Whatbird.com

As i am fairly new to birding, I was just curious (actually I am just a really nosy person),  What bird got you interested in birding?  For me, I hung a small pagoda feeder on my window, and a Tufted titmouse showed up.  This was the most unusual bird I had ever seen.  Small, blue and beautiful.   after that i was hooked.  Now I have a "pole" city in my yard. lol.  To date I have seen 28 different kinds of birds in my yard alone. :)  thanks for putting up with us new, nosy birders. :)

Owls, all of them, got me interested in birding. After attending a birding festival because of the live owl demonstrations, I was hooked. I now have a big feeding station and to date have about 43 species on my yard list.

---

New Additions to Life List: semipalmated plover, prairie warbler, belted kingfisher, ruddy turnstone

I have always been interested in birds, but just started to watch them.  My last place of residence was Longmont Colorado--just northeast of Boulder-where I lived for almost 3 years.  We lived in town and the only birds I remember seeing in my yard there, are robins and one northern flicker which was an interesting bird I had never seen before.  Then we moved here to semi-rural New York.  We have woods on three sides of the house with about 3/4 acre cleared with some turf, natural plants(some people call them weeds) and a garden.  In 2007, we had snow in late April, I believe and I felt sorry for the birds and put out whatever I could find in the house for them.  Then when summer came, I decided to feed the hummingbirds.  We were planning the landscaping of the yard and I decided to make a place for birds--still working on that.  I started feeding them more and more.  I saw many birds I had never even heard of before. I started researching them and bought some books for attracting, gardening for, and identifying birds.  I figure it is an educational thing I can share with my children.  It is a way to sort of have pets who are not entirely dependent on you.  I feel sorry for caged birds.   

The only thing I haven't invested in yet, is a decent camera.  That will come in time.  My husband is also interested in birds but won't have time to participate much until he at leasts gains tenure.

 

---

The yellow-breasted chat is responsible for my interest in birding.  Their strange whistles, squeaks, squawks, and whoots intrigued me to the point of obsession.  I had to know what was making those sounds.  Once I figured it out...I was hooked

---

Matthew 6:26

I was in a choir in 11th grade. We won a spot in a national competition in Washington DC...(YEAH! we were THAT awesome!) And while we were there we did a lot of field trips to national land marks and things like that. Well, one day they had two buses - one bus was heading to the mall, the other was headed to the Smithsonian. Well, all my friends wanted to to go the MALL...I was BAFFLED! We get to see the MALL all the time at home! So I went to the Smithsonian myself, and I spent  2 hours in the Bird wing...hundreds of stuffed birds...it was AMAZING...ever since then I have LOVED birds.

I used to live in the US, and one summer I visited my native Korea. I saw a group of varied tits there... From that time, I was sunk into a black hole... only it wasn't black... it's red, yellow, gray , blue, green, brown, white and all the colors.

Here's a pic taken a year later;

---

____________________________________________

"You can cage a bird, but you cannot make him sing."
Andy

I used to hate birds. I had lived in a city for most of my adult life and couldn't stand hearing them chirp outside my bedroom window. Nor could my husband. We would both get out of bed about 6 AM and take a broom and wave it around the tree to get them to stop. When I was a kid, my parents never had feeders so birds weren't ever around to admire. Then we bought our first house in a small town of about 300 people and while sitting outside one day we saw a Downy Woodpecker. Didn't know it at the time and we got excited. That was about 6 yrs ago and ever since we have feeders all over our yard and I bought an SLR camera just for birds. We are hooked and can't get enough of them. I have so many pics on my computer that I couldn't count them. We sit on the porch everyday just to watch them. We have seen about 20-30 different species we never imagined existed. We have found injured babies and have a local rehab contact that picks them up. We love birds and will go for a drive just to take pics of them. We recently have a CD that plays outside to call them in. For all of our normal feeders, we can tell right away what they are by their calls or how they fly. Its so interesting and it never gets dull.

Welcome to the wonderful world of birding! 

I think this is a great question though I honestly can't recall what the first bird was that got me hooked.  I just happened to notice something I couldn't identify (about 15 years ago now) and so I checked out a bird book from the library.  I've been doing it ever since and have a pretty impressive life list - in my opinion anyway!  It began casually and grew over the years.  I now go out at least once a week and have gotten some of my friends interested as well.  I bird wherever I go and have spent many a lunch hour in the local cemetery's where the birding is always pretty good.  For me, it's a great way to relax, spend time in nature, and take notice of the wonders around us that we often overlook.

