All Around Town

Backyard Bird Sightings from Our Members and Friends

Spring has sprung and birds are nesting now!

In the last month, many of you reported breeding behavior among your neighborhood birds.  You’ve seen American Crows and California Towhees gathering nest material in your yards, and Red-tailed Hawks in pairs.

A number of you have active nests in your yards.  We’ve received reports of nesting Oak Titmice, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and Mourning Doves, and the successful nesting and fledging of Anna’s Hummingbirds.  Don’t miss the video of two young hummingbirds’ first flights below! 

And Hooded Orioles, a perennial backyard favorite, are back!  In March, a contributor reported a male bird visiting a hummingbird feeder in San Jose, and in early April, a female bird showed up there too.  Hooded Orioles winter in Mexico but spend the breeding season further north.  In Santa Clara Valley, they often nest in neighborhood palm trees, so look and listen for them near your home.

This month, we added the Northern Rough-winged Swallow to our All Around Town species list.  These tiny harbingers of spring were spotted flying over a San Jose neighborhood near the end of March.  With the debut of this swallow, our backyard bird list is now at 96 species.

A note on nesting birds

If you are lucky enough to have a bird nest near your home, enjoy the experience!  Bear in mind that the breeding season is a vulnerable time for birds, however, and human disturbance can cause a nest to fail.  Be sure to follow NestWatch’s code of conduct when observing nests.  

If you are observing eggs, wait until the incubating parent is gone before approaching the nest, and don’t touch the eggs.  Avoid approaching the nest altogether during the first few days of incubation.  Similarly, keep your distance when observing young birds that are about to fledge (fly from the nest for the first time).  If disturbed, they may fledge prematurely.  The survival rate of premature fledglings is low.

Here are your stories, lists, and photos of backyard birds from the past month.

In early March, Steven Rice (Palo Alto) sent us a message entitled “Berry Bacchanalia!”  

An American Robin enjoys berries in front of Steven’s home.

He wrote:  “This morning the ivy in front of my apartment held a mob of American Robins with a few temperate Cedar Waxwings and a couple of finch party crashers for variety.” 

Robins have a flat, pointed tongue on a thick muscular stalk.  The back of the tongue, its stalk, and spines on the roof of the bird’s mouth push fruit down the esophagus.  Robins have a stretchy esophagus, allowing the birds to pack fruit into their bodies and digest it later.

Steven sent us pictures of “rowdy robins” and “wary waxwings,” as well as a close-up of “a robin’s tongue dragging a bulging berry into its expandable esophagus” (photo above).

A Chestnut-backed Chickadee at Steven’s feeder

At the end of the month, Steven reported:  “Since the Remarkable Robin Riot early in the month, not much change here except the Lesser Goldfinches have become the Completely Gone Goldfinches.”

A leucistic White-crowned Sparrow forages in Mary Ann’s yard.  Leucism is a condition in which some or all of a bird’s feathers have reduced coloration.  Often the feathers look white.

Mary Ann Robertson (Los Altos) shares:  “On March 10 and 13, I saw a light-colored White-crowned Sparrow in my yard.  That was new to me!  The White-crowneds usually hang out on my rhaphiolepis bushes in the front but are occasionally in the backyard.”

The leucistic White-crowned Sparrow, foraging with other White-crowneds

Mary Ann wondered if the bird she observed was leucistic.  Yes, we believe it is!

Deanne calls this picture “ A Hummingbird Family Portrait” - a mother with her babies from the first hummingbird brood Deanne observed in her yard this spring.

Deanne Tucker (Los Altos) says:  “In March I've just been photographing our resident Anna’s Hummingbird babies in the nest. They fledged around the middle of the month and the mom has built a new nest nearby (at least we think it's the same individual) and she is currently sitting on it.”

Deanne took this video of the young hummingbirds taking their first flights!  She tells us that they left the nest the same or the next day.

Emma Shelton (Menlo Park) writes:

“Not much change in the bird population that’s been around here for at least a couple months.  At certain times of day - early morning, late morning, and around dusk - it gets REALLY noisy.  Everyone is out there making a racket.”

“We still are really enjoying watching the Downy Woodpeckers and Nuttall’s Woodpeckers in our front and back yards.  My husband calls them the “Executive Birds,” since they look so sharp and trim.  Ha ha!

Here is Emma’s neighborhood bird list for March:

  • Rock Pigeon

  • Mourning Dove

  • Anna’s Hummingbird

  • Gull species

  • Cooper’s Hawk - It’s back!  Hangs out sometimes in a redwood tree and makes a fair amount of kik-kik noise.

