The varied thrush (Ixoreus naevius) is a member of the thrush family, Turdidae. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Ixoreus. Varied Thrushes are stocky songbirds with large, rounded heads, straight bills, and long legs. Usually seen standing horizontally on the ground or in a tree, they often look plump-bellied with a relatively short tail.

The Varied Thrush lives in dark, wet, mature forests in the Pacific Northwest. In its breeding range, which covers Alaska and tapers as it extends south to northern California, it inhabits forests dominated by coastal redwood, Sitka spruce, red alder forests, western hemlock, western red cedar, western larch, or Douglas-fir. In winter it may be found in a broader range of habitats, including parks, gardens, lakeshores, and riparian areas where fruit and berries are abundant.

Varied Thrushes forage on the ground, periodically moving to higher perches in the understory to sing or move between foraging sites. Males reach the breeding grounds before females and start singing to establish territories. They have several threat displays, beginning by cocking the tail, turning it toward an intruder, and lowering the wings. If the adversary remains, the displaying bird will face off, lowering its head, raising and fanning the tail, and spreading its wings out to its side. Occasionally, males peck at or lock bills with each other. While squabbling over territory or chasing away nest intruders, they may dive and swoop through dense vegetation, sometimes hitting branches along the way. Females probably choose where to build the nest—usually in the understory of a mature forest, often in a spot surrounded by old nests (or even directly on top of one). They are usually around 10 feet off the ground and poorly concealed, close to the trunk of a small conifer. The female gathers nest material and weaves an outer layer of fir, hemlock, spruce, or alder twigs. She adds a middle layer with rotten wood, moss, mud, or decomposing grass, which hardens into a dense cup about 4 inches across and 2 inches deep. Finally, she lines the cup with fine grasses, soft dead leaves, and fine moss, and drapes pieces of green moss over the rim and outside of the nest. Males may also defend small sites around bird feeders in the winter, though females seem to use alternative feeding sites to avoid competition. Varied Thrushes are thought to establish monogamous breeding pairs, but how long the birds stay together is not known.

During breeding season, Varied Thrushes eat insects and other arthropods from the leaf litter; in winter they eat mostly berries and nuts. They forage by seizing dead leaves in their bill and hopping backward to clear a spot of ground before examining it for prey. In fall and winter, they switch to fruits and acorns, forming loose flocks around their food. Some of their typical fruits are snowberry, apple, honeysuckle, madrone, mistletoe, manzanita, toyon, ash, salal, cascara, dogwood, blueberry, huckleberry, salmonberry, and thimbleberry. Around human habitation, Varied Thrushes have proven very vulnerable to window strikes as well as predation by domestic and feral cats and collisions with cars.

Male Varied Thrushes sing a whistled, flutelike, sometimes burry tone on a single pitch. They sing mainly in the morning and evening, usually from the top of live conifers. Each song lasts about 2 seconds and is followed by a pause of 3–20 seconds. Successive tones may be on different pitches. This cycle is repeated for 10–15 minutes, until the bird flies to a new perch and starts again. Both males and females make a variety of calls, usually in aggression or defense. Those calls include a short trill, a harsh churrr, and a series of low chect notes. Here

The ring ouzel (Turdus torquatus) is a mainly European member of the thrush family Turdidae. It is a medium-sized thrush, 23–24 centimetres (9.1–9.4 in) in length and weighing 90–138 grams (3.2–4.9 oz). The male is predominantly black with a conspicuous white crescent across its breast. Females are browner and duller than males, and young birds may lack the pale chest markings altogether.

The ring ouzel has an extensive range, estimated at 9.17 million square kilometres (3.54 million sq mi), and a large population, estimated at 600,000–2 million individuals in Europe (which comprises 95% of the breeding range). The Ring Ouzel is mostly an upland bird, where it breeds in steep sided-valleys, crags and gullies, from near sea level in the far north of Scotland up to 1,200m in the Cairngorms.

The ring ouzel is territorial and normally seen alone or in pairs, although loose flocks may form on migration. When not breeding, several birds may be loosely associated in good feeding areas, such as a fruiting tree, often with other thrushes such as song thrushes or redwings. Ring ouzels are solitary nesters with nests being around 200m apart. Breeding begins in mid-April in the UK, the nests are a bulky cup of dried grass, stems, and mosses which are held together with dried mud and built close to the ground in upland areas.

The ring ouzel is omnivorous, eating invertebrates, particularly insects and earthworms, some small vertebrates, and a wide range of fruit. Most animal prey is caught on the ground. During spring migration and the breeding season, invertebrates dominate the adult's diet and are also fed to the chicks. Predators of the ring ouzel include the tawny owl, long-eared owl, common buzzard, common kestrel and Eurasian sparrowhawk, least weasel and stoat. Most deaths are of young juveniles, and birds hatched early in the season are more likely to survive than later broods.

The most common NFC, a raucous chrrk-chik-chik-chik, is a call that Ring Ouzels also use commonly by day on migration and in flight. Every so often they combine this call with another from their repertoire, for example, the series chrrk-chik-chik-chik ends with a deep and knocking tok. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina) is a species of New World sparrow, a passerine bird in the family Passerellidae. It is widespread, fairly tame, and common across most of its North American range. Chipping sparrow adult upperparts are streaked with dark rusty brown and gray, with a gray rump and head, with bright chestnut crown, white eyebrow, narrow black eyeline, and black bill. Note that the cheeks and nape of neck are clear gray. Underparts are light gray.

You’ll find Chipping Sparrows around trees, even though these birds spend a lot of time foraging on the ground. Look for them in grassy forests, woodlands and edges, parks and shrubby or tree-lined backyards. Chipping Sparrows seem to gravitate toward evergreens in places where these trees are available. They also use aspen, birch, oak, pecan, and eucalyptus trees. In the mountains, you can find these birds all the way up to treeline.

In summer, male Chipping Sparrows defend territories against other Chipping Sparrows, but often tolerate other species as long as they don’t go too near the nest. Females typically build their nests between 3 and 10 feet off the ground, hidden in foliage at the tip of a branch. They gravitate toward evergreen trees, but also nest in crabapples, honeysuckle tangles, maples, ornamental shrubs, and other deciduous species. Females can be finicky about placement, often beginning to build a nest, then leaving to begin in another spot. Males guard females as they build nests, but they don’t help build. It takes the female 3 to 4 days to finish her nest, a loose cup of rootlets and dried grasses so flimsy you can often see through it. She lines the nest with animal hair and fine plant fibers. Finished nests measure about 4.5 inches across and 2.2 inches deep. After the breeding season, Chipping Sparrows form flocks of several dozen, foraging together among grasses and at bird feeders. Their flight pattern is energetic, straight, and only slightly undulating.

Chipping Sparrows mainly eat seeds of a great variety of grasses and herbs. During the breeding season they also hunt for protein-rich insects, and these form a large part of their summer diet. Chipping Sparrows sometimes eat small fruits such as cherries. Its small size makes these birds vulnerable to many threats. Other birds, mammals, and snakes will prey on both the sparrow and its eggs. Raptors, such as Cooper’s hawk and American kestrel will target adults in flight or while on their nest, but even American crows and blue jays are a threat. In addition to these obvious predators, the eggs of the chipping sparrow may be displaced by the brown-headed cowbird. This parasitic bird lays its eggs in other birds’ nests. The other bird tends to the egg and baby as if it were its own. The chipping sparrow is a frequent target of the cowbird.

