I live in northern California. Besides owning my own home business I enjoy gardening and birdwatching. I not only observe my backyard birds, I feed them,
count them for Project FeederWatch, and take pictures of them. Birdwatching is a relaxing and educational hobby. I've not only learned a great deal about the
lives, habits, and food preferences of backyard birds in my area but also about digital photography.
You can attract different species of birds to your feeders and your yard by the kind of seeds and nourishment you provide. The color of the feathers of various
birds is influenced by the age of the bird, the sex of the bird, the season of the year, and the kind of bird seed they eat.
One species in particular, the house finch, shows some of this diversity. The female is a small striped brown and whitish bird. The male house finch has a bright red
breast, forehead, stripe over the eye, and rump. The male may be orange or even yellow-gold instead of red depending on the kind of food he eats.
Birds will flock to your backyard feeders if they are full of their favorite seeds. However, birds get most of their food from the plants and grasses found in the wild.
Here are pictures of some of the birds that have ventured into my backyard.
(Some of the photos have a date and some do not. This is because of the way I cropped the picture.)
 Chestnut-Backed Chickadee |
 Chestnut-Backed Chickadee |
 Chestnut-Backed Chickadee |
 Chestnut-Backed Chickadee |
 Chestnut-Backed Chickadee |
 Chestnut-Backed Chickadee |
 Female House Finch |
 Male House Finch |
 Male House Finch |
 Male House Finch |
 Male House Finch |
 Male House Finch |
 Male House Finch |
 Male and Female House Finch |
 White-Crowned Sparrow, Golden-Crowned Sparrow, and Male House Finch |
 White-Crowned Sparrows |
 Hummingbird |
 Hummingbird |
 Oak Titmouse |
 Anna's Hummingbird |
 Western Scrub Jay |
 Western Scrub Jay |
 Stellar's Jay |
 Male Dark-Eyed Junco |
 Wild Turkey |
 Mom Wild Turkey and Young |
 Wild Turkeys |
 Wild Turkeys |
 Squirrels |
 Squirrels |
 Squirrel and Mourning Doves |
 Mourning Dove and Golden Crowned Sparrow
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