In order of appearance so far this season, with snow still clinging to the ground and with our yard denuded of vegetation:
- Rock pigeon
- House sparrow a.k.a. English sparrow (male and female)
- Black-capped chickadee
- Common grackle
- European starling
- House finch
- Downy woodpecker (mate-pair)
- Northern cardinal (male)
- Dark-eyed junco
We saw the last four all for the first time within twenty-four hours, which made for a very exciting day. Let. Me. Tell. You.
I'm aware that many feeder fans classify pigeons, grackles, and starlings as pests, a sort of avian squirrel, better shooed away so as not to waste the finch-food on it. At our house, for the time being, every bird is equally exciting.
The pigeons in particular have been fun to watch, because their color variations make it possible to recognize individual birds on return visits. My kids have christened one of them, a mottled gray-white bird, "Snowy Pigeon."
And I had no idea that grackles, up close, were so severely beautiful. I had thought they were all black. But in fact, they are tricolored: the body is black, but the rear end is a deep violet and the head is an iridescent, very dark green-blue.
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