Common Backyard Bird ID Questions

Cover Photo: Baltimore Orioles love oranges! Ohio, Magee Marsh May 2010 from the Surfbirds galleries � Glyn Sellors
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Most of us start watching birds close to home, at a window or in our backyard. One more way to see more birds is to make your home and backyard more attractive to them. The key is to provide the basic necessities for birds: food, water, and shelter.

Common Questions

Below you will find the most common identification questions we get and their answers. Please also find photographs of some common backyard birds in the US. Hopefully, this will help put a name to your birds!

Question

I have a bird coming to my feeder that is larger than a sparrow, black and white with a red chest.

Answer

Congratulations! You have been visited by a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Males have a distinctive spring plumage that is black and white with a bright red chest. Females are similar in size and shape but are brown with distinctive stripes on their head. You may catch a flash of red under their wings when they fly. Grosbeaks winter in ... and spend the summer.... They love to eat...so keep your feeder well stocked and they may stick around for a few days before they continue their migration north. See more photos here

Question

We have had some beautiful cinnamon colored birds with tufts on their heads, black stripes through their eyes and yellow tips to their tails.

Answer

Your birds are Cedar Waxwings - they are most often seen around urban and rural areas during winter. They love berries. They will usually travel in flocks (where they look like Starlings) and you may hear their whistling calls as they fly in groups overhead.

Other colorful birds to look out for

Black-headed Grosbeak

male Baltimore Oriole

Indigo Bunting

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Female Baltimore Oriole

Bullock's Oriole

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