Nine Common Birds in Our Backyard
Backyard Birding in Our Michigan Neighborhood
I've been interested in backyard birding for many years -- I learned how to identify robins, cardinals, goldfinches, chickadees, and grackles when I was a child, and I was surprised when I discovered that not everyone has this knowledge.
I love watching the large variety of birds that I see in our neighborhood in southeast Michigan. Here are a few of the most common species that we see in our yard - some we see most of the year, and some for just the warmer months.
Many on this list are common throughout much of the United States, so you might see them even if you don't live in Michigan.
Each species on these lists is easy to identify, either because of its color or its song. This is a great place to start if you're new to this delightful hobby, or if you're teaching your kids about what lives in your own backyard.
If you see birds in your backyard or neighborhood that you can't identify from the photos here, you can try the free online Identification Guide, that gives good field marking characteristics and audio samples of their songs.
What We See in Our Backyard
These are what we see most frequently in our yard. They're not listed in any particular order (taxonomically or otherwise), but more in the order in which I saw them or was thinking about them as I wrote this.
Nine More Common Birds in Our Backyard
I have a second page of More Common Birds in Our Backyard.
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Carolina Wren
- European Starling
- Common Grackle
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Baltimore Oriole
- Tufted Titmouse
- Downy Woodpecker
- American Crow
Nine Common Birds in Our Backyard
This is the list of birds featured on this page.
- American Robin
- Northern Cardinal
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Blue Jay
- Mourning Dove
- House Wren
- House Sparrow
- House Finch
- American Goldfinch
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
Most people in the United States will recognize the American Robin, with its brown-gray back and head, and orange belly.
The robin is one of my favorite common backyard birds, because to me it symbolizes summer. I love it's cheery song! Although a few hardy individuals winter-over here in Michigan, most migrate south for the winter. It's always a treat when these melodious birds return! Their song on a warm summer evening gives me an "all is well" feeling.
It was strange to hear a robin squawking in a tree near our house after a heavy snowstorm this past February! He was probably wondering why he didn't fly south after all.
Robins don't eat at bird feeders, but you will see them hopping around your lawn to find worms or insects. They also like berries and other fruit.
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Listen to American Robin singing.
Listen to American Robin "tutting".
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You also may be interested in reading about the American Robin and its migration in Robin in Summer, Robin in Winter.
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
Most people will recognize the brilliant red male Northern Cardinal if they live in the eastern United States. Although I see them during the winter, I don't hear them sing until sometime in February, making their song an early sign of spring in Michigan. During the summer they start singing very early in the morning. It's a nice sound to wake up to!
Cardinals love the sunflower seeds we put out in our feeder. They also eat other seeds, fruit, and insects.
The female is a brownish-red, but she still has the head crest and red beak.
They seem to have different "dialects" in different areas, or at least the Michigan cardinals sound a little different than the Minnesota cardinals!
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Listen to the song of the Northern Cardinal
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Are you interested in more information about Northern Cardinals? Read Why Cardinals Are Red to learn how they get their red color, and to see a few color variations, including the photo of a yellow Northern Cardinal, a light pink and white cardinal, and our own backyard cardinal that is missing most of its head feathers, leaving a black-skinned head.
Black-capped Chickadee
Poecile atricapillus
The cute little black-capped chickadee is always fun to see at our feeder. It's curious, and responds to our 'pishing' sounds to bring it closer. When my boys were young, we went on a school field trip in the winter to learn about chickadees and other winter animals. With adult supervision, the children carefully coaxed the chickadees to land on their mittens or fingers. A couple cardinals and hairy woodpeckers were also curious enough to land too.
The black-capped chickadee lives in the northern half of the United States, and the southern half of Canada. We see it year round. An early spring sign is when the male starts to call its sweet, plaintive "phee bee" call. It's signature call is the "Chick-a-dee-dee-dee" that many of us are familiar with.
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Listen to the Black-capped chickadee (Includes some spoken info about chickadees)
Blue Jay
Cyannocitta cristata
The blue jay is striking, with its crest and its bold blue, white, and black coloration. Blue jays are curious, boisterous and noisy, and are easy to spot. They live in the eastern half of the United States.
When they come to our sunflower seed feeder, they usually scare off the other smaller birds.
Blue jays are omnivores -- they mostly eat nuts, seeds, fruits, and grains, but they also occasionally eat other eggs and baby birds (see House Finch).
