Hello there! I hope you’re having a great day. I wanted to share something special with you—my little adventure with the birds in my backyard. I set up a camera to capture all the amazing birds that visit my bird feeders. Let’s explore some of these fascinating feathered friends together!
First up, we have the Blue Jay! These birds are here all year round in Chicago. Some people think they’re noisy and bossy, but I believe they have great leadership skills. Maybe one day, they’ll be the bosses of the bird world!
Next, we have the European Starling. You can spot them by their bright yellow beaks and cute pink legs. Did you know they were brought to the United States by a group that wanted to introduce European animals here for fun? It’s true!
Oh, look, it’s an American Robin! These birds are adorable and stay around all year, but they like to hang out high in the trees during winter. In spring, they come down to visit us more often. I even made up a little song about them!
American Robin, it’s time to feed,
American Robin, here to eat my seed.
Comes hanging around my yard,
Looking for peanuts and blocks of lard.
I got nothing better to do
Than spend my time getting footage of you now, Robin.
Come back to me,
American Robin, tweet tweet tweet.
Here’s a female Brown-headed Cowbird. She’s getting ready to lay her eggs, but she won’t build her own nest. Instead, she’ll leave her eggs in another bird’s nest and let them raise her chicks. It’s pretty clever, don’t you think?
We have some House Finches and a House Sparrow here. House Finches can be tricky to tell apart from Purple Finches, which look like they’ve been dipped in raspberry juice! House Sparrows might not be flashy, but they’re smart and can even open automatic doors to get food!
Check out the female Downy Woodpecker, the smallest woodpecker in North America. She’s tiny but full of energy. Watching her is so much fun!
Red-winged Blackbirds are cool and very protective of their space. If you visit certain areas in early spring, they might swoop down to say hello, so watch out!
Here’s a male House Sparrow. They might not be the most colorful birds, but they’re tough and smart. During long winters, their songs are often the only ones I hear, and I’m grateful for their company.
Finally, we have the Cardinal. I’ll never forget the first time I saw one. It was a special moment, even though the bird left a little surprise on me before an important interview. It all worked out in the end!
I hope you enjoyed this little bird adventure with me. Birds are amazing creatures, and there’s so much to learn from them. Keep your eyes open, and you might spot some of these wonderful birds in your own backyard!
Bird Watching Journal: Start your own bird watching journal! Spend some time outside in your backyard or a nearby park and try to spot different birds. Draw pictures of the birds you see and write down their colors, sizes, and any special features. Can you find any birds mentioned in the article, like the Blue Jay or the American Robin? Share your journal with your classmates and see who can spot the most birds!
Build a Bird Feeder: Create a simple bird feeder using materials you have at home, like a pine cone, peanut butter, and birdseed. Hang it outside and observe which birds come to visit. Do different birds come at different times of the day? Keep track of the birds you see and try to identify them using a bird guide or an app. Discuss with your family why certain birds might prefer your feeder over others.
Bird Behavior Observation: Choose one type of bird from the article, like the Brown-headed Cowbird or the Red-winged Blackbird, and learn more about its behavior. Why do Brown-headed Cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds’ nests? How do Red-winged Blackbirds protect their territory? Share what you learn with your class and think about how these behaviors help the birds survive in their environment.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hi, I hope you’re doing okay! I’m hanging in there. I know it can be really challenging for people to access nature these days, depending on where you are in the world. So, I wanted to share a little bit of my nature with you. I’m out here with my GoPro on my bird feeders to get some footage of the visitors to my yard. This is a Chicagoland bird appreciation video, and I hope it brings a smile to your face.
Oh, hey, look, it’s a Blue Jay! I really like Blue Jays; we have them year-round here in Chicago. Oh, here comes a black red-winged blackbird! Blue Jays have a reputation for being boisterous and aggressive birds, but I think they just display a lot of leadership potential. I think they could really rise up the corporate ladder someday.
Oh, here’s a European Starling! You can recognize them by their bright yellow bills and their cute little pink legs. They were thought to have been largely introduced to the United States by the American Acclimatization Society, which was a group founded in 1871 with the goal of bringing European species to the United States for fun.
Who’s this? Oh, it’s an American Robin! They are pretty cute birds. We have them year-round here, but you don’t see them as often in the winter. They stay higher up in the trees, but in the springtime, they start coming back down. Actually, I was inspired to sing a little song about the American Robin. This is to the tune of “American Woman” by The Guess Who, otherwise covered by Lenny Kravitz. Here’s my version, called “American Robin”:
American Robin, it’s time to feed,
American Robin, here to eat my seed.
Comes hanging around my yard,
Looking for peanuts and blocks of lard.
I got nothing better to do
Than spend my time getting footage of you now, Robin.
Come back to me,
American Robin, tweet tweet tweet.
I kind of ran out of lyric ideas there.
Oh, this is a fun one! This is a female Brown-headed Cowbird. She’s got to get her energy because she’s about to lay her eggs. Brown-headed Cowbirds are known as brood parasites. After they mate, when she’s ready to lay an egg, she won’t make her own nest. Instead, she’ll find someone else’s nest and leave her baby there, letting another species of bird raise her young. When her young hatches, it actually kicks out the other birds’ eggs, and these other birds will be raising a baby that doesn’t even look like them. But I think she’s pretty clever!
We have a couple of House Finches here. The one in the front and the one on the left appear to be House Finches, while the one on the right is a House Sparrow. I have a hard time discerning House Finches from Purple Finches, which are other finches that are red. My field guide says a Purple Finch looks like a sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.
And look, it’s a female Downy Woodpecker, the smallest of North America’s woodpeckers! She’s only about 14 to 18 centimeters (5.5 to 7 inches). She’s just a little bird, but she’s got a big attitude. I think I could watch these all day long.
Red-winged Blackbirds are super cool birds and also pretty territorial. We have Red-winged Blackbirds on Museum Campus, and for those who aren’t paying attention in early spring, you might get dive-bombed by them if you come to visit. They have a tendency to swoop down at your head, so you have to be careful.
We have a male House Sparrow over here. House Sparrows don’t get a lot of positive attention; they’re kind of scrappy little brown and gray birds, not terribly flashy. They like to spend a lot of time in dirty puddles and eating scraps. But they’re really well adapted and actually pretty clever birds. I read that they can perform complex tasks to obtain food, such as opening automatic doors to enter supermarkets.
I like House Sparrows; sometimes during long winters, they’re the only bird songs I hear for a while, so I’m pretty grateful to have these little neighbors.
Oh, it’s a Cardinal! I’ll never forget the first time I saw a Cardinal. We don’t have them out west where I grew up. The first one I saw was when I was about 22, visiting my sister in Washington, D.C. I looked up in a tree and saw this beautiful male Cardinal. I didn’t know it at the time, but he had left a little surprise on me, and I went to an interview to get into grad school with that on me. Anyway, they let me into grad school, so I guess it all worked out!
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