Male Chipping Sparrows sing a long, dry trill of evenly spaced, almost mechanical-sounding chips. It’s one of the most common sounds of open woods in spring – but be careful, because Dark-eyed Juncos sound very similar (though a bit more musical) and often live in the same habitats. Songs are about 3.6 seconds long on average, consisting of around 55 nearly identical chip notes in a row. Year round, both sexes use a single chip note to stay in contact with others. Upon sighting a hawk, Chipping Sparrows give a long zeeeee call as an alarm. During courtship, females make a soft, rapid see-see-see-see to attract the attention of her mate. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The gray kingbird or grey kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis), also known as pitirre, petchary or white-breasted kingbird, is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatchers family Tyrannidae. The species was first described on the island of Hispaniola, then called Santo Domingo, thus the dominicensis name. Large headed and heavy billed like other kingbirds, the Gray Kingbird has ashy gray upperparts that grade into dark gray-brown wings and tail, with the hint of a dark mask through the eyes.

Gray Kingbirds inhabit open and semiopen habitats, often in coastal areas. In Florida, they are relatively common in towns and agricultural areas, as well as edges of mangrove forest. They occasionally nest as far as 15 miles away from the coast. They frequent trees on the edges of native forest, which in southern Florida might include sea grape, gumbo limbo, Jamaican dogwood, West Indian mahogany, green buttonwood, pigeon plum, silver buttonwood, casuarina, and pitch apple. Breeding habitats as far west as Mississippi and occasionally as far north as North Carolina are likewise coastal, with a mixture of pine and oak in residential and resort settings. On Caribbean islands, Gray Kingbirds also frequent savanna and mountain forests with pine and oak, especially where there is partial deforestation. Although they normally occur in habitats below 1,600 feet, there are reports from sites as high as 9,842 feet in the Andes. Wintering birds from Florida use a wide variety of habitats in the Caribbean and northern South America, including not just coastal lowlands but also the llanos (grasslands) of Venezuela, deforested openings in tropical forest, and even large cities in the northern Andes such as Bogotá. At night, Gray Kingbirds sometimes roost with other Tyrannus flycatchers; their roosts in red mangrove forests may include 150 or more birds.

Soon after returning to Florida in spring, male Gray Kingbirds claim territories of about 2–4 acres by calling and flying around the area. Pairs soon form, their bonds obvious in a flight display in which they fly straight up or in a spiral, crossing each other's paths, calling loudly and snapping their bills as they rise. Paired Gray Kingbirds call and flutter their wings when they meet back at the nest site, a greeting that probably also helps maintain their pair bond. Their generally brash behavior notwithstanding, Gray Kingbirds are surprisingly tolerant of others in their species, though males sometimes give chase early in the breeding season or raise their crest in aggressive display, revealing their scarlet central crown feathers. They frequently chase cowbirds away from the nesting area. Nests are set in a tree fork or on a horizontal limb, often over water, typically about 10 feet up in the tree. One nest measured 9.5 inches across and 2.8 inches tall, with an interior cup 3.4 inches across and 1.4 inches deep. The female constructs a rough cup nest of twigs, stems, and grasses, sometimes lining it with moss, hair, and rootlets. Both members of the pair gather nesting material, but the female selects the nest site, builds the bulky twig nest (as the male observes and guards her), and incubates the eggs, though males may help incubate on occasion. Both adults share chick-rearing duties. After the young have fledged, Gray Kingbirds eventually gather in small flocks prior to migration. During winter, they gather into large roosts in the evening, usually in mangroves if they are in a coastal part of the Caribbean or northern South America. Here they often chase each other and call vigorously before settling in for the night.

Gray Kingbirds prey largely on flying insects which they take in swift, direct flights, sometimes of 100 yards or more. Often the pursuit of prey involves steep dives and deft, zigzagging maneuvers that have given them the nickname “spitfire” in some places (after the British fighter plane of World War II). They usually return to their perch to strip prey of wings or stinger, then consume it. Gray Kingbirds also fly out to glean insects from vegetation, the ground, the surface of a pond, vehicles, or buildings. They even eat small lizards, usually striking them against a branch before consuming them, and there are reports of them eating hummingbirds, and minnows. When eating small fruits, they may hover or perch to pluck them. Other prey include beetles, weevils, bees, hornets, wasps, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, flies, and fly larvae taken from beach wrack. They also eat fruits of royal palm, espino, lantana, moral, coco plum, and West Indian birch.

Males sing a “dawn song;” a somewhat harsh, rolling, rhythmic chatter resembling a longer version of the typical call. Both sexes make a loud, rolling pitirre! throughout the year. Here

The bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) is a small New World blackbird and the only member of the genus Dolichonyx. An old name for this species is the "rice bird", from its tendency to feed on cultivated grains during winter and migration. The bobolink breeds in the summer in the United States and Canada, with most of the summer range in the northern U.S. Bobolinks winter in southern South America, primarily Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia. Breeding male Bobolinks are mostly black with a white back and rump, and a rich buffy nape. Females and nonbreeding males are warm buffy brown, streaked with dark brown on the back and flanks. They have bold brown stripes on the crown but are unstreaked on the nape of the neck. The bill is pinkish.

Bobolinks breed in open areas across the northern United States and southern Canada, preferring large fields with a mixture of grasses and broad-leaved plants like legumes and dandelions. They formerly nested mainly in tallgrass and mixed prairie of the midwestern United States and south-central Canada. They now also nest in eastern hayfields and meadows, which became available as eastern forests were cleared, and west of the Great Plains in recently irrigated habitats. After breeding, Bobolinks move to freshwater marshes and coastal areas to molt before migrating. Their main wintering area is in the southern interior of South America, where they spend their time in grasslands, marshes, rice fields, and sorghum fields.

Bobolinks are polygynous, meaning each male mates with several females per breeding season. But they are also polyandrous, with each clutch of eggs laid by a single female often representing multiple fathers. Outside of the nesting season Bobolinks live socially in flocks. After arriving on the breeding grounds males compete vigorously for territories by singing, displaying, fighting, and chasing each other. Within the male’s territory, the female chooses a nest site on the ground, usually on wet soil at the base of large nonwoody plants like meadow rue, golden alexander, or clover. The female gathers materials from within about 100 yards of the nest and builds the nest by herself in 1–2 days. She starts the nest by plucking bare a patch of soil and making a depression. She weaves a floorless outer wall of coarse dead grasses and weed stems, then lines the inside by placing fine grasses and sedges directly on the soil. She may continue adding lining material after laying the first egg. The inside of the nest measures 2.4-4.3 inches across and up to 2 inches deep. In the male’s primary nest, both parents feed the young, and in his secondary nests he may help with feeding to varying degrees. In some nests, the nestlings are fed by more than two attending adults, which possibly include multiple fathers or offspring from the previous year. The young leave the nest unable to fly, and hide in thick vegetation for a few more days until their flight feathers have fully emerged. Families from several nests join together and form foraging flocks. Within about a month the immature birds learn to feed themselves, and the flock departs the breeding grounds soon afterward.

