birds

so, I never learned anything about birds. i always assumed any bird smaller than my fist is probably a finch of some kind. so I decided to stop making a fool of myself and learn how to tell all these birds apart. below you'll see my progress in basic birding~

	OREGON DARK-EYED JUNCO
☑		🗺️ everywhere	📅 2022-Jun-22	Dark-Eyed Junco are everywhere, really cute and friendly. there's a ton of variety, so identifying subspecies is tough. There's something like 7 subspecies along the west coast and you can only really identify one over another by the subtle shades of brown when they're right next to eachother for comparison. oh and maybe the current lattitude yr at. this was the first non-obvious bird I learned to identify. their markings are distinct, with a black head, a cinnamon back (cape?), overall brown coat, and glimpses of white on the underside of their tails and wings. the ones here have a ratchety kind of voice, chipip.
	Pacific Wren
☐		🗺️ Not-Yet-Sited Heard: Washington Gorge	📅 2022-Jul-04	So, this one doesn't have a check-mark; I'm not yet confident on identification! Currently, I think I can recognize their song. It's really distinct, and they're also quite loud. On the 4th of July, I went for a hike along Duncan Creek, a small trail about an hour east of Portland on Washington's Highway 14E. This short length of the creek had countless waterfalls. Despite the loud noises of the natural water features, the pacific wren tried their best to have their song heard. Because of their high volume and distinct song, I feel confident that all those vocal birds were pacific wren. During the three hours or so I was out there, I don't think I ever saw them once. Reading about their preferred habit, they definitely like to keep hidden in the underbrush of these old-growth evergreen forests.

OREGON DARK-EYED JUNCO

☑

Brown and black sparrow sitting on a cedar tree branch. Credit: Lance Reis

🗺️

everywhere

📅

2022-Jun-22

Dark-Eyed Junco are everywhere, really cute and friendly. there's a ton of variety, so identifying subspecies is tough. There's something like 7 subspecies along the west coast and you can only really identify one over another by the subtle shades of brown when they're right next to eachother for comparison. oh and maybe the current lattitude yr at.

this was the first non-obvious bird I learned to identify. their markings are distinct, with a black head, a cinnamon back (cape?), overall brown coat, and glimpses of white on the underside of their tails and wings. the ones here have a ratchety kind of voice, chipip.

Pacific Wren

☐

🗺️

Not-Yet-Sited

Heard: Washington Gorge

📅

2022-Jul-04

So, this one doesn't have a check-mark; I'm not yet confident on identification! Currently, I think I can recognize their song. It's really distinct, and they're also quite loud.

On the 4th of July, I went for a hike along Duncan Creek, a small trail about an hour east of Portland on Washington's Highway 14E. This short length of the creek had countless waterfalls.

Despite the loud noises of the natural water features, the pacific wren tried their best to have their song heard. Because of their high volume and distinct song, I feel confident that all those vocal birds were pacific wren. During the three hours or so I was out there, I don't think I ever saw them once. Reading about their preferred habit, they definitely like to keep hidden in the underbrush of these old-growth evergreen forests.