  • Red-tailed Hawk

  • Downy Woodpecker

  • Nuttall’s Woodpecker

  • California Scrub-Jay

  • American Crow - They’ve been in the front “so-called lawn” digging up all sorts of thatch and dead grass and hauling it away.  Figure must be for nests.

  • Common Raven

  • Chestnut-backed Chickadee

  • Oak Titmouse

  • White-breasted Nuthatch

  • Pygmy Nuthatch

  • Bewick’s Wren - Every day we see them, usually one at a time but lately a couple.  Very energetic little guys, jumping among the shrubs and zipping into the feeders.

  • House Finch

  • Lesser Goldfinch

  • Dark-eyed Junco

  • White-crowned Sparrow -  We have a lot here still, but not quite as many as in winter.  

  • Golden-crowned Sparrow - I thought they had moved on at the end of January, but no.  We still have plenty.  In fact, we have a lot, and they look really big and healthy.  

  • California Towhee - Caught one trimming a patch of dead grasses and hauling it away to make nests.  

  • Spotted Towhee

  • Yellow-rumped Warbler -  Saw a couple in the first half of March, but not recently.

Jennifer Oliver (San Jose) reports Northern Rough-winged Swallows flying over her backyard towards the end of March.

Oak Titmouse eggs in Jennifer’s nest box. 

She adds:  “I also wanted to share the joys of (again!) being a host to an Oak Titmouse nest.  As of the beginning of April, we have five eggs and they should hatch sometime next week.”

Becky Ewens (San Jose) told us about March in her backyard:

A Dark-eyed Junco on Becky’s seed feeder.  Juncos and other members of the sparrow family typically forage on the ground but will sometimes fly up to feeders to sample the wares.

“I've finally seen some birds other than the mobs of House Finches that empty my feeder in a short time.  The Lesser Goldfinches showed up this month and are always fun to see.  Lately I've seen Dark-eyed Juncos and White-crowned Sparrows at the feeder, which is unusual.  They've been more common to see ground feeding.  There are always adorable Oak Titmice and Chestnut-backed Chickadees trying to eat and dash before the House Finches chase them off.”

A male Hooded Oriole visits Becky’s hummingbird feeder. 

“The most exciting thing was to see the return of the Hooded Orioles. This one (above and below) showed up within a day of my putting up the hummingbird feeder but he is really skittish.  He has been spending time in a tree in the backyard.  I'm hoping that he's one of the juveniles from last year or maybe one of the breeding pairs that frequented the feeders.” 

The skittish male Hooded Oriole in Becky’s tree.  Male Hooded Orioles arrive on their breeding grounds a few days or a week before the females arrive.

A few days into April, Becky updated us:  “A new male and a female Hooded Oriole showed up at my feeders yesterday!  They are both ravenous and not as skittish as the first male that showed up. They seem to be sticking together too.”

Unice Chang (San Jose) tells us:  “In the middle of February my husband helped me install a bird house in our backyard.  Luckily, it was only a little while before a Chestnut-backed Chickadee couple decided to make it their home.  At the beginning, I noticed the couple were very busy getting materials to build the nest. In one or two hours, I was able to get many pictures of the hard-working couple.  We later found they were able to make quite an impressive nest.”

Unice made a collage out of the photos she took of a Chestnut-backed Chickadee pair using her nest box.

She continues:  “These last few days (near the end of March), I noticed they were in and out much less frequently. Sometimes, one bird would bring food home to feed the other one; it would stand by the door to deliver the food. I am wondering whether they’ve started incubating or not.”

A male Nuttall’s Woodpecker explores Unice’s yard.  Note the raised crest in one of the photos, which is believed to be a response to tense situations with or between other members of its species.

“Woodpeckers also come to my yard from time to time, mostly Nuttall’s Woodpeckers. I watched one play around and eat from a suet feeder.”

A colorful Spotted Towhee observed by Michelle

Michelle Viegas (Cupertino) observed a Spotted Towhee on a walk at McClellan Ranch Preserve.  She says:  “The most striking features were its red eyes and the back and wings which had white spots. It rummaged in leaves for food before disappearing under a thick bush.”

Two Mourning Doves have been visiting Michelle’s home recently.  Could they be a pair?  Male Mourning Doves are slightly larger than the females.  Their heads tend to be blue-gray, whereas females’ heads are more brown. 