During the breeding season, Bobolinks eat weed seeds, insect larvae, adult insects, spiders, and other arachnids. They feed their protein-dependent nestlings with invertebrates exclusively. They forage for seeds at the tops of nonwoody plants, often perching on the plant itself while extracting the seeds slowly and carefully. They glean insects and spiders closer to the base of the vegetation. During migration and winter, Bobolinks eat wild and domesticated rice, oats, other small grains, corn, tassels, weed seeds, and occasional insects. Normally daytime foragers, they may feed after dark on bright nights during migration, to build fat reserves for their long flight over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Adult bobolinks are preyed on by cooper's hawks, northern harriers, and merlins. Bobolink eggs and nestlings are eaten by garter snakes, sandhill cranes, crows, skunks, thirteen-lined ground squirrels, cats, and dogs.

The male sings a metallic, bubbly, rambling song with a mixture of sharp high notes and buzzy low pitches. He sings from perches and in flight throughout the breeding season, but mostly while establishing a territory and courting females. Each male has 2 song types, each composed of 25–50 notes in a fixed sequence, lasting about 3.5 seconds. Bobolinks use a pink sound all year round to communicate within flocks, and they have several additional calls during the breeding season. Males give chunk, chenk, and see-yew calls when disturbed by intruders, buzzes during courtship display, and staccato check notes while pursuing other males. Females respond to intruders with chunk and quipt notes, and use quiet zeep notes when conflicting with other individuals. Here is a link so that you can listen to this bird too.

The phainopepla or northern phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens) is the most northerly representative of the mainly tropical Central American family Ptiliogonatidae, the silky flycatchers. Its name is from the Greek phain pepla meaning "shining robe" in reference to the male's plumage. Adult males are glossy black with red eyes and large white patches in the wings (visible in flight). Adult females are mousy grayish brown with red eyes; immatures are similar but with brownish eyes.

Phainopeplas are found mostly in desert washes that have mesquite, acacia, palo verde, smoke tree, and ironwood. In the United States, they are widespread in parts of the Sonoran Desert and Mojave Desert, as well as the Colorado Desert in California, usually below 6,000 feet elevation. They nest in these same desert trees and feed heavily on berries of the desert mistletoe, a parasitic plant of these trees. In California, where they are less common, they also occur in open oak-sycamore woodlands, chaparral, boxthorn scrub, and Joshua tree desert, especially where fruit is available. Generally, the species uses washes, foothills, and canyons more than open desert and grassland.

Phainopeplas are thought to be monogamous. They commence courtship in winter. Single males initiate a courtship flight, a circling flight often quite high in the air, where they may be joined by up to 8 more birds in a loose, circling flock. Often this display begins near dusk. As the nesting season approaches, males perform stunning displays over the nest site they choose, flying above it, then spiraling suddenly down with depressed tail and flaring wingbeats that display the striking white wing patches. Males select the nest site, usually in the fork of a tree or inside a mistletoe plant, about 6–16 feet above the ground. Most nests are in natural habitat, but nests in fruit orchards have been reported. Males construct a small, tidy, cup-shaped nest of twigs, stems, and plant fibers, held together with spider silk and lined with hair or down. Females sometimes add part of the lining. Nests measure about 4 inches across and 1.9 inches high, with the interior cup 2.5 inches across and 1.2 inches deep. Females visit several nest sites, where males entice them with courtship feeding (a few berries or insects). Males and females in Arizona defend nest sites and adjacent fruiting mistletoe with chases, threat postures (raised wings and hunched back), and harsh calls. In California, where fruit is more dispersed, males defend only the nest area itself during the nesting season. Where food is plentiful, Phainopeplas sometimes nest in loose colonies, with multiple nests in the same tree. After the nesting season, small flocks often gather where food is plentiful. Loose flocks form during migration into and out of the deserts in fall and spring, but most Phainopeplas are solitary in winter. Phainopeplas spend much of their day on a high perch, watching for intruders.

Phainopeplas eat mainly fruit, particularly desert mistletoe berries in fall through spring, as well as boxthorn, elderberry, redberry, juniper, and sumac fruits. They also eat flying insects captured in short, sallying flights or longer, sustained flights. Males and females defend separate winter feeding territories (about an acre in extent). Phainopeplas also glean bugs, beetles, and caterpillars from vegetation. Nesting birds feed young mainly insect prey, which is richer in protein than fruits. Phainopeplas rarely go to the ground to feed but do venture to the ground to gather nesting material. On the topic of preditors, Local snakes, larger birds of prey and carnivorous mammals are the primary enemies to these passerines.

Males sing a many-syllabled rambling song that includes a distinctive whistled wheedle-ah, given throughout the day from regular song perches. The most commonly heard call is a quiet wurp that is given in many contexts. A hard trilling churrrr is used mostly against other Phainopeplas intruding on territory; females give a softer version when soliciting courtship feeding. During nest building, both sexes click the bill rapidly when sitting on the nest, very similar to behavior in waxwings. Here is a link so that you can listen to this bird too.

The eastern screech owl (Megascops asio) or eastern screech-owl, is a small owl that is relatively common in Eastern North America, from Mexico to Canada. Eastern screech-owls are mostly gray, reddish-brown or brown with yellow eyes. They are short, stocky and have large heads with almost no neck. Their wings are rounded with a short, square tail.

Almost any habitat with sufficient tree cover will do for this cosmopolitan owl. Tree cavities or nest boxes are essential, and fairly open understories are preferred, but Eastern Screech-Owls live and breed successfully in farmland, suburban landscapes, and city parks. On the Great Plains, at the westernmost edge of its range, Eastern Screech-Owls occur in the uneven traces of wooded land along streams and rivers. Screech-owls cannot survive if all trees are removed, but the species readily recolonizes once trees are replanted, especially if nest boxes are also provided.

Eastern Screech-Owls are chiefly active at night, though they often hunt at dawn or dusk, and occasionally in daylight. These versatile hunters sit and wait in the trees for prey to pass below. They tend to pounce from perches six to ten feet off the ground, occasionally snatching an insect or bat on the wing or hitting shallow water talons-first to snag fish or tadpoles. Most flights are short (less than 75 feet or so). When traveling between perches, these owls often drop, fly straight, then rise again, in a characteristic U-shaped pattern. Eastern Screech-Owls form stable matches, usually one male with one female but occasionally one male with two females. Males defend small territories containing several cavity roost spots. When nesting, the female stays in the nest hole except for brief dawn and dusk excursions. She and the nestlings are fed by her mate, though it is the female who tears the prey into small bits for the babies. At fledging, the young first hop to the ground or nearby branches, using feet and fluttering wings to climb laboriously back to safety. Young gain flight and hunting skills slowly; they depend on their parents for food for 8–10 weeks after fledging. Both parents feed the youngsters at this stage, and adults, especially the females, shelter together with the young in communal tree roosts. Gradually, as the young gain skill, they begin to roost and hunt apart from their parents and siblings.