It's interesting how my hobby brings me to the minds of people when they happen to notice a bird.  I'm often approached by friends or co-workers who will say...I was on the golf course, or I was taking a walk, and I saw this bird and immediately thought of you.  I'm now the resident bird lady!  But it's a label I gladly accept.  I hope it brings you the same pleasure it has me. 

I agree - what a great question!

My interest in birds began when I was a child.  I remember the cold winters in Pennsylvania and visting my Grandma.  She had a feeder in her back yard and we would look out the window and watch the cardinals, chickadees and titmice come and feed in the snow.  I must have been around 10 or 11 years old.  I think the bird that captured my heart was a black capped chickadee. Because no matter how cold it was or how much snow was on the ground, that little fellow would come to the feeder and sing.  I have always loved nature because we grew up in a rural area and there wasn't much else to do except walk in the woods or watch out the cold, dreary windows and enjoy the birds.

Now - I have too, become the bird lady.  My neighbors all know I love birds and when they see a new one they ask me to come over and look.  No one else in my family really cares about birds so I pretty much drive them all crazy.   That is why I really love this website - because I have found so many people out there just like me sharing this passion for our friends in the sky.  It is a very nice feeling and I appreciate everyone's input and photos.

Happy birding!  (when could it ever be sad?)

---

Sharon Calahan

I really can't say. I guess I've always enjoyed watching the birds and trying to ID them, ever since I was a kid.

---

Don't cry because it's over, smile because you were there.

Well, I've always been interested in birds but if I had to tie a bird to this, it would be the Red Tail Hawk...  I'm starting to see them alot at work and at times at home as well...

---

Did they get you to trade, your hero's for ghosts?

I have been fascinated by birds ever since I can remember!! When I was a small child just knee-high to a grasshopper, I lived on a farm in north Ala. In the summer we had two weeks of Bible School where the kids had a shop class where we could make various things. I always chose to make a birdhouse! I can remember being sooooooooo excited when a pair of Eastern Bluebirds nested in a birdhouse I had built!! My daddy let me see the eggs, and let me see the baby birds when they hatched. He cautioned me about disturbing them or the nest, and not to peek in on them more than once a day to keep from stressing Mama and Papa bird. I can still remember being thrilled seeing the baby birds peeking out of the birdhouse, and being happy and sad when they could fly away. I have never lost my love for birds, although it has only been recently that I have had a camera to take decent photos from which I could identify unknowns. I plan to spend my " golden years" doing lots more birding!!!

---

We did not inherit Mother Earth from our ancestors...... we have borrowed Her from our descendants.
Chief Seattle (paraphrased)

My dad had a very old pair of binocs and a 1967 printing of Peterson's Field Guide to Western Birds. I guess my dad was a amature naturalist, since he had guides on mammals, birds, geogolgy, rock hounding and gemology and his own 57 acre parcel of the Mojave Desert..just for camping and hiking, and mineral rites. When I was growing up in Escondido, Ca. we had a grove of very old olive trees, and some horses. While outdoors I notice that these pretty red birds nesting in the trees. Two of the birds had different calls but similar looks, so I went for the Peterson's guide and discoverd we had House Finches & Purple Finches. Then I notice this pretty black and white bird, sitting on the horse water bowl, and occasionaly zipping into the air to snap up a gnat... so I HAD to find out what that one was....a Black Phoebe... and so those were my first birds. My interest was renewed when we moved to the Willamette Valley, Oregon in 2001. My life list now has 270 (est.) birds, and two rare birds Yellow Billed Loon and Falcated Duck. We just happend to be at the pond, having lunch on Valentines Day, the day the bird (first state record) was officially discovered. There are many birds I still can't say for sure what they are, so am now working on my audio ID skills and trying to find the best bird list record keeping software...my little address book I started in 1995 is about wore out.

Hey! in my back yard just have 3 species bird : Tree Sparrow, Wren, And Swallow.

---

I am the only Indonesian people in this forums

I started really getting into birdwatching in 4th Grade which means around 1965.

I first bird that I always enjoyed watching was the Cardinal.

However, we traveled alot during the summer and I was excited to see the American Redstart, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and Swallow-tailed Kite.

 

Note:  Don't know if the Scissor-tailed flycatcher was always in the Houston-Baytown Texas area, but I remember seeing my first while in gradeschool and recognizing that they seemed to be expanding their range.  Now they are a regular resident of the community.

  Also, the same may be happening now with the Swallow-tailed Kite.  I never saw one until about 8 yrs ago about 50 miles to the North of my area near Dayton.  This year, I saw several about 70 miles to the East in the Orange, TX. area.  Last month, one flew over my house and hovered long enough to give me a good look.  But, by the time I got my camera, it was gone.