Pine Grosbeak: A true member of the finch family. -- Lives mostly in pine trees. They are found in coniferous woods across Alaska, the western mountains of the United States, Canada, and in subarctic Fennoscandia and across the Palearctic to Siberia.
Evening Grosbeak: A true member of the finch family. -- The breeding habitat is coniferous and mixed forest across Canada and the western mountainous areas of the United States and Mexico. -- The nest is built on a horizontal branch or in a fork of a tree. --
Blue Jay: Blue jays breed from mid-March to July. Blue jays prefer to nest in evergreen trees and shrubs. Blue jays can be very aggressive to other birds; they sometimes raid nests and have been known to decapitate other birds. They build an open cup nest in the branches of a tree; both sexes participate. They breed in both deciduous and coniferous forests, and is common in residential areas.
Tri-Color Blackbirds: Their range is limited to the coastal areas of the Pacific coast of North America, from Northern California in the U.S. This highly social and gregarious bird forms the largest colonies of any North American land bird, with a single breeding colony often consisting of tens of thousands of birds. This bird is not related to the Old World common blackbird. In 1991 it was granted endangered classification.
Eastern Gray Squirrel: The eastern gray squirrel also known as the grey squirrel depending on region. In some areas they are regarded as an invasive species. Both females and males look very similar. they hoard food in numerous small caches for later recovery. The squirrels have a very accurate memory for the locations of the food they hide. Eastern gray squirrels can breed twice a year. The eastern gray squirrel is one of very few mammalian species that can descend a tree head-first. Eastern gray squirrels can breed twice a year.
Pileated Wood Pecker: This woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in North America. Their lifespan is 12-13 years. Their wingspan is 26-30 inches. When they are tapping on wood, they can deliver 11 to 30 taps in less than one second. They often chip out large and roughly rectangular holes in trees while searching out insects. Their favorite are any colonies.
Red-Bellied Woodpecker: Despite the name, the red on the belly is not often visible. Nesting site is usually in a cavity excavated in dead wood (tree, pole, fence post, or stump). The male will make several holes and then the female will pick out the most desired home. They usually nest less than 50' above ground but can be as high as 120'. The young are fed by both parents. One brood per year where we live, 2-3 broods in the south.
Wild Turkey: They can run at speeds up to 25 miles per hour. Their top speed in flight is 55 miles per hour. Their wingspan can be up nearly six feet long. The gobble of a wild turkey can be heard up to a mile away. They see in color and have three times the vision of a human. They have poor vision at night. An adult wild turkey has about 5,500 feathers. Adult male turkeys are called toms and females are called hens. The male parent turkeys have very little to do with raising chicks. The average American eats 18 pounds of turkey every year, just not the wild variety.
White Tailed Deer: They are native to North America, Central America, Ecuador, and South America and as far south as Peru and Bolivia. In the United States, Texas has the most population, exceeding 4 Million deer. There are 26 subspecies. The coat is a reddish-brown in the spring and summer and turns to a grey-brown throughout the fall and winter. The female (doe) usually weighs from 88 to 198 lbs. Male deer (also known as a bucks) usually weigh between 150 to 300 lbs., although mature bucks over 400 lbs. have been recorded in the northernmost reaches of their native range, namely Minnesota, Ontario, and Manitoba. An adult deer can eat around 2,000 lbs. of vegetable matter annually. There are several natural predators of white-tailed deer, including wolves, cougars, American alligators, jaguars, bobcats, Canada lynx, grizzly and American black bears, wolverines, and packs of coyotes. There are about 1.5 million car accidents with deer each year. The estimated cost of deer accidents exceeds $1 billion annually and the number of human fatalities that occur from deer car accidents every year is around 150.
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Hummingbirds: Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly in different directions. They can hover forward, backward, sideways, in mid-air, and even upside-down! There are more than 300 species of hummingbirds. They got their name because of the humming sound their wings produce during a flight. They can also fly in the rain and shake their heads off to remove drops of water. What is incredible though is that they can shake their heads as fast as 132 times per second. Hummingbirds have a very fast metabolism, which is nearly 100 times faster than that of an elephant. They eat nectar and insects such as ants, gnats, mosquitoes, and wasps the entire day just to survive. These hummers can feed every 10 to 15 minutes and scout between 1,000 and 2,000 flowers every day for food. Female hummingbirds only lay two eggs and are responsible to build the nest. The young hummingbirds will stay in the nest for about 3 weeks. Male hummingbirds, on the other hand, tend to find another mate after the young are hatched. Even though hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world, their migrations can span hundreds or thousands of miles. Unlike many birds, however, hummingbirds migrate individually and do not travel in seasonal flocks. They prepare for their journey by gaining up to 40% of their body weight. Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds can fly up to 500 miles non-stop to cross the Gulf of Mexico. Their heart can beat up to 1,200 times per minute when flying and 225 times at rest. They also compete for their food sources. But the mating season is the most interesting as these cute little birds turn into feisty fighters. In fact, male hummingbirds have been seen attempting to stab each other in the throat using their beaks just to compete against each other to attract females. The human brain makes up only 2% of our body weight, but that proportion is twice as high in hummingbirds at 4.2%.
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American Robin: The American Robin is one of North America’s most familiar and widespread songbirds. They belong to the thrush family, which also includes bluebirds and solitaires. Though known for being worm eaters, robins have varied diets. Research shows that they eat mostly fruits in the fall and winter, and include more insects and worms in their spring and summer diets. Robins that do migrate can cover a lot of ground: Records show that some birds have traveled up to 3,000 miles, from Iowa to Alaska. They don’t maintain pair bonds and often take on new mates each spring. Robins can raise up to three broods in one breeding season, each time laying 3-5 sky-blue eggs that take roughly 14 days to hatch. On average, they live for two years in the wild. Ornithologist May Thatcher Cooke maintained detailed records of banded robins in the early 1900s and noted that some individuals live as long as 6-9 years, with one wild robin living almost 14 years.
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