One interesting fact about blue jays that I learned a couple years ago is that some of them migrate, and when they do, they travel in flocks of hundreds. We traveled to Holiday Beach Conservation Area in Ontario, on the northwest shore of Lake Erie to observe migrating raptors (hawks, eagles), and saw thousands of blue jays flying through that day as well.
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Listen to the Blue Jay
Mourning Dove
Zenaida macroura
The mourning dove gets its name from its calls -- some people say it sounds like a soft, sad cry. I think it's more a quiet, soothing sound rather than a mournful sound, however. I remember learning about these birds at my paternal grandparents house. We'd sit out on their ivy-covered porch and listen to the mourning doves' low, soothing calls.
Another sound they make is from their wings "whistling" during their take-offs.
We get a few mourning doves at our bird feeder, but it's a little too small for them to stay there comfortably. Most of the time they're on the ground under the feeder, looking for the sunflower seeds that the cardinals have thrown off.
The mourning dove is found throughout the United States, although in the mid-northern part of the country, they're there only in the summer.
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Listen to the Mourning Dove
House Wren
Troglodytes aedon
The House Wren is a pretty little brown bird with a darker bars on the wings and tail. Our neighbors have an energetic pair of house wrens nesting in a tree hole near their house.
I love their song! It's been described as a long, jumbled bubbling introduced by abrupt churrs and scolds (All About Birds).
I remember my grandmother whistling to the wrens when we'd go visit, and they'd burble back at her.
House wrens, while quite small, are aggressive in that they may push the eggs of other birds out of nests if they want that space. They like nesting in birdhouses, tree hollows, or any small cavity they can get into.
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Listen to the House Wren
House sparrow
Passer domesticus
I originally learned the "House sparrow" as the "English sparrow". For awhile we had three bird houses up along the eaves of our garage, and all three were filled every year by house sparrows.
While browsing online for information about this species, I found that it's one of the most common birds in the world. It originated in Europe and Asia, but it was introduced to the United States in 1851 and has spread throughout the country. It also lives in parts of South America, Africa, and Australia.
The House sparrow is so common that we tend to ignore it. It lives well where ever there are people living. I often see them in parking lots and on sidewalks looking for whatever leftover crumbs of food people may have left behind.
House sparrows have simple, matter-of-fact calls, more cheaping than singing. I think they sound like a friendly community when a flock of them congregate together.
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Listen to the House Sparrow
House Finch
Carpodacus mexicanus
I first starting seeing house finches in the late 1980s in our neighborhood in SE Michigan. They were introduced into the United States in the 1940s, when they were turned loose in Long Island, NY, after a failed attempt to sell them as cage birds. They've spread throughout most of the United States since then.
For awhile in the 1990s, I remember hearing that their numbers were reclining because of a disease that affected their eyes. I think they've come back from that now.
House finches used to nest in our geranium hanging baskets at a previous house. It was pleasant having their songs right outside our windows! Most of the time the eggs and chicks disappeared, probably eaten by other birds. I remember a blue jay nosing around the nest on a couple occasions.
A fun fact I just learned: the males have red in them from the red pigment in food they eat. Some males are more orange or yellow than red. The females prefer the redder males. (All About Birds)
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Listen to the House Finch
American Goldfinch
Spinus tristis
The male American Goldfinch is beautiful with its bright yellow body, black cap, and black wings with white markings. The female is more subdued -- more of a yellow-green body with no black cap.
We see them at our thistle feeder during the spring and early summer, along with the house finches. The goldfinches are around during the winter, but their winter coloration is drabber, making them less noticeable.
The American goldfinch has a swooping flight pattern; it calls as it's flapping its wings and gaining height, and is quiet on the swoop. Its call is a series of twitters and warbles.
Goldfinches are mostly seed eaters with the occasional insect thrown in.
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Listen to the American Goldfinch
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Do you want to see more goldfinches in your own yard? If they live in your area, here are some tips for attracting goldfinches that will work.
What is your favorite bird of the nine featured on this page?
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Do You Enjoy Backyard Birding?
AUTHOR@norma-holt: I'm so glad you enjoyed this :-)
Wonderful study of bird life. We are so blessed when such gorgeous creatures grace our gardens. Loved the pics and presentation.
- AUTHOR
@tazzytamar: I'm glad you enjoyed this. I'd love to see what you have in England!