Eastern Screech-Owls nest in holes and cavities, but never dig a cavity themselves. Thus, they depend on tree holes opened or enlarged by woodpeckers, fungus, rot, or squirrels. They often occupy abandoned woodpecker nest holes. Eastern Screech-Owls readily accept nest boxes, including those built for Wood Ducks or Purple Martins, and sometimes nest in wood piles, mailboxes, or crates left on the ground. The female lays her eggs on whatever debris is at the bottom of her nesting cavity, be it wood-chips, twigs, or the cast-off feathers and droppings from a previous year’s nest. Settling in, she makes a body-shaped depression where her eggs lie.

Eastern Screech-Owls eat most kinds of small animals, including birds and mammals as well as surprisingly large numbers of earthworms, insects, crayfish, tadpoles, frogs, and lizards. They eat many kinds of mammals, including rats, mice, squirrels, moles, and rabbits. Small birds taken as prey include flycatchers, swallows, thrushes, waxwings, and finches, as well as larger species such as jays, grouse, doves, shorebirds, and woodpeckers. This owl is agile enough to occasionally prey on bats, and can rarely even be cannibalistic. When prey is plentiful, Eastern Screech-Owls cache extra food in tree holes for as long as four days. They also have many natural predators, including many other owl species such as Snowy Owls, Great Horned Owls, and Great Gray Owls. They may also fall prey to a number of mammalian predators such as mink, skunks, and raccoons. Even birds such as crows and jays may make a meal out of an Eastern Screech-owl.

Both males and females sing. Their most common sounds are an even-pitched trill, often called a “bounce song” or tremolo; and a shrill, descending whinny. The tremolo is used by pairs or families to keep in touch and is 3–6 seconds long. The whinny is 0.5–2 seconds long and is used to defend territories. These two songs may be given one after the other. Mated pairs may sing to each other antiphonally, both day and night. Among the Eastern Screech-Owl’s many calls are soft, low hoots; loud, sharp barking calls that indicate alarm or agitation; and, true to their name, screeches—typically given by adults defending nests or fledglings. A three- or four-note chuckle or rattle denotes annoyance, as when a bird is being mobbed. Annoyed screech-owls make a clacking sound by snapping their bill mandibles together. Captured birds may hiss as part of a threat display. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The budgerigar, (Melopsittacus undulatus) also known as the common parakeet, shell parakeet or budgie, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot. Naturally, the species is green and yellow with black, scalloped markings on the nape, back, and wings. Budgerigars are found in open habitats, primarily in scrublands, open woodlands, and grasslands of Australia. The birds are normally found in small flocks, but can form very large flocks under favourable conditions. The nomadic movement of the flocks is tied to the availability of food and water. Wild budgies eat various seeds (as they come into season), fruits, berries, and vegetation. They feed on or near the ground. What they eat varies with food availability during different seasons. Larger birds such as hawks and falcons do prey upon the budgie. Feral cats, rats, and other rodents sometimes raid budgie nests for eggs or hunt the birds themselves. Budgies use a medley of chirrups, whistles, chatter, trills and various other snippets they've picked up (including human speech), in a barrage of bubbling, tuneless put pleasant song. They often sing together, reassuring each other that all is well and everyone is safe. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too

The hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) is a passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Coccothraustes. Its closest living relatives are the Chinese grosbeak (Eophona migratoria) and Japanese grosbeak (Eophona personata) of East Asia, and the evening grosbeak (Hesperiphona vespertina) and hooded grosbeak (Hesperiphona abeillei) of North America. Its large bill used for breaking open seeds and fruit stones is a distinguishing feature. They are mostly brown, with dark brown back, with white and black wing feathers and an orange/brown head. Their belly is a buff colour with a clear black bib that circles the bill and eyes. Hawfinches are found in large areas of mature broadleaved woodland, favouring areas with open glades. Shy birds, they can be extremely difficult to find in summer, remaining high in the canopy and rarely calling. In winter, numbers are boosted by continental migrants, and birds are easier to spot in leafless trees. They build a rather untidy nest of twigs, grass and lichens in which the light blue eggs with black markings are laid. The choice of nest site is often in a remarkably open position in a fork of a woodland tree or fruit tree. This makes them incredibly vulnerable to nest predation from a range of egg- and chick-eating predators such as the grey squirrel, the corvid family (particularly jays) and also woodland raptors such as sparrowhawk and goshawk. The hawfinch lays 2–7 eggs. The food is mainly seeds and fruit kernels, especially those of cherries, which it cracks with its powerful bill. This large finch species is usually seen in a pair or small group. The hawfinch feeds primarily on hard seeds from trees, as well as fruit seeds, which it obtains with the help of its strong beak with accompanying jaw muscles. Its jaw muscles exert a force equivalent to a load of approximately 30–48 kg. Thus it can break through the seeds of cherries and plums. The song is a quiet whistling sound interspersed with call notes, rather guttural, without any musical notes “tchi-tchi… ter-ui-ui”. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The common eider (Somateria mollissima), also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large (50–71 cm (20–28 in) in body length) sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on coastal waters. It can fly at speeds up to 113 km/h (70 mph). The Common Eider is famous for the insulating quality of its down (typically harvested from nests without harming the birds). Breeding males are sharp white and black, with pistachio green accents on the neck. Females are barred with warm brown and black. Common Eiders live mainly in marine waters, usually near rocky seacoasts. For nesting, they use low-lying coastal islands, islets, and shorelines with grasses, mosses, and sometimes low shrubs or stunted trees. High Arctic tundra heath, gravel spits, krummholz (very stunted trees), and taiga all serve as nesting habitat. On some islands, they nest near small lakes, usually those close to saltwater. Young remain with females in sheltered saltwater environments with abundant marine algae. The young often group into large flocks known as crèches, During migration or when preparing ("staging") for migration, large eider flocks sometimes use freshwater lakes and lagoons. Common Eiders typically winter in areas with rocky seafloors and strong tides, places that are generally rich in mollusks. The sedentary Hudson Bay Eider winters in polynyas (areas of open sea within the sea ice) and in cracks and leads in the ice. Common Eiders appear to be monogamous, though males will display to females other than their primary partner. Pairs sometimes reunite in consecutive seasons. During periods of calm weather in autumn, males begin to display, both singly and in groups, tossing their heads, stretching their necks, and flapping their wings while keeping up a soft cooing. Pairs often copulate during fall and winter, well outside of the nesting season. Females respond to partners with a low cawing call. Females select the nest site, usually within a large colony of their species (except "Pacific" Eider, which often nests alone) and make their famous nests of down. Common Eiders also sometimes use nests of other waterfowl or gulls. Males remain near females during much of incubation, then move to less sheltered waters to molt and feed heavily. Males seem to be less aggressive toward each other than in some duck species, though both sexes lower the head and lift the chin in threat displays. Conflicts sometimes occur between pairs nesting close together. For nesting Females typically select a site within walking distance of the sea, often reusing the site from the previous season. The nest usually features some form of cover such as rock, driftwood, or vegetation. Females make a depression in the ground using feet and belly. They line the scrape with their down only after laying their third egg. If females have to leave the nest, they often cover the eggs with the down. Nests are about 10 inches in diameter, with the interior cup about 8.5 inches across and 2.7 inches deep. Adult Common Eiders eat almost exclusively mollusks, crustaceans (such as spider crabs), echinoderms (sea urchins), marine worms, and fish eggs. In strongly tidal areas, they tend to feed more at low tides. Among their favorite foods are blue mussels, which they pry from underwater rocks with chisel-like bills. In winter, green sea urchins are important in the diet; these are usually brought to the sea surface for processing before being consumed. Small prey items are swallowed underwater. Ducklings eat some marine algae along with gastropods (such as periwinkles) and amphipods (tiny crustaceans). Nesting females eat little but often pick at smaller prey in shallows when with young. The main predators of Common Eiders are large gulls, ravens, American crows, and jaegers, which prey on the eggs and the downy young. Because they nest mostly on small islands, Common Eiders have few mammalian predators. Common Eiders are quite vocal, with males frequently giving pleasant cooing calls that can be heard far across the water on still days. Females, when feeding or responding to male courtship displays, give a low gog-gog-gog. Both sexes give a harsh grating kor-korr-korr, probably an alarm call. Here is a link so that you can listen to this bird too.

The killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) is a large plover found in the Americas. It gets its name from its shrill, two-syllable call, which is often heard. It was described and given its current scientific name in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. Three subspecies are described. Its upperparts are mostly brown with rufous fringes, the head has patches of white and black, and two black bands cross the breast. The belly and the rest of the breast are white. Killdeer inhabit open areas such as sandbars, mudflats, and grazed fields. They are probably most familiar around towns, where they live on lawns, driveways, athletic fields, parking lots, airports, and golf courses. Generally the vegetation in fields inhabited by Killdeer is no taller than one inch. You can find Killdeer near water, but unlike many other shorebirds, they are also common in dry areas. Often seen in dry, flat landscapes, running and halting on the ground in search of insects and earthworms. Although the Killdeer is common around human habitation it is often shy, at first running away rather than flying. When a Killdeer stops to look at an intruder, it has a habit of bobbing up and down almost as if it had hiccupped. Near the nest, Killdeer distract predators by calling loudly, bobbing, and running away. Killdeer are some of the best-known practitioners of the broken-wing display, an attempt to lure predators away from a nest by feigning injury. Pairs of Killdeer tend to stay together for one to a few years. Killdeer nests are simple scrapes often placed on slight rises in their open habitats. Killdeer may make several scrapes not far away from each other before choosing one to lay in. The duplication may help to confuse predators. Nest is a shallow depression scratched into the bare ground, typically 3-3.5 inches across. After egg-laying begins, Killdeer often add rocks, bits of shell, sticks, and trash to the nest. Curiously, these items tend to be light colored, and this tendency was confirmed in one experiment that gave Killdeer the choice between light and dark sticks. Feeds primarily on invertebrates, such as earthworms, snails, crayfish, grasshoppers, beetles, and aquatic insect larvae. Follows farmers' plows in hopes of retrieving any unearthed worms or insect larvae. Will also eat seeds left in agricultural lands. An opportunistic forager, Killdeer have been observed hunting frogs and eating dead minnows. Killdeer adults, chicks and eggs are vulnerable to predation by many different predators, including birds of prey, gulls, crows and ravens snakes, foxes, coyotes, domestic cats, domestic dogs, raccoons, skunks and Virginia opossums. Most noticeable among the Killdeer’s many calls is the high, plaintive kill-deer the bird is named for. Displaying males give this 0.5-second call over and over while in flight. Birds in distress or sounding an alarm make a sharp dee that can intensify into a nervous, bubbling trill. This trill may also be used in courtship displays. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too

