The Blue Jay is found throughout most of eastern and central United States and southern Canada, although western populations may be migratory. It breeds in both deciduous and coniferous forests and is common near and in residential areas. It is predominantly blue with a white chest and underparts and a blue crest. It has a black U-shaped collar around its neck and a black border behind the crest. The blue jay mainly feeds on nuts and seeds such as acorns, soft fruits, arthropods and occasionally small vertebrates. It typically eats food from trees, shrubs and the ground, though it sometimes hawks insects from the air. Like squirrels, they are known to hide nuts for later consumption. It builds an open cup nest in the branches of a tree, which both sexes participate in constructing.
The Baltimore Oriole is found throughout the eastern and central United States. The male oriole is slightly larger than the female, although the size difference is minimal. Adults always have white bars on the wings. The adult male is orange on the underparts, shoulder patch and rump, with some birds appearing a very deep flaming orange and others appearing yellowish-orange. All the rest of the male's plumage is black. The adult female is yellow-brown on the upper parts with darker wings and dull orange-yellow on the breast and belly. The juvenile oriole is similar looking to the female, with males taking until the fall of their second year to reach adult plumage. They forage in trees and shrubs, also making short flights to catch insects. They acrobatically clamber, hover and hang among foliage as they comb high branches. They mainly eat insects, berries and nectar, they are often seen sipping on hummingbird feeders. The nest is built by the female. It's a tightly woven pouch located on the end of a branch, consisting of any plant or animal materials available, hanging down on the underside. Trees such as elm, cottonwood, maple, willow or apple are regularly selected.
The Eastern Bluebird is found east of the Rockies, southern Canada to the Gulf states and southeastern Arizona to Nicaragua. The increase in trees throughout the Great Plains during the past century due to fire suppression and tree planting facilitated the western range expansion of the bluebird, as well as range expansions of many other species of birds. The bright blue breeding plumage of the male is easily observed on a wire or open perch, makes this species a favorite of birders. About two-thirds of the diet of an adult consists of insects and other invertebrates. The remainder of the bird's diet is made up of wild fruits or berries. Their favored insect foods include grasshoppers, crickets, katydids and beetles. Other food items include earthworms, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, sow bugs and snails. The bluebird prefers to build nests in wood bluebird houses.
The American Robin is widely found throughout North America. The orange chest is very recognizable with this American staple. The robin is active mostly during the day and assembles in large flocks at night. Their diet consists of beetles, grubs, earthworms and caterpillars, fruits and berries. Their nest consists of long coarse grass, twigs, paper and feathers and is smeared with mud and often cushioned with grass or other soft materials. It is among the first birds to sing at dawn and its song consists of several discrete units that are repeated.
The American Crow is found throughout much of North America. It's one of several species that are entirely black. Crows build bulky stick nests, nearly always in trees but sometimes also in large bushes and very rarely, on the ground. They will nest in a wide variety of trees, including large conifers, although oaks are most often used. The crow will feed on invertebrates of all types, carrion, scraps of human food, seeds, eggs and nestlings, stranded fish on the shore and various grains. they are active hunters and will prey on mice, frogs and other small animals. In winter and autumn, their diet is more dependent on nuts and acorns. Occasionally, they will visit bird feeders. The crow is one of only a few species of bird that has been observed modifying and using tools to obtain food.
The American Goldfinch is commonly found ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season and from just south of the Canadian border to Mexico during the winter. The male is a vibrant yellow in the summer and an olive color during the winter. While the female is a dull yellow-brown shade which brightens only slightly during the summer. The male displays brightly colored plumage during the breeding season to attract a mate. The goldfinch is a granivore and adapted for the consumption of seed heads, with a conical beak to remove the seeds and agile feet to grip the stems of seed heads while feeding. The nest is built by the female up to 30 feet off of the ground. The outer shell of the nest is built of dead tree bark, weeds, vines and grass. The rim is reinforced with flexible fibers found in nature like caterpillar silk and nesting spider web, lined with plant down. The nest is said to be so well constructed that it can hold water.
The Hummingbird is found in America from south central Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, including the Caribbean. The majority of species occur in tropical and subtropical Central and South America, but several species also breed in temperate climates and some hillstars occur even in alpine Andean highlands at altitudes up to 17,100'. To serve courtship and territorial competition, many male hummingbirds have plumage with bright, varied coloration resulting both from pigmentation in the feathers and from prism-like cells within the top layers of feathers of the head, gorget, breast, back and wings. When sunlight hits these cells, it's split into wavelengths that reflect to the observer in varying degrees of intensity. Hummingbirds drink nectar, a sweet liquid inside certain flowers. Like bees, they are able to assess the amount of sugar in the nectar they eat, they normally reject flower types that produce nectar that is less than 10% sugar and prefer those whose sugar content is higher. Nectar is a mixture of glucose, fructose and sucrose and is a poor source of nutrients, so hummingbirds meet their needs for protein, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc. by preying on insects and spiders. Hummingbirds build velvety, compact cups with spongy floors and elastic sides that stretch as the young grow. They weave together twigs, plant fibers and bits of leaves and use spider silk as threads to bind their nests together and anchor them to the foundation.
