I want to buy a feeder to hang on my balcony.

My view consists of lots of trees and I really just want to be able to see more birds more closely.

Also, what kind of seeds? For northern arizona in the woods.

Can anybody tell what type of bird this came from?

To make a long story short, I got into birding as a child a little over 20 years ago and I still live in the same general area. I don’t recall California scrub jays being present really in my childhood, but I see them all over my back yard now (Tacoma, WA). Has anyone else noticed a larger presence of them over the years? Have they possibly migrated from further south? Or have they always been this present?

I’m driving in Northern WI along lake MI and saw a quick underneath view of a gull that had black tail feathers and black tipped primaries. I’m not super familiar with gulls, but I’m positive I’ve never seen one like that in WI before! Any ideas what it could be?

I guess I was having a zen moment because an Anna’s hummingbird thought my hand was a tasty flower! It poked around for several seconds, very gently. My girlfriend says I am a Disney princess.

eBird just had an app update, but as far as I can tell it was just cosmetic. What are the biggest additional features you'd like to see on eBird?

I want the app to allow you to move the center of your circle when you're in "Explore," so that you can put it anywhere in the world and see your targets within a given circle. (Rather than just around your current GPS location).

I also think they should add little badges on your profile when you qualify for the eBirder of the month award. I think I qualify most months and I'd like to see if that's the case.

The third thing is a much bigger, longer-term change. It would be really cool for eBird hotspot pages to move toward being an online guide to birding sites, pairing the citizen science data eBird provides on target species and seasonal abundance with maps, information on access and logistics - the kind of information you find on a site like www.birdingplaces.eu/en , or in print guides to birdwatching locations.

Curious what other people think.

I found this in my complex but now sure who dropped it, I’m thinking robin sparrow or finch but it seems too big for either of those

This is from a bird that is common in the South bordering Central area of Florida on the East Coast (just a bird I’ve seen/heard for many years). I do not have a name for it and can’t find and ID through pictures of Florida birds. The Merlin app also has no clue and when looking through its database manually and automatically it gave me no suggestions. Anyone have a clue what this is?

It’s a small bird with a whitish chest and brown back, it tends to stay in trees.

Also, this spectrogram is from the same bird, it kept changing its sound.

I just started birding a little. I have only been using the Merlin app, but it has been fun watching and learning what species we have on our property. With that said, we have about 10 acres. I like to walk it multiple times a day for various reasons, bird funding, mushroom finding, etc. Well, there is this broad winged hawk(merlin says that is what it is) that follows me all over the property. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but it has been happening all summer. From what read, they will do that if you are close to the nest, but it follows me from the house and all over the acres. It isn't a huge deal, but it is hard to find and hear other birds since it is so loud. So, why is this hawk following me all the time? Anyone have any idea?

My friend found this one-legged bird today, which I think is a young cedar waxwing. Does anyone have an explanation for what that long pinkish thing sticking out of the belly is? I thought it might be the other leg, but it is much thicker and positioned differently. Is it a bone, a parasite, a birth defect, an injury?

It did not seem to be in pain, but it was struggling to balance on that thin branch. A minute, later it flew away to a higher branch and rested there.

I was feeding the parent finches of a small ground nest I found in the backyard (I never got too close to the nest, only enough to see the mass of babies). I was checking on the nest multiple times a day (only because I could clearly see the nest from the back deck), but only while there was enough daylight so as to not disturb them. I checked on them one night a few days ago, but the next morning, the nest was empty. The babies were not old enough to have flown away, they were only just starting to get proper feathers.

I know something ate them overnight, but I'm trying to figure out what. From my own knowledge, anything but a snake would have left a mess of feathers and/or parts, but there was nothing. The nest itself seemed untouched as well. I live in Newfoundland, Canada, on the west coast of the island, and have been told that snakes aren't really a thing within the city limits where I live.

My question to all you lovely people, is what else could have eaten those babies without having left a mess or a destroyed nest?