The dunnock (Prunella modularis) is a small passerine, or perching bird, found throughout temperate Europe and into Asian Russia. Dunnocks have also been successfully introduced into New Zealand. It is by far the most widespread member of the accentor family; most other accentors are limited to mountain habitats. Other common names of the dunnock include: hedge accentor, hedge sparrow, hedge warbler, and titling. The Dunnock is a small brown and grey bird. Quiet and shy, it's often seen on its own, creeping along the edge of a flower bed or near to a bush, moving in a rather nervous, shuffling way, often flicking its wings as it goes. Dunnocks are native to large areas of Eurasia, inhabiting much of Europe including Lebanon, northern Iran, and the Caucasus. They are the only commonly found accentor in lowland areas; all the others inhabit upland areas. Dunnocks feed on both small insects and small seeds, plus spiders and small worms. In the winter months the food becomes largely seeds, and for this reason the species is very easy to attract to feeding areas. The dunnock is preyed upon by cats, sparrowhawks, and other birds of prey. They can chase the predator away by mobbing it. With a short and fast song with phrases that usually last two or three seconds, dunnocks produce a rather flat warbling sound. It is less sweet than a robin's song, and lower-pitched and less powerful than the blasts of a wren. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The American oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus), occasionally called the American pied oystercatcher, or PiruPiru, is a member of family Haematopodidae. Originally called the "sea pie", it was renamed in 1731 when naturalist Mark Catesby observed the bird eating oysters. The current population of American oystercatchers is estimated to be 43,000. There are estimated to be 1,500 breeding pairs along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the US. The bird is marked by its thick orange beak of 3 to 4 inches (7.5 to 10 cm) long, thick pink legs, bright yellow eyes with red rings around them, black or dark brown backs with black heads and necks, and white bellies and breasts and white stripes on their wings. American Oystercatchers are found only in intertidal areas and adjacent beaches, especially barrier islands with few or no predators. Within this environment, they prefer sandy, shelly beaches for nesting but also nest on sandy spots in saltmarshes and even on mats of dead vegetation (wrack) in the upper part of saltmarshes. Artificial beaches, such as dredge-spoil islands, also attract oystercatchers for nesting and roosting. Migrating and wintering birds use the same habitats. During foul weather, such as tropical storms and nor’easters that prevent them from foraging, oystercatchers take shelter in other open habitats in the vicinity such as agricultural fields. American Oystercatchers are monogamous and sometimes maintain a pair bond for many consecutive years. Their courtship in early spring is boisterous, with courting birds pacing quickly over the sand in unison, giving a piping call that increases in tempo, and pivoting in arcing patterns around the beach, sometimes taking to flight in pairs. A courting pair often attracts neighboring pairs to begin this display, and sometimes as many as three pairs come together in what scientists call the Piping Ceremony. Copulation often follows this display. The size of a pair’s territory probably depends on local conditions and ranges in size from about 1.7 to 5.3 acres. They sometimes establish territories within a colony of terns, Black Skimmers, or Brown Pelicans. Pairs stay very near one another for the breeding season. Male and female take turns incubating the eggs, and both defend eggs and young, driving away intruders (including other oystercatchers) with calls, chases, and aggressive flight. Young birds can dive and swim underwater to escape predators. After the nesting season the adults and young disperse, often to different locations, for the winter, and younger birds often spend one or more years away from their natal area before returning. American Oystercatchers dine almost solely on saltwater bivalve mollusks, including many species of clams and several oysters and mussels, and to a lesser degree limpets, jellyfish, starfish, sea urchins, marine worms, and crustaceans such as lady crabs and speckled crabs. Oystercatchers walk slowly through oyster reefs until they see one that is slightly open; they quickly jab the bill inside the shell to snip the strong adductor muscle that closes the two halves of the shell. Some oystercatchers smash open shells with the tip of the bill before snipping the muscle. especially when hunting softer-shelled species. Adult oystercatchers tend to teach their young one technique, either to snip or to smash, during their first year. For bivalves such as razor clams that burrow into sand, oystercatchers probe into the substrate and capture the prey by touch; they also capture mole crabs and polychaete worms in this manner. Tidal conditions influence when oystercatchers forage, and generally, they forage most heavily on falling tides, when prey is still partly submerged and actively feeding, shells open. American Oystercatchers make several high-pitched, sharp, and incisive calls, usually written peep, pip, hueep, and weeer. These function as pairing, contact, and alarm calls; most are far-carrying in the open environments the birds inhabit. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The nankeen kestrel (Falco cenchroides), also known as the Australian kestrel, is a raptor native to Australia and New Guinea. It is one of the smallest falcons, and unlike many, does not rely on speed to catch its prey. Instead, it simply perches in an exposed position, but it also has a distinctive technique of hovering over crop and grasslands. to 35 cm (11 to 14 in) long with a wingspan of 66 to 78 cm (26 to 31 in). The male weighs 121 to 195 g (4.3 to 6.9 oz) while the female weighs 115 to 273 g (4.1 to 9.6 oz). It has pale rufous upper-parts with contrasting black flight-feathers and is finely streaked white below, with a black subterminal band. The cere, eye-ring, and legs are yellow. The male has a pale grey crown and tail with a darker grey tear-mark, while the female and juvenile have a pale rufous crown and finely barred rufous tail. Plumage varies considerably in detail, and some birds can look very scruffy, but the slim build, small size and distinctive straight-winged hovering habit make identification easy. Preferred habitats are lightly wooded areas and open agricultural regions and tend to be absent from dense forests. The Nankeen Kestrel's success as a bird of prey can be largely contributed to its tolerance for a wide variety of habitats and its ability to feed on a variety of foods and nest in a range of sites. The Nankeen Kestrel's diet is varied. It mainly feeds on small mammals, reptiles, small birds and a variety of insects. Prey is located from a perch or by hovering a short distance above the ground on rapid wing-beats, using its fan-shaped tail as a rudder and keeping the head and body kept still. This bird is mostly preyed upon by larger birds of prey, and any medium to large mammal that can get the jump on them. Especially noisy during breeding season, when commonest call is shrill keek-keek-keek. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) is a large species of forest hornbill (Bucerotidae). In captivity it can live for up to 35 years. It is found in lowland and montane, tropical and subtropical climates and in mountain rain forests up to 1,400 metres in Borneo, Sumatra, Java, the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, and southern Thailand. Rhinoceros hornbills are large cavity-nesting birds with black plumage, a white abdomen and a long, white tail crossed by a wide black band. Male and female rhinoceros hornbills look alike, except males have brownish-red eyes and females have blueish-white eyes. Rhinoceros hornbills mostly eat fruits, especially figs. They also eat bird eggs, bugs, small reptiles and frogs. They pick up food with their beak and throw their head back to swallow it down. Predators of Hornbills include owls, eagles, and humans. They give low, resonant calls, usually in series: either a single-syllabled “rohh” or a disyllabic “roh-ow. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The common ostrich (Struthio camelus), or simply ostrich, is a species of flightless bird native to certain large areas of Africa. It is one of two extant species of ostriches, the only living members of the genus Struthio in the ratite order of birds. The other is the Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes), which was recognized as a distinct species by BirdLife International in 2014 having been previously considered a distinctive subspecies of ostrich. Ostriches have unique feathers that are loose, soft, and smooth, giving them a “shaggy” look. Adult male ostriches are black with white wings and tail feathers, while immature birds and adult females have brownish-gray feathers. Common ostriches are mostly found in the grasslands, savanna and shrublands of southern and eastern Africa. They are also quite capable of surviving in deserts and open woodlands. Ostriches have a lifestyle that is nomadic and mostly diurnal, being active early in the day as well as late. Males are territorial, defending their territory aggressively. These birds like water and frequently take baths, if given the opportunity, and are good swimmers. Ostriches are omnivores, although most of their diet is plant-based. They mainly eat leafy greens, flowering plants, roots, grasses and succulents. They also occasionally feed on fallen fruit or small animals such as mice, lizards, frogs, grasshoppers and locusts. Ostriches have several natural predators, including cheetahs, lions, leopards, hunting dogs and spotted hyenas. Other predators, like Egyptian vultures and jackals, may take ostrich eggs. Ostriches use a variety of vocalizations to communicate with each other, including chirps, hisses, growls and honks. Male ostriches can also make a booming sound by filling a special sac in their throat with air. