they are a joy to watch. This bird is amazing to watch because it can eat upside down. It is something to behold to see a bird feeder filled with all of the same birds and they are just hanging upside down eating thistle. If you want to see them eat upside down, be sure to buy a feeder that will let them do that. They also love black oil sunflower seed. The plumage of the bird is so pretty. It seems like in the summer they had a bright yellow color than later in the fall their color seemed to be a little golden. I like to hear their sound also. I knew when they were around even if I did not see them because there sound is really cute.
Advice for future birders of the World
If you would like to start feeding birds, you will want to purchase field guides and also books that deal with the birds from your state. If you are from Indiana, you will want to buy a book that deals with birds from Indiana. This is one great way to learn about all the birds in your area. Read as much as you can and go out and explore your city.
See if there is a local birding group in your area and join it or become affiliate with it. With Facebook and Twitter, it is easy to find ways to connect with people who share the same hobby as you do.
Subscribe to some birding magazine. A couple of the magazines that I subscribed to were Birds and Bloom and Bird Watcher's Digest.
Visit your local parks, bring your binoculars, a field guide and have fun birding.
Some items to get you started bird watching!
National Geographic Backyard Guide to the Birds of North America (National Geographic Backyard Guides)
Bushnell Natureview 8x40 Porro Prism Birding Binocular
Perky-Pet 312C Panorama Bird Feeder, Copper
Please be sure to visit out bird store for more bird merchandise.
amandla
pixelskylines
prguitarman