Through the Window: February 2012 Birds and Others

American Goldfinch Male (photo by Anna Marie Gavin, Intern, 2011)
American Goldfinch Male (photo by Anna Marie Gavin, Intern, 2011). The ones seen through the winter are still a deep olive, not yet yellowgold...

The goldfinch plumage is getting crisper, but is not yet gold… here’s the February list of birds and others seen through our windows.

  • Blue Jay
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • American Goldfinch
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Dark-eyed Junco (a.k.a. Snowbird)
  • American Crow
  • Wild Turkey
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Ruffed Grouse
  • Mourning Dove
  • Purple Finch
  • American Robin
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Evening Grosbeak
  • Gray Squirrel (one was on the feeder platform! So we re-greased the pole)
  • Red Squirrel

About Project FeederWatch

The Christmas Bird Count isn’t the only citizen science activity that the Museum does. We do Project Feeder Watch, too. It makes for a very pleasant lunchtime: good food and a viewing window (today we saw our first Wild Turkey and Tufted Titmouse of the month). Many of you with feeders at home or work can participate. You can sign up at any time. Here’s an overview from a recent Cornell Lab of Ornithology‘s e-newsletter:

Project FeederWatch

The 2009-10 season of Project FeederWatch begins November 14, though you can sign up at any time. FeederWatchers keep track of their birds through the winter and report their tallies each week. This helps scientists track changes in winter bird populations from year to year.

To learn more and to sign up, visit the Project FeederWatch website. New participants receive a kit with a handbook, a bird-identification poster, calendar, and instruction booklet. There is a $15 fee ($12 for Lab members) to help cover the costs of materials and participant support. If you live in Canada, please visit our partner, Bird Studies Canada, or call (888) 448-2473.

Turkeys continue to visit

 

Wild Turkeys at Feeder
Wild Turkeys at Feeder

In the winter we put insulation on all the Museum windows (to conserve heat). Ingrid cut a small hole in the insulation so we can see what is outside the window before we go out to feed birds. Almost every day there is a flock of Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) enjoying the scattered corn. On January 3rd we counted 19!