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is a species of flightless bird endemic to Australia, where it is the largest native bird. It is the only extant member of the genus Dromaius and the second-tallest living bird after its African ratite relative, the common ostrich. The emu's native ranges cover most of the Australian mainland. The Tasmanian, Kangaroo Island and King Island subspecies became extinct after the European settlement of Australia in 1788. Emus are large, flightless birds. Their necks and legs are long, but their wings are tiny, reduced to less than 8 inches (20 centimeters). After molting, the birds are dark, but sunlight fades the feathers and they become paler at the end of the season. Emus live in a variety of habitats from open arid plains to tropical woodlands. They avoid thickly forested areas. Emus occur in all Australian states except Tasmania. They are found across most of Victoria, although they avoid densely populated areas and are generally absent from the central district. Emus eat a wide variety of leaves, grasses, fruits, native plants, and insects. In spring and summer, their diet consists mainly of flowers and seeds. In autumn, as those foods become scarce, they graze on young grass which sprouts after summer rains. In winter, herbs form the emu's main food. Aside from Dingoes and Wedge-tailed Eagles , adult Emus have few natural predators. Eggs and chicks are eaten by feral dogs, pigs, eagles, foxes, snakes and goannas. Their calls consist of booming, drumming and grunting. The males sometimes make the calls with a sound like “e-moo” and can be heard over long distances. Females make characteristic resonant, booming sound. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The cave swallow (Petrochelidon fulva) is a medium-sized, squarish-tailed swallow belonging to the same genus as the more familiar and widespread cliff swallow of North America. The cave swallow, also native to the Americas, nests and roosts primarily in caves and sinkholes. Cave Swallows are dark above and pale below. The most notable features for ID include the chestnut rump, forehead, and cheeks, and the pale chestnut throat. An aerial insectivore that eats insects on the wing. They nest colonially and forage in groups, often with other swallows. Cave Swallows nest in caves, sinkholes, and more recently under bridges and in culverts. They forage over open areas frequently near water. Cave Swallows fly with deep and strong wingbeats interspersed with frequent glides. When they enter a cave, they float down into it and fly back out in a spiral. They spend most of their time aloft, but head to the ground to collect tiny balls of mud or bat guano to build a nest. They collect mud after recent rains or along the edges of rivers and springs with moist soil. While on the ground, they continually flutter their wings, which scientists suggest could be to confuse predators, to prevent their wings from touching the ground and getting soiled, or to discourage unwanted advances from males, which often attempt to mate with females while they are on the ground. They nest in colonies and forage in single-species groups as well as with other swallows. Cave Swallows eat flying insects on the wing, foraging at heights up to 350 feet. They consume numerous flying insects such as seed bugs, assassin bugs, short-horned grasshoppers, green lacewings, ladybird beetles, aphids, moths, wasps, bees, and flies. They usually feed in loose flocks throughout the day. They also drink water on the wing, gently skimming the surface of the water with their bill. Most often these birds are preyed upon by birds of prey. Cave Swallows sing a series of squeaks, complex warbles, gurgles, and knocks that lasts for about 6 seconds. The song tends to lack the static-like sounds of Cliff Swallows. Cave Swallows chatter in flight with a high-pitched zreet that they repeat multiple times. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) is a medium-sized American songbird. Until recently, it was placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), but it and other members of its genus are now classified as belonging to the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species' plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family, although the Piranga species lacks the thick conical bill (well suited to seed and insect eating) that many cardinals possess. The species resides in thick deciduous woodlands and suburbs. Scarlet Tanagers breed in mature deciduous forests and mixed deciduous-coniferous forests in eastern North America. They nest in oak, pine-oak, oak-hickory, beech, hemlock-hardwood, and occasionally pure eastern hemlock forests. In Canada they sometimes extend into boreal forests in stands of aspen, balsam poplar, and birch. Breeding Scarlet Tanagers prefer large forest tracts with large trees. During spring and fall they use similar forest habitats as well as open spaces such as parks and gardens. When they arrive in the southern United States coast in early spring they feed in shrubby vegetation, grassy fields, and on the ground. Scarlet Tanagers winter in mature forests and forest edges in northern and western South America, mostly on hills and mountains. They range south as far as the Bolivian lowlands. Scarlet Tanagers are strong fliers, making swift, direct flights and migrating long distances in fall and spring. Males arrive early on their breeding grounds to defend loose territories that include mating, nesting, and foraging areas. Territorial singing battles sometimes can escalate to confrontations, where one or both males spread and droop their wings and raise their tail in threat. If neither backs down, the standoff culminates in one male chasing another. Scarlet Tanagers are monogamous within each breeding season but switch mates from year to year. Parents feed their young for up to two weeks after the birds fledge, and then the family disperses before migrating. On wintering grounds Scarlet Tanagers join up with other species in foraging flocks. Scarlet Tanagers eat mainly insects along with some fruit and tender buds. Their invertebrate diet includes ants, sawflies, moths, butterflies, beetles, flies, cicadas, leafhoppers, spittlebugs, treehoppers, plant lice, scale insects, termites, grasshoppers, locusts, dragonflies, dobsonflies, snails, earthworms, and spiders. While searching for these tidbits they walk along branches high in the canopy or (rarely) along the ground, or vertically on tree trunks to probe the bark. Scarlet Tanagers perch or hover with fast wingbeats to grab insects from leaves, bark, and flowers, and they catch flying insects like bees, wasps, and hornets from the air. They swallow small larvae whole, but they kill larger prey by pressing it into a branch. In the winter, they forage in mixed-species flocks with woodcreepers, flycatchers, barbets, and tropical tanagers. Adult scarlet tanagers are eaten by birds of prey, including various owls. Eggs and nestling predators include blue jays, grackles, American crows, squirrels, chipmunks, and snakes. Scarlet tanagers mob most predators, diving and swooping around them while calling at them. The male Scarlet Tanager sings a burry series of 4–5 chirruping phrases with a hurried quality. Many people liken it to the sound of a robin with a sore throat. He sings from an exposed perch to defend his territory, getting into singing wars with his neighbors. Females sing a similar song but more softly and with fewer syllables. Mates often sing together while foraging or while the female is gathering nesting material. Both male and female Scarlet Tanagers give an energetic and very distinctive chick-burr. They also give a descending screech call when attacking intruders, a soft call that rises in pitch during courtship and nesting, a twittering call when feeding or flying together, and a nasal whistle when arriving at the nest with food. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mouth of the Amazon River, and along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands. The nominate subspecies in its breeding plumage has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The nape and neck are dark maroon–brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the gular pouch, and the lower fore neck has a pale yellowish patch. The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller. The nonbreeding adult has a white head and neck. The pink skin around the eyes becomes dull and gray in the nonbreeding season. It lacks any red hue, and the pouch is strongly olivaceous ochre-tinged and the legs are olivaceous gray to blackish-gray. They find habitats around coastal beaches and lagoons. Although their native range includes the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts, brown pelicans spend a lot of time on small islands away from populated areas. Brown pelicans search for fish by flying low over the water. The brown pelican is a very gregarious bird; it lives in flocks of both sexes throughout the year. In level flight, brown pelicans fly in groups, with their heads held back on their shoulders and their bills resting on their folded necks. Brown pelicans feed on mid-sized fish and some invertebrates. They require up to 4 pounds of food per day. Their diet consists mainly of menhaden, herring, sheepshead, pigfish, mullet, grass minnows, top minnows and silversides—all fish considered commercially unimportant. Predation on adult brown pelicans is rarely reported, but cases where they have fallen prey to bald eagles have been reported. Also, South American sea lions and unidentified large sharks have been observed to prey on adult brown pelicans by seizing them from beneath while the birds are sitting on ocean waters. Adults are silent except during wing-jerking displays, which force air from their lungs and produce a low, hoarse sound. Nestlings use a shrill, rasping squawk to beg for food. When defending its nest, the Brown Pelican snaps its bill together with a loud popping sound that resonates in its throat pouch. