How to Identify 10 backyard birds of the beautiful Pacific Northwest
By Skye
Hi this is Skye!
In this article, I will tell you all how to attract and ID (identify) some of the most common backyard birds of the Pacific Northwest. There are more backyard birds, but I chose some of the most common.
Song sparrow
The song sparrow is a little brown bird that likes eating insects, seeds and fruits. In my backyard, we have a platform feeder, a tube feeder, a suet feeder, and a thistle sock. I have seen the song sparrows eating fallen seeds, but also at the tube feeder, the platform feeder, and the suet feeder.
Dark-eyed Junco
These small birds are a little bit bigger than a song sparrow. They mainly eat fallen seeds, but many times I have seen them on our suet feeder.
Spotted Towhee
Spotted Towhees are birds that look like robins at first glance, with a black head, red sides, spotted back, and a white belly. They are a little bit smaller than robins, but bigger than song sparrows. They don’t often eat at our feeders- instead they eat on the ground.
House Finch
House finches are one of the most common birds that come to our feeders. The males have a beige chest with streaks of brown and a bright red head, but the females don’t have a red head. They still have the streaks, though! They enjoy coming to our tube feeder.
Pine Siskin
At first glance, pine siskins are indistinguishable from female house finches, but if you look closer, they are a bit smaller, and a lot streakier. These birds eat at our tube feeder, but you can sometimes see one on our thistle sock.
American Goldfinch
American Goldfinches are bright yellow in the summer, but in winter they lose their color. The one in the picture was in spring. They enjoy thistle socks and tube feeders.
Bushtit
Bushtits are by far my favorite bird. They are extremely small, fluffy, and travel in swarms of up to 30. They like suet feeders and tube feeders.
Downy Woodpecker
These are adorable birds! They have a white chest and a black back. The males have a red spot on the back of the head, but the females don’t. They only like suet feeders, but they also eat bugs in wood. They are the smallest species of woodpecker.
Mourning Dove
Mourning doves are doves that make a sound like they are sobbing. They mate for life. They are quite big, about robin-sized. They are beige with little black spots. They eat on the ground.
Parakeet
Just kidding! Parakeets aren’t a backyard bird (I wish they were!).
I really hope you enjoyed this article and I hope you are able to identify some backyard birds (if you live in the pacific northwest). Check out some other articles while you are here!!
BYEEEEE