Old World Aviaries

Backyard birds

by Scott Lewis

This is a list of birds I have seen in our backyard and around our house on the outskirts of Northeast Austin.

Bird	Frequency/Comments
American Crow	Infrequent. Native to our area but seen only once in our yard. A flock flew over and paused briefly in November, 1999.
American Robin	Infrequent late winter and spring.
Black-masked Lovebird	Infrequent. Had a heck of a time catching this little devil. But, he's in a good home.
Black-throated Hummingbird	Infrequent at feeder. Used to have lots, but used to have lots of honeysuckle.
Black Vulture	Fairly frequent flying by.
Blue Jay	Infrequent. Used to nest in the yard before the cat convinced them otherwise. The cat is really old now, so they are coming back.
Brewer's Blackbird	Infrequent. Occasional at feeder in the spring.
Brown-headed Cowbird	Zillions in late winter and spring.
Budgerigar	Infrequent. We get psittacine visitors, I suspect because they are attracted by the noises our birds make.
Caracara (Mexican eagle)	Infrequent. First observed 04/15/01.
Carolina Chickadee	Frequent. Cute as bugs. Love sunflower.
Carolina Wren	Frequent when you can spot them. Super-cute bird that sticks to the trunks of trees. Nested in yard once.
Cliff Swallow	Rare, at least low enough to be recognized. Rescued one fledgling that was down in the backyard.
Common Nighthawk	Fairly frequent in the evenings.
Common Poorwill	Infrequent. Amazing bird. Watched one for hours roosting in a tree on the edge of the yard. Incredibly well camouflaged.
Cooper's Hawk	Frequent in January and February. Hell on bantam ducks and chickens. One hit the Vasa flight. Perhaps it thought they were big grackles.
Eastern Screech-Owl	Infrequent. Heard only.
Downy Woodpecker	Infrequent. First seen 03/28/02.
European Starling	Frequent. Nest in the backyard.
House Finch	Frequent. Nest in the area. Really pretty birds. Love sunflower.
House Sparrow	Frequent. Nest in the backyard.
Great Blue Heron	Infrequent. Observed once flying by, 03/02.
Great-tailed Grackle	Gazillions. They ring the doorbell when the dog dish is empty.
Green Heron	Infrequent. Observed once investigating the koi pond. Fortunately, the koi were nearly as big as the heron.
Inca Dove	Frequent. Nest in the backyard. It doesn't get much cuter than Incas. A pair nested on a low branch in 1997, so we could watch the pair and the babies. Males fight like crazy before nesting. A few over-wintered in 1998 for the first time.
Nandaya Conure	Infrequent.
Northern Cardinal	Frequent. Males fuss a lot. Nest in the area. We once had a male destroy a mirror on a car fighting the other male that was infringing on his territory.
Northern Mockingbird	Fairly frequent. Nest in the area.
Purple Martin	Infrequent. Used to be frequent, but we need to move our martin house.
Red-bellied Woodpecker	Adult female observed 06/15/2003. Pair observed 05/21/2004.
Red-crowned Kinglet	Tiny bird. Cute and very active. Observed 02/15/2003.
Red-tailed Hawk (light-phase)	Infrequent. Seen in winter in trees bordering yard.
Red-winged Blackbird	Gazillions in late winter and spring.
Ring-necked Dove	One used to hang out with all the white wings.
Rock Dove	Infrequent flyover.
Sharp-shinned Hawk	Rare. Juvenile observed 10/13/2003.
Turkey Vulture	Frequent. Circle when Linda sunbathes.
Tufted Titmouse	Frequent. Both color morphs. Super-cute birds. Love sunflower. Nest in birdhouses in our yard.
White-winged Dove	Gazillions. They ring the doorbell when the feeder is empty. A few over-wintered in 1998 for the first time.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	Infrequent.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	Infrequent. Observed once.
Yellow-headed Amazon	Infrequent. A feral bird used to visit occasionally. Stayed in the big trees on the edge of the yard.