We recently moved into a new home in a village north of Chicago (before this we lived in the Netherlands). One of the first things we did after moving in was set up some bird feeders in our backyard. The area we live in is quite urban and in the first two weeks we didn't see many birds at all, except for some crows and starlings flying by. That changed a week ago when a beautiful male Northern Cardinal was hanging out in the trees behind our fence. He was looking at the feeders, but they were actually not suitable (too small) for a cardinal. We had bought some bigger feeders a couple of days earlier but the ground was too hard to put them in. Shortly after that I saw some Dark-eyed Juncos (slate-colored) flying around, but again they weren't landing on the feeders. Then a little bit later we suddenly saw an American Goldfinch chowing down on seeds. Yah, that was our very first backyard bird here in our new home. :)

In the past week a lot of juncos have been coming and going. They are so cute, hopping around the ground looking for seeds. Unlike many other birds, the juncos prefer to eat on the ground. They don't care about all the fancy feeder equipment we bought and prefer to hop around below them. At the beginning they were very hesitant to go anywhere near our feeders and a few always kept watch from the trees as one was eating, but now the juncos are getting more comfortable and they are staying around for a while.

Today we had a new visitor to our yard, a Black-capped Chickadee. Two, actually! I know it's no big deal to get these juncos, goldfinches and chickadees in your backyard, but we're quite excited to finally have some after not seeing any for a couple of weeks. We're hoping that these guys will tell all their friends and we'll soon have lots of birds at our feeders. Which birds do you get in your backyard?

Doesn't this Common Tern have the cutest tiny feet? We took this picture at Starrevaart, a bird sanctuary near The Hague in the Netherlands. Every spring during breeding time there was a small island full with these guys right next to a bird hide. It was great to visit the hide and see the terns busy feeding their young and hunting for fish. The island was overcrowded with terns and they sure made a lot of noise. They have small feet but big mouths. ;) Fun Fact: This bird drinks its water while flying, gliding over the surface and dipping its bill several times into the salt water. Like many seabirds, Common Terns have nasal glands that extract the salt. Pretty neat, he? Check out our cute Birdorable terns and gulls.

Photo of beautiful tree by boliston

The Baltimore Oriole is a bright orange and black bird that breeds across North America and migrates south in flocks to Mexico, Central America and northern South America. It is the state bird of Maryland and the Baltimore Orioles Major League Baseball team was named after this bird. Backyard birders can attract these birds with special oriole feeders, which contain the same food as hummingbird feeders, but are designed specifically for orioles: they are orange instead of red and have larger perches. Baltimore Orioles are also fond of halved oranges and grape jelly.

Photo by JD

This bird received its name from the fact that the male's colors resemble those on the coat-of-arms of Lord Baltimore. When George Calvert, an English politician and coloniser of the New World, visited Chesapeake Bay in 1628, he saw the bird for the first time and was so pleased by its colors that he adopted them as his own. Later Linnaeus named the species the Baltimore Oriole because its colors were those of the Calverts.

I hope we'll be able to get these beautiful birds in our backyard this year. We'll certainly put out some oranges for them.

Photo by Larry & Teddy Page

(thanks to Lori Larson for these nice oriole photos that we found on Flickr)

A new bird that we've added to Birdorable is the Hooded Warbler, a beautiful bird in the New World warbler family. These yellow cuties breed across eastern North America and winter in Central America. Males are striking with their black hoods and bright yellow faces. Hooded Warblers prefer shaded habitats and this may be the reason why they have larger eyes than most other warblers in the United States. The cute large eyes stand out boldley on its yellow face. Part of its scientific name, citrina, refers to its dazzling yellow color. This is our totally cute Birdorable Hooded Warbler.

Below are two great photos of a Hooded Warbler by Birdfreak.com, which is one of our favorite bird blogs.

Photo by Birdfreak

Photo by Birdfreak

Have you ever seen a Hooded Warbler?

Here's the first in a series of free Birdorable coloring pages for some cute bird coloring fun. You can download this Birdorable Cooper's Hawk coloring page by clicking the image below. Just click the image below to download a PDF with the image, print the PDF, grab your crayons and off you go.

Can you find the 12 differences in these two trees with American birds? You can click the picture to see a larger version. Leave your answer in the comments if you dare.

The Green Kingfisher is one of three kingfishers found in the United States, but at 7.5 inches long it is much smaller than the Belted and Ringed Kingfisher. It is also very rare in this country and can only be found in the south of Texas. It lives throughout Central and South America as far south as central Argentina. Unlike the other two kingfishers, Green Kingfishers also fly low over the water's surface and can be found perching on low branches. The Green Kingfisher was first described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin (pictures right), who gave it the latin name Chloroceryle americana. Here's a picture of a female Green Kingfisher, which lacks the broad chestnut breast band that males have, like the one on the mangrove in the picture above.

Photo by Lip Kee

Unfortunately I have never seen a Green Kingfisher. Have you?

The Belted Kingfisher is one of three new kingfishers that we've added to Birdorable. This cutie can be found across North America, Central America and South America as far south as Argentina. I love Kingfishers, and we saw many Belted Kingfishers on our vacation in Florida. We were staying in Key Largo and every time we drove Route 1 back to the mainland we saw dozens of these guys sitting on the telephone wires looking down at the water. When they spot a fish that they like, they'll dive into the water head first to grab it. Did you know that many Kingfishers, including this one, nests underground? A pair will dig a tunnel as long as 8 feet in river banks. The tunnel slopes upward to keep water from entering the nest. Human activity has actually expanded their breeding range; road building and the digging of gravel pits has created new banks where kingfishers can nest.

Photo by Rick Leche

Photo by Rick Leche

Males and females both have shaggy crests and are colored blue and white. Females have rufous across the upper belly. This is our totally cute Birdorable version of the Belted Kingfisher!

Mass Audubon's Superbowl of Birding IV will take place this Saturday from 5am to 5pm. The Superbowl of Birding is a 12-hour competition in Massachusetts whereby different teams try to find as many birds as possible during the day. Different birds are worth different points and prizes will be awarded in nine different categories. We'll be rooting for one of the teams participating in this year's competition: the Bloggerhead Kingbirds. The team is made up of birding bloggers Christopher, Patrick, Corey, Quintus and N8. Christopher contacted us earlier this week to make a logo for their team, which we were very happy to do! He requested a Loggerhead Kingbird with a laptop and binoculars and here's the result: You can read more about the team here: http://natureblognetwork.com/blog/nature-blogging-20/. Good luck Bloggerhead Kingbirds!

Razorbills typically live for 13 years, but one particular Razorbill that was ringed in 1967 was still spotted in the United Kingdom last year, over 41 years later! The same bird has been returning to the same cliff since hippies were wearing flowers in their hair and the Beatles were singing "All You Need Is Love". The old Razorbill was reported by the British Trust for Ornithology last year, along with 11 other record-breaking long-living birds, including a 31-year-old Curlew and a Black-headed Gull that has been flying around parks in Central London for 27 years.

Razorbill on the Farne Islands, UK, by ankehuber

The Razorbill is a beautiful striking bird. It is the 159th Birdorable bird and the answer to this week's spot the Birdorable. Unfortunately we have never seen a Razorbill. Have you?