I really enjoyed reading this and the photos you provided are beautiful. It's very interesting to see the birds of America, I live in England and get a very different variety of visitors! Great lens :)
- AUTHOR
@paulahite: Thanks so much Paula!
These guys are regulars at my feeders. I shared your lens on our Facebook page today.
www.facebook.com/GreenThumbOnSquidoo
It can be quite amazing to watch the many types of birds that visit the garden.
Nice lens, thanks for sharing. Take care :)
- AUTHOR
@WordChipper: I'd love to see turkeys in our backyard, but we're too urbanized for them I think :-) I do enjoy seeing the Blue Jays though.
Our backyard is full of BlueJays. Especially at this time of year. We do see the odd turkey also.
It was always so sweet to watch the birds in our yard! What an amazing variety you have! It does make you want to know more about them! Great lens.
- AUTHOR
@John Dyhouse: The American Robin is a different species than your robin, but ours was called a robin because it looked similar to yours. I'd love to see a European robin.
most of these are very different from what I see in the UK except the American Robin, I wonder if this is different to the one we see. we certainly associate ours with christmas (winter).
Wow! I need to do more to attract birds to my UK garden. We do get Red Kites and the occasional Green Woodpecker. All the family enjoyed watching the baby wood pigeons nest in one of our trees - see my latest lens for a great pic of the babies in the nest.
I love it! When it starts to snow, then I will always make sure that they can eat at my garden! Thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful lens!
- AUTHOR
@mel-kav: The cardinal is such a cheery looking bird, especially during the winter! I'm also partial to cardinals and goldfinches. Thanks for your comment!
I have always been partial to the cardinal - especially when I see one perched up in the tree in a snowy scene. I also love the little yellow finches. I had a male and female couple at my old house that used to come bathe and drink from the little water fountain in my garden every evening. Enjoyed your lens! Congrats on the purple star!
- AUTHOR
@wottwin: It's great to get them coming to a window feeder! And I'm sure the cats are fascinated by them too :-)
I just managed to get a pair of house finches to stop by regularly at my window feeder - a difficult task with my two cats in sight!
- AUTHOR
@GregoryMoore: I'm quite partial to the male cardinals in our area too :-)
We just put up our feeders a couple of weeks ago and have been seeing a lot more beautiful birds recently. My favorite is the male Cardinal with its bright red color.
- AUTHOR
@ringthepost: There are some great places to bird in NJ! I'm glad you liked this page.
great info! Living down near the shore areas in NJ we see a lot of birds and birding is very active.
Great lens and great info!
Great lens loved it
Lovely lens with great information on backyard birds. I really love the American Robin.
I have a lot of sparrows, finches, golden finches and red robins in my backyard. I try to keep them as long as I can, I love those little birds. Very nice lens.
- AUTHOR
@Cynthia Haltom: You might try to keep the birds with you for a little longer! ....it is COLD and rainy here. Yuck. We'll be looking forward to seeing the birds when they're here though :-)
Your backyard birds are in my backyard right now. The have been waiting to fly north from the Gulf Coast for a while now. We have been feeding them to get them ready for their long trip to you. It's been in the 80's here for the last week.
- AUTHOR
@Loretta L: Your garden sounds like a lovely place for all sorts of birds! Yes, I'm sure the cats think your place is a great playground for them :-) Our neighbor cat has been hanging around our bird feeders recently (she's a new addition to the neighborhood, and I worry a little about the birds, but they'll most likely be okay).
In my UK garden we have bluetits, chaffinches, goldfinches, robins, blackbirds, starlings, greenfinches, wrens, hedge-sparrows and sparrows, and the occasional thrush as regular visitors, but in cold winters we have seen a goldcrest, reed buntings, redwings. We have wonderful dilays from the red kites as they soar and swoop over our garden too. So far they have been fairly disinterested in the smaller birds. We also have swallows nesting next door, and of course we get wood pigeons and collared doves. We have rooks and crows around as well, but they rarely come into the garden. We even saw a red legged partridge strutting down the garden path one day. The local cats tend to think we are an adventure playground but rarely catch anything. I thing the birds are used to them. As each one grows up a little they bother the birds less.
