Are any of my readers bird-wise? Cliff and I have racked our brains and can't figure out what it might be... dark gray back with white breast. I have typed that into Google so many times my fingers are tired, and have yet to find anything that looks like this bird. It's a little larger than a sparrow.Sorry about the small pictures, but I couldn't get close; so I cropped my pictures hoping to be able to see him better.
We're seeing more hummingbirds the last few days than ever before; it's almost dangerous to step outside. You never know when you're going to step right in the middle of a hummingbird war! Two of my feeders hold about one cup of nectar each, and they're being emptied about every twenty-four hours.
Cliff spent his morning planting a permanent pasture mix of grasses: timothy, orchard grass, and I forget what else. He also got some clover seed that he'll sow on the plot this winter, hopefully after a snowfall. So, finally that ground that has been disked so many times since last fall will be producing again, verdant and lovely. The down side of this is that the hay-field directly behind the house is going to be disked up, played with for a year, and replanted.
*sigh*
Is it a female purple martin??
ReplyDeletehttp://purplemartin.org/MartinID/martinid.html Pat
Maybe a female barn swallow??
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn
I know here in Central Texas the purple martin look similar to the barn swallow - the way they fly around and also the way they perch on the fence.
I thought it might be both the birds your other commentors mentioned, and I also thought it might be a dark eyed junco. You might Google it and check the images to compare. Their plumage changes according to the seasons and from male to female, and juveniles also have different plumage, so it could be a match.
ReplyDeleteIf you discover what it is I'll be interested in finding out. I saw some very similar to that at out campground and have tried unsuccessfully to identify it. Like you I searched the internet. The ones we had saw also had a very distinct bird call too and as many sites also have that too,I checked that and I've not found it yet.
ReplyDeleteI believe it might be some type of swallow. There are several types. I googled a little before I read your comments. Helen
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swallow
Is it a magpie?
ReplyDeleteI'm not the least bit knowlegable about birds. My mother was the bird watcher in the family. I finally have hummingbirds, just in the last few weeks. I switched to a natural cane sugar and they are happy with it. Never got any when I was using white sugar.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I have no idea what kind of bird it is. Hope you find out, though.
ReplyDeleteAdult Description
ReplyDeletebarn Swallow
* Small slender songbird.
* Tail long and forked.
* Upperparts steely iridescent blue.
* Underparts rufous.
Immature Description
Juvenile looks similar to adult, but tail shorter and less forked. Underparts paler.
I just love looking at birds. Never know their names but enjoy their presence. You have a heaven full of birds up your compound and that is awesome.
ReplyDeleteTimothy grass. Just seeing that typed brought me back to when I first got my license to drive. My dad, an 'old' farmer plucke a long stalk of timothy grass and brought it over to me as I sat in my first clunker ... handed it to me and told me it was for good luck. I kept that grass tucked up in my visor for a long, long time ...
ReplyDeleteNo idea on the bird ...
Maybe I should sent this over to my sister. She's a bird freak and knows just about all of them.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy birds (not the ones that crap on my freshly washed car) but I haven't the slightest clue a sparrow from a nut hatch.