American Coot

American Coots are black with a white bill and red eyes. While they are waterbirds and look similar to ducks, these birds are not in the same order as ducks and are distantly related. They can be found in flocks in ponds, marshes, and lakes. These birds can also be found on the water on golf courses and city parks. Some populations will migrate in the winter.  American Coots will forage in the water by upending or diving to eat algae, leaves, stems, grasses, aquatic invertebrates, tadpoles, and fish. These birds are noisy and aggressive and will attack each other with their big feet over territories. They have a variety of calls, such as chirps, screams, and whistles. During the breeding season, the male will perform a mating ritual while swimming to the female. After mating, they will have one or two broods a year with six to 11 eggs in each. The eggs are grey with brown spots, and both the males and females will build a nest in tall aquatic vegetation and incubate them.

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/american-coot

American Goldfinch

American Goldfinches have black faces and black wings with white spots. In the winter, both sexes are mostly yellowish brown; in the summer, the males are bright yellow and the females are yellow-green. They can be found in open areas, such as meadows, grasslands, patches of weeds and thistles, or fields. They will migrate in the fall and spring.  Their diet mostly consists of seeds from either feeders or weeds, shrubs, and trees. American Goldfinches will forage in flocks, and their favorite seeds are Daisy seeds. Their call types are chatters, chirps, and whistles. During the breeding season, the male will perform a mating ritual by singing and displaying feathers. After mating, the female will build a nest that is so tight it can hold water. They will have between two and seven eggs that are bluish-white with light brown spots. The female will incubate the eggs while the male feeds the female. Both the male and female will provide parental care after hatching. 

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/american-goldfinch

American Kestrel

American Kestrels are reddish brown with two black face stripes and long tails. Males will have blue-gray wings.They are the smallest falcons in North America. These birds can be found in grasslands, woodlands, forests, savannas, fields, and meadows. They are commonly spotted on power line wires or flying low in fields catching grasshoppers. Some populations will migrate. American Kestrels mainly eat large insects but will also eat small mammals, reptiles, and birds. They are also known as the Grasshopper Hawk due to the number of grasshoppers they consume. They hunt by watching and then swooping down and grabbing prey. Their calls are screams. While flying, the male will perform a mating ritual by calling and diving toward the female and offering food. After mating, they will build nests in holes in trees or nesting boxes. American Kestrels will have four to six eggs that are white or pale brown with brown and grey spots. Both parents will incubate the eggs. After hatching, the female will stay with the young while the male brings them food. 

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/american-kestrel

Anna's Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbirds are green on top and grey on the bottom with fuchsia throats. The males have more striking throat colors. They are medium-sized and weigh two pennies. They have high metabolisms, a resting heart rate of 420 to 460 beats per minute, an average body temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit, and wings that beat 12 to 80 times a second and allow them to fly backward. Anna’s Hummingbirds are found year-round due to food in hummingbird feeders and some winter-blooming trees. They are not social and aggressively defend their territory.  These birds are pollinators and feed on nectar in plants, their favorites being currant and gooseberry. They also will eat small invertebrates. In the winter, they will enter torpor and slow down their heart rates to 50 beats per minute and drop their body temperature to 48 degrees Fahrenheit. You should not disturb torpid hummingbirds. Both sexes will sing as a call and the male will sing while flashing his throat. The male will perform a courtship ritual by diving to the female in a J-shaped pattern. After mating, the female builds a walnut-sized nest on a tree branch made from plant material and small feathers stuck together with spider webs. They will have two white eggs the size of jelly beans.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/anna-s-hummingbird.htm

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagles have brown bodies and wings, white tails and heads, and yellow beaks and feet. The juveniles are almost entirely brown. They are large predatory raptors with sharp talons and a six and a half foot wingspan. They can be found in Alaska, the Rocky Mountains, and along the Mississippi River. They are seen in trees or flying above lakes, reservoirs, or rivers. Their diet is mainly fish, but they will also eat small birds, rodents, and carrion. They were previously on the Endangered Species Act but were removed in 2007. Bald Eagles are solitary animals but will spend the breeding season with the same mate every year, unless their current mate dies. They build their nests on tops of trees with sticks and twigs and will return every year and continuously add onto it. The nest can eventually weigh over a ton and reach up to six feet in diameter and height. After copulation, they will lay two or three eggs, and both the male and female will provide parental care until they are independent. They will become mature at five years old and then find their mate. Bald Eagles will live for 20 to 30 years. 