Bluejays and American Finches aren't reported here as far as I know. We have Stellar's Jays and Mexican Jays instead, as well as Lesser Goldfinches. The Stellar's Jay has to be the twin brother of the Blue Jay. So help me. :) All the others I have photographed successfully in Arizona, except the Chickadee, which I am still looking for. I love the fact you have links to their songs. Beautiful lens!
Too bad they don't visit the Netherlands! I really liked the Blue Jay
Nice guide. Birds are as beautiful as flowers. Isn't if?
I moved to Georgia 7 years ago, and I have not gotten tired of seeing the birds at my backyard feeder. They are so much fun to watch. I have a lot of the same birds you mentioned here, as well as the Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Downy Woodpecker, Nuthatches, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a few others. The highlight of my weekend was to get a photo of a pileated woodpecker feeding on my suet block. What an exciting sighting!
Great lens and great info! I have featured your lens on my How to Attract Cardinals lens ~ SquidAngel blessed! B : )
- AUTHOR
@anonymous: Hah, yes :-) It would be interesting to hear all of the different Cardinal accents / dialects across the U. S.!
When we moved to the Upstate South Carolina from Wisconsin, the first thing I noticed was that the Cardinals had an "accent" or dialect!
This is a precious collection. I love the turtledoves. Where I live, there are multitudes of them.
I just moved our finch feeders so they're visible from the street. My neighbors enjoy seeing them eat and splash in the water bowl. The finches were mad at me for a week, but they're pigging out again.
Great bird lens. I enjoyed strolling through your back yard of beautiful birds. Thanks for sharing. Blessed.
Reminded me of my youth when my mom and I would watch all the birds in the yard during breakfast!
I love the bluejay, I don't think we have this in australia. great pictures and information. thanks
I really enjoy looking at birds but can't identify too many of them. I'm in Arizona now and don't know many of the birds here.
I love watching birds and this lens has been helpful.
These birds are beautiful. What a wonderful hobby!
We live in the middle of the woods, so we see lots of birds. I don't always know what they are though. :)
Like it, love it, great!
Wonderful lens. I love my backyard birds. I'm adding a link to your lens from my Finch Feeder lens and sending an Angel Blessing your way :)
@anonymous: Sounds lke a house finch....
Your lens is top notch. You offer so much wonderful information. I enjoy the birds so much.
I see a lot blue jays in my backyard.
- AUTHOR
@anonymous: Hi Ginny! I'm glad you like this page :-)
It sounds like a cardinal if it's almost all red with a red bill. Does it have some black around the face? Cardinals have crests too, but sometimes the crests aren't lifted. Another couple red birds to check would be summer tanagers (although maybe too far south for you), and scarlet tanagers. Neither have red bills though. Good luck identifying it!
Love your site! Thanks! So informative. I live on a harbor on Long Island, NY and have just gotten into birding. I see a vibrant red-billed bird at my deck's feeder; body is vibrant orange/red, too. But it doesn't appear to be a cardinal. It has a blunt-ended tail and the beak is strikingly red. Is it a cardinal or something else?
Wow! That cardinal is long winded!
Absolutely! I enjoyed your lens.
I enjoyed your lens. We also see these birds on our Indiana farm.
I also like to hear the robins. They wake me up most mornings- So much better than an alarm clock.
I'm a little south of you in Indiana, so I see a lot of these birds, too. Now I know what they are called. I just may become a birder after all. I do love to watch them.
Some of these are here in Florida too, but we mostly just see robins when they're migrating. One time a flock of 30 of them was pecking around in our backyard, then we saw 100-200 in a veritable swarm of them on their way North.
Awww...these are the birds of my yard! They love the water, the feeders and the peanuts each morning. Glad to see I am not alone:)
great lens, love birds!
Very enjoyable reading. I can add Eastern Bluebirds to my list. But otherwise, you seem to have covered the most common ones. Thanks for the info.
Nice lens. We get hummingbirds in our yard, but most birds stay out of the yard.
We get robins in the summer, a few pairs of cardinals during the migration season and a whole big flock of black birds I don't know the name of most of the year. I've even saw a brown hummingbird a couple of times that I probably should put out a feeder for.
Yes, I have been an active birder and bird photographer for almost two years. Thank you for this lens.
When I was younger there used to be a tree outside my room where a Blue Jay laid its nest. There would also be woodpeckers pounding on my roof in the morning which scared me as a kid. Now I see a lot of house wrens around the neighborhood.
