Birdwatching

Not all birds like seeds. They have to have the proper beak shape to open a seed. Some birds prefer only insects, fish and some even eat small mammals, snakes and other small creatures.

A seed has a great deal of stored oil, protein and starch for the health and livelihood of a bird, especially during winter when fresh food (insects) are not available.

Sounds like maybe a female brown-headed cow bird. I saw a bird at my feeder with the same description and did some research, found a pic that looked similar.

If it's gray, about 9" long, and in North America, it's probably a Northern Mockingbird.

There are many birds with black "masks." Some North American birds with obvious masks include the Northern shrike, loggerhead shrike, Northern wheatear (breeding male), cedar waxwing, bohemian waxwing, and common yellowthroat (male). A number of other birds have black markings on their face, including many warblers.

The Andean Condor is the biggest bird of prey. It's wingspan is about 10 ft. long and weighs on average about 24 pounds. The Wandering Albatross has the longest wingspan, reaching up to 12 feet. And the kori bustard in Africa is the heaviest flighted bird, with some reaching up to 40-42 pounds. The largest bird alive today is a male ostrich, but they don't fly.

Long feathers take up a lot of room, and could not develop in the egg. The baby bird's down is a very efficient insulator, which helps conserve energy that it needs to survive and also for its rapid growth. Once it is of a good size and begins to need the longer feathers, they grow in.

I believe that the swan has the most beautiful wings of all birds!

There are many instincts that we all have in order to survive from reproduction to survival skills. Birds instincts include some of these as well. For example, they fly south when it is cold in the winter time in order to stay warm to survive. They also communicate to one another by chirping.

Other sources explain more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instinct

A good example of an immediate instinct for certain types of bird is imprinting. This is the behaviour that causes geese to follow around the first moving object that they encounter, as it tends to be their mother.

Check out the book, Chapter 10:

http://books.google.com/books?id=zB0SAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA279&lpg=RA1-PA279&dq=bird+instincts&source=bl&ots=HZC5U0YqTk&sig=eemLA7y27jOqbVxEbHWR9JdhYWs&hl=en&ei=C_6nSf7GH6KBtwfPqbzrDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPP1,M1

The bird i saw had extremely large eyes, a white beak, and suprisingly a purple head. I don't know what kind of bird it is but i hope it is a new species so i can name it something awsome!!! If it is a new species then that would be sweet!!!

There are several birds that fit this description. You are probably thinking of the toucan. The cartoon character Sam of Froot Loops fame is a toucan. Also parrots fit this description. I'm sure there are many other birds that do, too.

This sounds suspiciously like an Osprey.

The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest living creature, reaching speeds of at least 124 mph and possibly as much as 168 mph while catching their prey (other birds) in midair.

A "Twitcher" or more properly an "Ornithologist".

Blue jays migrate along the Great Lakes and Atlantic coasts of North America. Although they are residents across the United States, some do migrate south for the winter, but not necessarily every year.

the state bird is the cardinal and the flower is the flowering dogwood.

There are hundreds of birds out there; you have to be more specific. Look up images of these to see if they could be one of them:

Red Headed Wood-pecker

Male American Cardinal

There are many more I can think of-but a reed spot is not enough detail to pinpoint waht bird you mean.

"Flycatcher" is the generic name for a large group of related insectivores that includes flycatchers, pewees, phoebes, kingbirds, becards, tyrannulets, and kiskadees. The family, which includes all the other groups, is also referred to as "Tyrant flycatchers," or "tyrannidae."

Yes, the Dark-eyed Junco is commonly called the Snowbird.

Killdeer, whippoorwill, certain warblers.

They eat a variety of insects and worms, but mostly like ants, ticks, crickets and insect larva. They sometimes go after small minnows. They will also eat some seeds, but it's not their preferred food.

A hermit thrush is one example.

=== ===