https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Birds/Bald-Eagle

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfishers have blue bodies and heads with a white throat and bellies. They are 13 inches tall and have a crested head. They can be found around wetlands, rivers, lakes, or ponds with clear water for fishing. These birds will migrate during winter to find unfrozen water sources by following rivers or coastlines. Belted Kingfishers prey upon fish, giving them their name. They will hunt by watching the water above for fish, then diving head first and capturing the fish with their bill. They will cough up the indigestible parts of the fish in pellets. These birds will also eat aquatic invertebrates and frogs. Their call type includes screams, trills, buzzing, and rattles. During courtship, the males bring fish to the females as an offering.  Then, they will both build a nest along a dirt bank. Both the males and females will provide parental care. The males will incubate the eggs during the day, while the females incubate at night. They will both provide food for the young after hatching.  Belted Kingfishers will have one brood per year with five to eight white eggs. 

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/belted-kingfisher

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbirds have white and light brown bodies and black heads and chins, giving them their name. The males have a purple band below their chin that is hard to see. They are just under four inches tall. Black-chinned Hummingbirds can be found in forests, woodlands, mountains, savannas, shrublands, and urban areas. After breeding, they will often move to the mountains. They are migratory and will leave in the fall to migrate to Mexico and then migrate back in the spring. Black-chinned Hummingbirds will feed on nectar from flowers, sugar water from hummingbird feeders, and insects. Their call types are buzzing, chirps, and trills.  During courtship, the males will fly back and forth while buzzing. After mating, the females will build a nest in a shrub or tree made from grass, spiderwebs, and down. The females provide parental care by incubating the eggs and feeding the young. They will have up to three broods a year with two white eggs.

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/black-chinned-hummingbird

Burrowing Owls

Burrowing Owls are brown with white specks across their body.  They have long legs, no ear tufts, and a wingspan of 20 to 24 inches. They are ten inches tall and weigh six ounces. Burrowing Owls are ground-dwelling and will live in burrows that were either dug themselves or abandoned. They are active at dusk and dawn. Burrowing Owls prey upon insects, birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians. To attract their favorite food, Dung Beetles, they will line their burrows with animal waste. After mating, both the males and females will provide parental care. Owlets will hide in the burrows while waiting for their parents to bring food and mimic the sounds of Rattlesnakes for protection. They will live for six to eight years. 

https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Birds/Burrowing-Owl

Calliope Hummingbird

Calliope Hummingbirds are pale green and white with a magenta throat. They are three inches tall and weigh one-tenth of an ounce, making them the smallest birds in North America.  They can be found in woodlands, forests, deserts, savannas, and shrublands, but mainly in mountains. These birds may migrate to Mexico in the winter through the Rocky Mountains.  Their call types are buzzing and chirps. Calliope Hummingbirds feed on nectar from flowers close to the ground to avoid bigger, more aggressive hummingbirds. They may also feed at hummingbird feeders and on small insects. Males establish territories and then perform courtship rituals by displaying throat feathers and flying in a U-shape while diving and making a popping sound. After mating, the females will build a nest in a tree or shrub made from plant down, spider webs, and moss. The females provide parental care. They will have one brood with two white eggs.

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/calliope-hummingbird

Cooper's Hawk

Cooper’s Hawks have brown bodies with white specks and white chests. They have yellow talons and black, sharp beaks. They weigh one pound and have a three-foot wingspan. The females are larger and more powerful, making the males submissive. Cooper’s Hawks can be found in forests, woodlands, and urban areas. They prey upon smaller birds, such as starlings and blackbirds, but will also eat small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. They are active during the day and will ambush prey after waiting on tree branches to swoop down and grab it. These hawks will watch bird feeders for an easy meal. Cooper’s Hawks are solitary birds but will mate with the same partner every year. After mating, males will collect the nesting material and bring it to the females to build their nest. Females will lay four or five eggs and incubate them while the males bring the females food. Both the males and females will provide parental care to the young after hatching.

https://animals.net/coopers-hawk/

Hairy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpeckers have white bodies with black streaks, a small red spot on their heads, and black wings. They are nine inches tall. These birds can be found in forests, woodlands, shrublands, mountains, savannas, and urban areas. They do not migrate. Their diet mainly includes wood-boring insects, but they will also eat seeds, nuts, and berries. Hairy Woodpeckers will forage on trees or shrubs. Their calls include chirps, drums, trills, and rattles.  The males and females will have separate territories throughout the year. During the breeding season, they will pair up with the same mate from the year before. The males and females will perform a courtship ritual by drumming in a duet at the nest site. They will build a nest together in a tree cavity in the female’s territory. The males will incubate at night, and the females will incubate during the day. Hairy Woodpeckers will have one brood per year with three to six white eggs. Both the males and females will provide parental care.