In March, Michelle was also on a quest to find Mourning Doves:  “My daughter and I went in search of them at McClellan.  With no luck and disappointment we returned home.  That evening was exciting for both of us as we had two within arm’s reach on our patio.  We have been seeing them since then every evening.”

In late March, Linden Skjeie (San Jose) sent us a photo of a Mourning Dove nesting on her porch.  

A Mourning Dove nesting on Linden’s porch.  Male and female Mourning Doves share all parenting duties.  Both members of the pair incubate the eggs and brood and feed the young.  Both males and females produce crop milk, a highly nutritious substance that they feed their nestlings.

She says: “They've been nesting up in the eaves there on and off for almost twenty years.”

Linden says there are many Acorn Woodpeckers around her house.  She often finds them in the palm and pistachio trees.

A pair of Red-tailed Hawks in Linden’s neighborhood

She adds:  “There's been a nesting pair of Red-tailed Hawks in our neighborhood longer than we've lived here.  We watch the babies learn to fly on the thermals.” 

Happy backyard birding in April, everyone!

What birds are you seeing and hearing in your yard and neighborhood?

Send your notes, photos, and sound clips to backyardbirds@scvas.org.  We’ll feature them in our next edition of All Around Town.

Bird species reported to All Around Town
from October 2020 onwards
(species in bold are new this month)

  1. Greater White-fronted Goose

  2. Canada Goose

  3. Mallard

  4. Bufflehead

  5. California Quail

  6. Wild Turkey

  7. Rock Pigeon

  8. Band-tailed Pigeon

  9. Mourning Dove

  10. Anna’s Hummingbird

  11. Allen’s/Rufous Hummingbird

  12. Killdeer

  13. California Gull

  14. Great Blue Heron

  15. Great Egret

  16. Turkey Vulture

  17. White-tailed Kite

  18. Golden Eagle

  19. Northern Harrier

  20. Sharp-shinned Hawk

  21. Cooper’s Hawk

  22. Bald Eagle

  23. Red-shouldered Hawk

  24. Red-tailed Hawk

  25. Ferruginous Hawk

  26. Barn Owl

  27. Western Screech-Owl

  28. Great Horned Owl

  29. Red-breasted Sapsucker

  30. Acorn Woodpecker

  31. Downy Woodpecker

  32. Nuttall’s Woodpecker

  33. Pileated Woodpecker

  34. Northern Flicker

  35. American Kestrel

  36. Merlin

  37. Pacific-slope Flycatcher

  38. Black Phoebe

  39. Say’s Phoebe

  40. Western Kingbird

  41. Hutton’s Vireo

  42. Cassin’s Vireo

  43. Steller’s Jay

  44. California Scrub-Jay

  45. Yellow-billed Magpie

  46. American Crow

  47. Common Raven

  48. Chestnut-backed Chickadee

  49. Oak Titmouse

  50. Northern Rough-winged Swallow

  51. Tree Swallow

  52. Violet-green Swallow

  53. Barn Swallow

  54. Bushtit

  55. Wrentit

  56. Ruby-crowned Kinglet

  57. Red-breasted Nuthatch

  58. White-breasted Nuthatch

  59. Pygmy Nuthatch

  60. Brown Creeper

  61. House Wren

  62. Bewick’s Wren

  63. European Starling

  64. California Thrasher

  65. Northern Mockingbird

  66. Western Bluebird

  67. Varied Thrush

  68. Hermit Thrush

  69. American Robin

  70. Cedar Waxwing

  71. Scaly-breasted Munia

  72. House Sparrow

  73. House Finch

  74. Purple Finch

  75. Pine Siskin

  76. Lesser Goldfinch

  77. Lawrence’s Goldfinch

  78. American Goldfinch

  79. Chipping Sparrow

  80. Dark-eyed Junco

  81. White-crowned Sparrow

  82. Golden-crowned Sparrow

  83. White-throated Sparrow

  84. Savannah Sparrow

  85. Lincoln’s Sparrow

  86. California Towhee

  87. Spotted Towhee

  88. Western Meadowlark

  89. Hooded Oriole

  90. Bullock’s Oriole

  91. Brown-headed Cowbird

  92. Yellow Warbler

  93. Yellow-rumped Warbler

  94. Townsend’s Warbler

  95. Black-headed Grosbeak

  96. Lazuli Bunting

Hybrid ducks, domestic ducks, and unidentified gull species have also been reported to All Around Town.

References

All Around Town is compiled by SCVAS Member Julie Amato.

Banner Photo: American Robin by Steven Rice