hazliya | bird pictures!

My mother has a one-way mirror installed around a feeder box in our window. Birds love it, especially the suet, so for a few days, I sat around it during rush hour in the mornings and turned on my camera. Here are a few of the species that come visit! When it's a sexually dimorphic species, I'll indicate which it is. =)

Male cardinal in winter plumage! I didn't get any close shots of him or his mate (who is a lovely brown with bright orange beak) since they're ground feeders, and so hang out outside and eat the seeds that get knocked to the ground by the others.

Black-capped chickadee! They're quick eaters, so it's hard to get a good shot of them.

Female house finch. Pretty in their simplicity.

Sparrows, I think. Either that or a species of finch.

Male house finch. You can't see it well here (I'll try to find a better picture), but the main difference is that they look like someone dumped a bucket of maroon paint on their heads.

A bunch of house and goldfinches on the thistle feeder. Squirrels don't give two hoots about that one, so the finches pretty much get left alone.

A male Northern Flicker. Big guy, carries some clout with the local birds. The female and male of the other flicker species are more skittish, so they show up much less often. But when he arrives, you know - the loud "thunk" of him landing and the "tock tock tock" of him smashing his head into the suet are loud and clear. He's actually got a long, thin, jet black tongue for catching bugs, and is a messy eater. =) See pictures for chunks of suet on his beak.
Beautiful, eh? We all love him.

Nuthatch! They're a lot of fun - when they land on a tree, they travel diagonally and sideways along the trunk rather than roosting on branches.

Tufted titmice. I love these guys - they peep adorably and flatten their tufts when ruffled. V. cute.

Female downy woodpecker! We have two nesting pairs of downy, one pair hairy (both are the tiny species). The pileated species likes taller trees and more foresting. She's teeny and timid - doesn't show up have as often as any of the others.

Our two nesting males! Can you tell them apart? =) It's very subtle. But you can tell that both are big (read:tiny) feisty males by the red splotches on the backs of their heads.

I might take more pictures if more show up. Other visitors we get are marsh wrens, mourning doves, juncos, and a bunch of others.

A few pictures of the kitties later. <3

-Haz