What do you get for $5? A 4.5” by 8.5” pamphlet size paperback book with plastic cover, with ~200 pages divided into three sections. Attracting Birds to Your Backyard, Photographing Birds, and Identifying Birds.

Attracting Birds to Your Backyard is ~65 pages dedicated to feeders, foods, and general tips on attracting birds to your backyard. There are also a few pages specifically dedicated to hummingbirds. The author discusses all manner of foods, proper nesting box entry hole size, and plants for attracting birds.

This section was easy to read, informative, and was easily worth the price of admission. Standard info, but it is always useful to think about what types of birds may be attracted to different feeder types. In other words, this section is all about h to make your backyard bird friendly and the like.

I found the section on Photographing Birds to be a sort of a throw away section. Old and out dated, but I guess if I were really into photography, I could find some use for it. Your mileage may vary.

The Identifying Birds section is decent, but certainly nothing special. The first few pages consist of basic identification tips, filled with some black and white drawings, followed by ~100 pages of actual birds. The individual bird entries have a color photograph, a summary, and a section on identification and distinguishing features – size, color, voice, range, habitat, eggs, food, and habits.

I have used this section more for entertainment value to learn about various birds. It would not be my first choice for identifying birds at the feeder.

Rounding out the book is the obligatory checklist (keeping track of what you have seen), a resource section, and an index. The resources are outdated (remember, this book was published 12 years ago), but really, how much can bird watching information change?

I suppose you could swap out a few birds, update the photography section and have a somewhat formulistic all about “insert state” birds book. An Amazon search will reveal that tactic, but all in all, a decent pickup for $5. I think I have gotten my money’s worth out of the book, and the section Attracting Birds to Your Backyard was easily worth the price of the book. I have turned to this section on several occasions as I think about ways to attract more birds to my backyard.

There are better backyard, bird watching, and bird identification books out there, but probably not too many that come with a cheaper price point.

Highlights? A pair of Carolina Chickadees, several Dark-Eyed Juncos feeding in and around puddles, and a surprising number of House Finches (~10 at times).

I picked up some black-oil sunflower seed earlier in the week, and loaded up three of the feeders with the stuff yesterday morning. It did not take long for the birds to dig in, and one opportunistic raider also wanted to take a nibble.

03-15-2009
Blue Jay*
Cardinal (male and female)
Dark-Eyed Junco (male and female)
House Finch (male and female)
House Sparrow (male)*
Mourning Dove
Northern Mockingbird*
Tufted Titmouse*
White-throated Sparrow*

* Observed in the afternoon; added after article was posted.

03-14-2009
Cardinal (male and female)
Carolina Chickadee
House Finch (male and female)
House Sparrow (male)
Mourning Dove
Northern Mockingbird
White-throated Sparrow

American Robin
Blue Jay
Carolina Wren
Dark-Eyed Junco (male)
Downy Woodpecker (male and female)*
European Starling
House Finch (male and female)
House Sparrow (male and female)
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal (female)
Northern Mockingbird
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Tufted Titmouse

*Possibly a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers instead of Downy Woodpeckers, but the size of the birds and beak point to Downy Woodpeckers.

I also saw a couple of American Crows at the soccer field, so I guess that is also something different. Every once in a while I see them flying over the neighborhood, but not while I was putting together a report.

I need to pick up some more seed and another feeder or two; would like to see if I can attract something different. Most of the birds that visit are fairly typical, nothing special. More feeding opportunities via different feeder varieties may bring in more visitors.

01-19-09
Cardinal (male and female)
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
House Sparrow (male)
Mourning Dove
White-throated sparrow

01-18-09
Carolina Wren
House Sparrow (male)
Mourning Dove
Tufted Titmice

01-17-09
Carolina Wren
House Sparrow (male)
Mourning Dove

01-11-09
Cardinal (male)
House Finch (male and female)
House Sparrow (male)
Mourning Dove

While I was out and about, I noticed the following, all typical, but figured since I was putting pen to paper (so to speak) I would capture these as well.
House Sparrow ~15-20 – at a local Wal-Mart parking lot
Mockingbird – at the local library
Rock pigeon (2 flocks: 7-10 and 10-15) – at two different major intersections

01-10-09
These observations were only for a 5-10 minute span around 11:30AM.

Cardinal (male and female)
House Finch (male and female)
House Sparrow (male)
Mourning Dove
*Unidentified: Some type of woodpecker; it was a few yards over and I did not have my binoculars to properly identify.

So why take up bird watching? It was sort of an accident. I have always had feeders, and of course have enjoyed the birds that frequent the yard. Then of course came the squirrels … err tree rats. Adult airguns in form of a Beeman R7, Beeman R1, and Beeman R1 Carbine quickly followed.

As I have gotten more into the airgun hobby it was natural to stumble across sites, forums, and blogs that discuss defending cavity nesting birds from such non native species as European Starlings. Sparrows are also a favorite pest species to “remove” from one’s property. Ah, but which sparrows? One sparrow looks like another until you take the time to properly identify your intended target. As I said, one accident (misidentification) sort of led me into this potential new hobby.

It should also be noted that according to the 2008-2009 Georgia Hunting Regulations:

COYOTES, ARMADILLOS, GROUNDHOGS, BEAVERS, STARLINGS, PIGEONS AND ENGLISH SPARROWS: No closed season. No limit.

Now onto my observations …

Today (01-04-09)
Cardinal (male)
Carolina Wren
English Sparrow (male)
House Sparrow (male and female)
Mockingbird
Mourning Dove
White-throated Sparrow
*Unidentified: Mostly drab grey (maybe olive green), with yellow tip tail feathers. Medium sized ~8-9″ long; 3-5 in a group.
*Unidentified: Mostly drab grey; maybe slightly blue-ish tint. Small sized ~5-6″ long. Eating berries in the palm tree?

01-03-09
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Cardinal (male and female)
House Finch (male)
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Tufted Titmouse
White-throated Sparrow
*Unidentified: Canada Goose? Flying overhead in “v-shaped” formation (~25 birds).

01-02-09
Brown Thrasher
Carolina Wren
Cardinal (male and female)
English Sparrow (male)
House Sparrow (male)
Mourning Dove

01-01-09
Brown Thrasher
Carolina Wren
Cardinal (male and female)
English Sparrow (male)
House Sparrow (male)
House Finch (male)
Mourning Dove
Pileated Woodpecker
White-throated Sparrow