We enjoy watching the same bird species in VT and PA as you have in MI. We feed them from November until April, and they pay us back in song and bug-eating. Blessed by a "bird" wordsearching visiting angel.
Very enjoyable lens. Thanks.
You've got a great group of birds in your Squidoo nest. I would love backyard birds but my two huge beasts (dogs) scare them off. At least I get to enjoy them online.
- AUTHOR
@anonymous: Thanks so much, Tipi, for stopping by again. I always appreciate it! I'm just starting to replace some of the photos on this lens with my own (new camera!). I've only replaced one so far...
Just stopping by your back yard again to look at your bird friends. I do enjoy the wild birds, and this awesome page of yours.
Thanks for sharing this info.
@KarenHC: Your welcome! I enjoyed your lens.
Great lens! We have several feeders and birdhouse scattered around our property,and really enjoy watching many different types of bird from bluebirds to wild turkeys. I really like your Visitor list!
- AUTHOR
@Diane Cass: You are so lucky to have the Rose Breasted Grosbeaks staying to raise their family! They stop by our yard for awhile, then are gone again. Thanks for your comment!
We love backyard birding. We have birdhouses and feeders as well as trees and shrubs to feed the birds. I always feel so proud when birds pick our yard to raise their babies in. This year, the Rose Breasted Grosbeak stayed to raise their family, instead of flying further north. I love it.
Beautiful lens. I am starting to pay more attention to the birds in our backyard ... I have noticed a woodpecker, buzzards, and a hawk recently, in addition to the normal doves, egrets, cranes, mocking birds, and ibis that we are used to seeing.
What a nice lens. I love birds and birdsong. I even have CDs to listen to when the windows cannot be opened in the house to hear them outside. :o)
- AUTHOR
@anonymous: I'm guessing they're adults, just given the time of year -- but I really don't know for sure :-) Keep an eye on them and see what they do!
I said I have four baby finches in my yard but my birder friend said it is too early.
there are two males and two females and they always come together and spar with one another at the feeder. I am sure they are young because they stay close to each other.
could they have hatched this early ...mid March???.
I could sit and watch the birds in my backyard all day, but then when would I Squidoo? Hmm
Nice job with this lens! I am an advanced birder, but think this lens is great for a beginner. :D I like how you include both a video AND audio for each species. Perhaps you could make a third part which covers birds like song sparrows, chipping sparrows, dark-eyed juncos, red-winged blackbirds, etc. ;) Just a thought!
The most common bird that I see are blue jays,crows and a few others, just started getting into identification of birds, but it can be a lot of fun. thank you for sharing your birds.
What a pretty lens!
I wish we had such a variety of birds here!
Nicely done! Nice seeing video. I'm thinking of doing a lens featuring some of my HD bird footage.
This is a bird watchers lens, and I love it! I lensolled it to Back Yard Nature Coloring Pages.
Very nicely done!
***Blessed by an Angel***
Love your backyard bird lens!
have had many bird feeders. They are very enjoyable, but the clean up is something that can't be forgotten.
Charming lens. We live on a boat in the UK. Our base is in the countryside and we see all sorts of wildlife and many different birds. Sadly the house Sparrow has declined over recent years in the UK.
I loved this lens, but then I love seeing the birds. lensrolling this over to my Tennessee Bird Drawings lens.
We get mourning doves early in the morning and have a resident Rufus hummingbird. Wonderful lens, thanks for sharing!
My parents have a feeder and a great yard with lots of trees and bushes. They always joke that they see more types of birds in their yard than when they go to bird-watching places. :)
I enjoyed your lens--thanks for the information!
I really enjoyed your lens. We are always looking for new birds in our yard. I look forward to reading more.
I really enjoyed seeing your backyard birds. I am always on the lookout for new birds in our yard. I look forward to reading more of your lenses.
This is a great lens! I saw Chickadees the other day. I love learning about new birds! I'm a Squidoo Angel and I'm blessing this lens and will be recommending it on my Angel Lensography. Congratulations!
I've enjoyed watching birds since I was a young child, too and am always amazed to find other people don't know how to recognize the most common birds. I really enjoyed your lens and it was fun learning about several of the common ones in your area
your intro pic looks like the window in my livingroom...we have 5 of those feeders up all year long.
A thoroughly enjoyable, delightful lens! Educative, with a great selection of videos! Blessed by a SquidAngel!
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