Locations: 1637 Menlo Ave, Arcade US-CA (38.5948,-121.3499) (26 m)

Site Description: This week, I went birding in my front and back yard again. There are various trees and shrubs in my yard. Some are just bushes at ground level, while others are much taller trees with lots of branching. I saw birds at various levels during from trip from ground to the sky. Most of the birds I saw in trees were high up, far above eye level. Other birds were seen on the ground. Overall, the birds seen were mainly smaller in size. There were lots of bird calls and chirping, and it was difficult to get a visual on the birds even if I could hear where they were coming from due to all of the branching. It was also a little hard to get a good angle of birds in trees due to being in a yard, so I could not shift to get a view from all angles. The small birds were also very quick to flit from branch to branch and usually quickly flew away. I also birded in my front yard where there were mainly tall trees. A couple of the trees were only branches and had little to no leaves. The area overall is flat and quiet overall. I noticed a tree swallow made its nest on the roof of my house —  near the gutter. I saw it fly in and out of the gutter a few times and one time it almost got stuck. I saw about 12 different taxa and the key bird species seen included: Anna’s Hummingbird, Black Pheobe, California Scrub-Jay, American Crow, Oak Titmouse, Tree Swallow, Northern Mockingbird, Dark-eyed Junco, Mourning Dove, White-crowned Sparrow, Turkey Vulture and Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Species Account: Northern Mockingbird was a key new species I identified while I was birding this week. I did not actually visually see this bird. But I was able to identify it by its sound. It had a very loud and distinctive sound. It kept changing, and it was not a repetitive tone like most other bird songs. Its sound is described as trill and an ongoing series of phrases (All About Birds). It is said to be repeated 2-6 times before shifting to a new sound; the songs can go on for 20 seconds or more (All About Birds). This description matches with what I heard given it was loud shrieking like sound and lasted for at least 20 seconds as the sounds kept changing. When using the Sibley app recordings, I thought it matched best with Northern Mockingbird. These birds are also thought to be common in this area, so it was another way to correctly identify it. I hope that I am able to get a good visual on this bird another day. The Northern  Mockingbird’s diet mainly includes insects and berries (Audubon). It usually gets food from the ground or will linger around branches to get berries (Audubon). It is a medium sized song bird (All About Birds). They are thought to lay 3-4 eggs per brood and both parents help in the nesting/feeding (Audubon). Northern Mocking birds are thought to be pretty hostile as they have been known to attack humans or other animals that may venture too close to their nests (Audubon).

Narrative: I went birding for about an hour in my front and back yard. I started birding around 1 pm and the weather was very nice. There was a still breeze but it was still warm outside. It was clear and not too loud outside. There was some construction further down the street so some drilling could be heard, but birds could still be heard. It was a very clear day. I mainly was looking in the branches for any movement. Hearing birds chirping was the most helpful because it directed me what direction to look. I did see a couple of soaring birds, I only saw one Turkey Vulture and I could identify it by its wing pattern. I saw another bird soaring high in the sky, but it too far to get a correct ID. I saw a couple of swallows flying overhead quickly. I identified them easily by their undulating flight and their song helped me identify them as Tree Swallows. I also spotted a couple birds on the power line in my yard. One of them were was a white crown sparrow, as it had the white striping on its head. It also had the bright yellow beak. The Yellow-Rumped Warbler was hard to spot as as it blended in with the branches but its yellow color stood out as it moved a bit. The Oak Titmouse was seen again with a few others on the ground in the dirt. They were very quick to flit back and forth from bush to bush. They had a distinctive mohawk of feathers on their head, which helped me identify them. I also saw them move the feathers on their head up and down — sometimes having a flat head rather than the mohawk. I also saw a California Scrub Jay high up in the branches. I had some difficulty identifying it at first due to the lighting throwing off the coloration, but with Dr. Paul’s help I was able to correctly ID it as a jay. In the trees that did not have many main leaves, I mainly saw Black Pheobes. I also saw a bird fly in that had a reddish tint. As i moved closer to get a better look, it flew away so I was not able to get an ID. But it was something different and new from what I was used to. The Sibley App also allowed me to confirm some ID’s using the song recordings. One main one was the Northern Mockingbird. This was a bird I did not see, but its chirping was very loud and distinct. It made very different noises, going from one sound to a completely different one. It matched a lot with the recording on the Sibley app. Overall, I was happy with this trip because I saw some different birds from the last time I birded in my yard. 

Additional Photos or Media: https://ebird.org/checklist/S66590500