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) is a passerine bird in the bunting family that is native to Eurasia and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia. Most European birds remain in the breeding range year-round, but the eastern subspecies is partially migratory, with much of the population wintering further south. The male yellowhammer has a bright yellow head, streaked brown back, chestnut rump, and yellow under parts. Other plumages are duller versions of the same pattern. The yellowhammer is common in open areas with some shrubs or trees, and forms small flocks in winter. The yellowhammer breeds across the Palearctic between the 16–20 °C (61–68 °F) July isotherms. It is the commonest and most widespread European bunting, although it is absent from high mountains, Arctic regions, the western Netherlands, most of Iberia and Greece, and low-lying regions of other countries adjoining the Mediterranean Sea. It breeds in Russia east to Irkutsk, and in most of Ukraine. The Asian range extends into northwest Turkey, the Caucasus, and northern Kazakhstan. Most European yellowhammers winter within their breeding range, only the far north being vacated, although some birds move south of their breeding range in Spain, Italy, and other Mediterranean countries. Distances travelled can be up to 500 km (310 mi) for northern birds. Asian birds are more strongly migratory, deserting much of the north to winter in Iraq, Iran, and southern Central Asia. The yellowhammer has occurred as a vagrant in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Malta, the Himalayas (winter vagrant from northern Afghanistan to central Nepal, the Balearic Islands, Iceland, and the Faroes. The diet of the Yellowhammer is rather varied, and consists of seeds, grain, some small fruits such as blackberries, insects and spiders. In the garden, Yellowhammers will feed on the ground or a ground table. Predators of the yellowhammer include the sparrowhawk, northern goshawk, lesser spotted eagle, and hobby. It is not a significant host of the common cuckoo, a brood parasite, although as a ground-nesting bird, its eggs and chicks are vulnerable to predation from small mammals such as mice and other rodents. Probably the most notable behavior of the Yellowhammer is its habit of perching on an exposed branch on a bush or in a hedgerow, and repeating its distinctive short song. The males adorn the tops of hedgerows throughout the country, singing a famous ditty that is usually rendered “a little bit of bread and no cheeeese.” The “cheese” section, which is sometimes missed out, sounds rather like the bird is breathing out heavily. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It, and similar small European species, are often called chats. A small Robin-like bird, the male is unmistakable in spring with his bright blue throat, bordered below with bands of black, white and chestnut. Its central throat spot can be white or chestnut, depending on which subspecies you are looking at 'white-spotted' or the more numerous 'red-spotted'. They are typically found in scrubby, brushy habitat, often in edge areas: reedbeds, overgrown fields, and thickets. They usually skulky but singing males can perch conspicuously atop a bush. Breeds across Europe and Asia into Alaska; winters from northern Africa to southeast Asia. Bluethroat is an insectivore. It forages in low vegetation to catch insects. When on the ground, it turns over the leaves and the soil to expose small invertebrates. Song varied, with rich musical notes, hisses, trills, and mimicry of other birds. Call is a harsh "tacc, tacc" and a "hweet." Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The secretarybird or secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is a large bird of prey that is endemic to Africa. It is mostly terrestrial, spending most of its time on the ground, and is usually found in the open grasslands and savanna of the sub-Saharan region. John Frederick Miller described the species in 1779. A member of the order Accipitriformes, which also includes many other diurnal birds of prey such as eagles, hawks, kites, vultures, and harriers, it is placed in its own family, Sagittariidae. The secretary bird is distinguished by its long legs and a dramatic black crest of feathers on the back of its head. Its body is covered in whitish-gray feathers, with two long, black-tipped tail feathers. Its bare face is usually yellow, orange or red. Secretarybirds prefer savannas, scrub, and grasslands with scattered small thorn trees, and open patches in forests and woodlands. It is also attracted to some man-made habitats and can be seen hunting in airfields and pasture lands. Secretaries are sedentary during breeding season and as long as food is available. Nomadic in most areas in response to changes in rainfall, grazing and fires. Adult males are usually the last to abandon territories, while juveniles wander widely in search of areas unoccupied by mated pairs. It will catch amphibians and various invertebrates, including insects, scorpions, millipedes, and crabs. Secretarybirds also eat snakes, including several venomous species, such as puff adders and cobras, and other reptiles, such as lizards and small tortoises. It eats other birds and their eggs, too! Secretarybirds are well known for their hunting behaviour where they stomp their prey to death. Secretarybirds are only vulnerable to predation as eggs and young birds in the nest. Known predators include crows, ravens, Ground Hornbills, eagle-owls and other raptors. Secretarybirds are generally silent, although they can produce calls such as a deep croaking sound that can be heard from a distance, as well as a growling noise. Both of these calls are used in combination during aerial and ground courtship displays. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The smew (Mergellus albellus) is a species of duck and is the only living member of the genus Mergellus. Mergellus is a diminutive of Mergus and albellus is from Latin albus "white". This genus is closely related to Mergus and is sometimes included in it, though it might be closer to the goldeneyes (Bucephala). The smew has hybridized with the common goldeneye (B. clangula). They forage by diving from the surface and also swimming underwater when pursuing prey. They forage in groups periodically submerging their heads underwater and then without a splash, the entire flock vanishes beneath the water. The Smew is a compact diving duck with a delicate bill. The male is white with a black mask and a black back, the female is grey with a reddish-brown head and white cheek. In flight, it shows black and white wings. It's a winter visitor in small numbers from Scandinavia and Russia. Smews spend a lot of time under the water hunting for food - mostly aquatic insects in summer and small fish in winter. The natural predators include the American Mink, the Long-legged Buzzard, the Rough-legged Buzzard, the Peregrine Falcon, the Merlin and the Hen Harrier. They forage by diving from the surface and also swimming underwater when pursuing prey. They are vocal birds and give a sharp “krrr” note. They forage in groups periodically submerging their heads underwater and then without a splash, the entire flock vanishes beneath the water. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) is a species of wading bird in the heron family. It has a Nearctic distribution, breeding in Canada and the northern and central parts of the United States, and wintering in the U.S. Gulf Coast states, all of Florida into the Everglades, the Caribbean islands and parts of Central America. Adult American bitterns are large, somewhat stocky birds with yellow eyes, rich brown upperparts, and a white throat that is offset by black streaks. Dark flight feathers are conspicuous on the wing tips when the birds are in flight. The sexes are similar in appearance. American Bitterns stand still at the edge of the water, sometimes walking slowly. Like most herons, they capture prey with sudden thrusts of their bills. They are most active at dawn and dusk. American Bitterns breed mainly in freshwater marshes with tall vegetation. You can find them in wetlands of many sizes and kinds, typically less densely vegetated and shallower than wetlands used by the Least Bittern. In winter they move to areas where water bodies don't freeze, especially near the coast, where they occasionally use brackish marshes. Managed wetlands such as wildlife refuges seem to be important for wintering American Bitterns. Wintering birds may also forage in dry grasslands and other terrestrial habitats. American Bitterns eat insects, crustaceans, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals. Their most common insect prey include water striders, giant water bugs, water beetles, water scorpions, grasshoppers, and especially dragonflies, which the birds sometimes manage to capture in midair. Frequently consumed fish include eels, catfish, pickerel, sunfish, suckers, perch, killifish, and sticklebacks. Rayfish, crabs, frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, garter snakes, water snakes, and meadow voles round out the diet. American Bitterns usually forage in dim light, at shorelines and the fringes of vegetated areas. A foraging bird may sway its neck, perhaps to see past glare from the surface of shallow water, or to warm up its muscles for a quick strike. A characteristic strategy is to stand stock-still with bill held horizontal, gradually aiming the bill downward with nearly imperceptible movements—until, with a sudden darting motion, the bittern seizes the prey in its bill, bites or shakes it to death, and swallows it head first. Indigestible parts of prey animals are regurgitated as pellets. Little is known about the predators of American bitterns. Raccoons probably feed on their eggs and chicks on occasion. Adults may be preyed on by peregrine falcons and great horned owls. To communicate with each other through dense vegetation American Bitterns use low-frequency calls, which carry farther than higher-pitched sounds. During breeding season the males make a bizarre, resonant three-syllable pump-er-lunk call with a liquid quality; females may respond with a similar but quieter sound. The male’s call is preceded by clacking and gulping. To accomplish the pump-er-lunk sound, the male inflates his esophagus by way of almost violent body contortions—opening and closing his bill as if lunging for flying insects—and then uses the stored air to unleash his call. Repeated up to 10 times in succession, the call probably serves as both a territorial signal and an advertisement for mates. When flushed, American Bitterns often emit a hoarse kok-kok-kok or nasal haink. Males may give a continual chu-peep call during mating. Bitterns clack the mandibles of their bills together to make sounds preceding their territorial call. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.