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/hairy-woodpecker

Killdeer

Killdeers have brown heads and backs and long, orange tail feathers. They have white bellies, throats, and chests, with two black bands across their chests. They are nine to 11 inches tall. These birds can be found along the water near fields, grasslands, meadows, wetlands, and urban areas or in ponds, rivers, and lakes. They will migrate in the fall and early spring. Killdeers will feed mostly on insects and seeds. They are opportunistic feeders and will run along the ground foraging for food. Their calls include trills and whistles. The males will perform a courtship ritual of flying high and repeatedly calling “kill-deer”, giving them their name. They will build a nest on the ground in a field or along a road. Killdeers will pretend to be hurt to lure predators and humans away from their nests. They will have two broods per year of three to five brown and black eggs. Both females and males will provide parental care, but the young will feed themselves after receiving the food. 

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/killdeer

Lazuli Bunting

Lazuli Buntings are dimorphous. Males are blue with a rusty orange chest and light grey bellies and wing-bars. The females are brown with wing streaks. They are five inches tall. These birds can be found in deserts, fields, grasslands, meadows, forests, mountains, shrub-lands, and savannas. During the breeding season, they will mainly be found in thickets and along streams. The males will be out in the open singing, while females remain hidden in the bushes with their nests. They will migrate in flocks at the end of summer. Lazuli Buntings mainly feed on insects and seeds. They will forage on the ground and in low plants. Their calls include buzzing, chirps, and whistles. The male will sing to defend his territory and attract a mate. After mating, the nest is built in shrubs or low trees by the females and made of grass, leaves, weeds, and animal hair. They will have two to three broods per year with three to five pale blue eggs, and the females will incubate them. After hatching, the young will feed on insects.The females will always provide parental care, while the males may choose to help.  The males are more likely to help when the females begin to make nest number two or three. 

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/lazuli-bunting

Osprey

Ospreys have brown backs, white chests, and white heads with a black streak by their yellow eyes. They have powerful wings that extend five feet and are half black and half white. They are 21 to 23 inches long and weigh three to four pounds, with the females being larger than the males. These birds have a black bill with a sharp hook, long legs, and feet with hooked talons and barbs on their pads to help them catch fish. They have a waterproof coating and can close their nostrils while on the water. Ospreys are also known as Fish Hawks due to their adaptations and diet being almost entirely fish. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica along rivers, lakes, marshes, and wetlands. These birds have multiple calls used for alarm, territory defending, and courtship. During the breeding season, they will migrate to find their mate and are often monogamous. The males will find a nesting site along the water in a tree, cliff, or man-made structure. Both the males and females will build their large nest that they will use for several years. The females will lay two to four eggs that they will both incubate. Both the males and females will provide parental care. They can live up to 25 years but will likely live much less. 

https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Birds/Osprey

Red-tailed Hawk

  

Red-tailed Hawks have rust-brown backs with speckles of white, white chests with dark streaks, and red tails, giving them their name. They are 18 to 25 inches tall. They can be found in fields, grasslands, meadows, forests, woodlands, savannas, and urban areas but prefer open terrain with some trees or telephone poles to rest on. These birds will migrate in the late fall and early spring to the south. Red-tailed Hawks will hunt by watching from above, then swoop down and capture prey. They prey upon small mammals, reptiles, and birds and may also feed on carrion. Their call type is screaming. During courtship, the males and females will fly in circles while screaming. The males may dive and bring food to the females. After mating, the nest will be made of sticks and leaves, built by both the males and females on a tree, cliff edge, or tall building. Red-tailed Hawks will have two to four white eggs with brown spots that both the males and females will incubate. After hatching, the females will watch the young while the males bring food.

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/red-tailed-hawk

Red-winged Blackbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Western Meadowlark

Western Bluebird

Western Screech Owl

Wood Duck

Yellow Warbler