Backyard birds

Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis

We were hit with another winter storm last night. I have three feeders in my backyard, and there is a crowd of birds every time it snows. This morning I had 6 or 7 different species, including this beautiful pair of cardinals. The female is on the left, with more brown than the brightly coloured male on the right.

The kids are interested in trying to tell the difference between the 'red' birds in our backyard. We have house finches, cardinals, and eventually we will have robins later on in the spring. When we were dating, my husband tried to convince me that the ability to identify a robin was not 'common knowledge'. He was so determined he actually took a poll at work! I am certain that my young children will be able to identify robins better than their dad. To his credit, he has come a long way in the past few years and even owns his own pair of binoculars.

My three-year old likes the mourning doves we can see out our sliding glass doors. This one has its feathers fluffed up to keep warm. I don't think I've ever seen a puffier mourning dove.

Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura

Doves are closely related to pigeons, they are both part of the order columbiformes. My inlaws, who live on the other side of the city, get pigeons in their yard. We don't, and I'm not sure why. Apparently, doves build very messy nests. We usually have a pair around, I'd like to find their nest this year and take a look.