I'm always surprised to see these in winter...it was a cold day. Inca Doves.

Okay, this isn't a bird, but I found it in my house near the cat door and just couldn't get over the thought of what must have happened! One of my three young kitties must have somehow gotten it inside through that darn cat door, but how? It's bigger than it looks here. How the heck could they drag it through the cat door and where did it come from? Still shaking my head and glad they didn't bring a real bird!

I am learning so much from viewing the pictures. I know I'll never see some of the birds in my backyard, but this is so interesting. Thank you so much; you guys do such a great job of capturing photos. I know it can't be easy.

plantladylin said:Ibis, great shots! I've been seeing a lot of White Ibises around lately, they are so much fun to watch. I think your little Yellow breasted Finch is actually the Palm Warbler; watch to see if it constantly flicks it's tail ... the Palm Warblers' tails are always twitching/flicking. Love the Mourning Dove!

Ann, you are correct. I was going through my old photos and that mystery bird is definitely not the Eastern Phoebe. I've been looking through my bird books and googling and I'm leaning towards the Eastern Wood-Pewee. This bird was smaller and the tail much shorter than the Great Crested Flycatcher which I've only seen during the summer months. I'm hoping the mystery bird will be around again tomorrow so that I can get shots at different angles and hopefully better lighting! If it is the Eastern Wood-Pewee, it's a first sighting for me.

Also, if you spy it again, listen for it's song or call -- that will be a very good indicator of who it is.

LindaTX8 said:I'm always surprised to see these in winter...it was a cold day. Inca Doves.

Okay, this isn't a bird, but I found it in my house near the cat door and just couldn't get over the thought of what must have happened! One of my three young kitties must have somehow gotten it inside through that darn cat door, but how? It's bigger than it looks here. How the heck could they drag it through the cat door and where did it come from? Still shaking my head and glad they didn't bring a real bird!

Love the Inca Doves Linda.
That's crazy! What in the world possessed the cats to drag that in? Now we know where the saying came from, "Look what the cat just drug in."
It doesn't appear to be a cat toy but it might possibly I guess. Do you suppose it contains catnip?

plantladylin said:Ibis, great shots! I've been seeing a lot of White Ibises around lately, they are so much fun to watch. I think your little Yellow breasted Finch is actually the Palm Warbler; watch to see if it constantly flicks it's tail ... the Palm Warblers' tails are always twitching/flicking. Love the Mourning Dove!

Oh, you could be right on that one, Lin. I looked at a few other pics I took of that bird, and it could very well be a Palm Warbler. I didn't notice the tail twitching, but that's probably because I was trying to keep the birdie in focus I'll have to watch for it again, I hope it comes back!

Thanks Ann, I do believe it is a House Finch after I looked at the links you posted.

I'm loving all the different kinds of doves posted on here

Ibis, you should have plenty of Palm Warblers there especially in winter. You can't miss that tail flicking -- they do it almost continually. Such cute little birdies!

Cindy.

Back to Lin's flycatcher ~ I recognize that puffy hairdew. But, I'm also wondering if it is a Great Crested Flycatcher because of the yellowish-green coloring that isn't found on the Eastern Phoebe that I've seen. Of course the picture doesn't really tell how large or small the bird is, but Great Crested is larger than Eastern Phoebe.

LindaTX, I love those pretty Inca Doves, they are only found in the SW U.S. and Mexico ... wish they came to Florida! LOL, the bird that the cat's dragged in looks to be made of a felt like fabric ... maybe they scrunched it up to get it through the cat door? Could be that a neighbor is missing a felt bird from a wreath or garden decoration?

I have a lot of trouble telling some birds apart and I agree that when it comes to Flycatchers, it's sometimes difficult to discern the differences.

I thought these (photos from a couple of years apart) were both the Eastern Phoebe but now that I compare photos they look a bit different.
January 2011 ............................................ January 2013


These pic's are from a year apart and I thought they were both the Great Crested Flycatcher but now I don't think so because now comparing photos side by side, they look entirely different and the bird in the second picture has a longer tail.
June 2014 ..................................................... May 2015


The Mystery bird from yesterday ... I was hoping to hear it's call but it was quiet. I'm going to be watching in hopes it appears again in the next few days!

LindaTX8 said:
Okay, this isn't a bird, but I found it in my house near the cat door and just couldn't get over the thought of what must have happened! One of my three young kitties must have somehow gotten it inside through that darn cat door, but how? It's bigger than it looks here. How the heck could they drag it through the cat door and where did it come from? Still shaking my head and glad they didn't bring a real bird!

Some time ago my cat brought a whole oven-ready chicken into the house through the cat flap - she must have stolen it from a neighbour's kitchen. I was too embarrassed to go knocking on doors to find out who was missing their dinner, but often wonder what they must have thought (and indeed, what they had for supper that day...) I took it as a sign that my cat was trying to tell me that I should improve the quality of her cat food.

Beautiful pictures, all.

Linda, I have had cats bring in all manner of wildlife through the cat door, birds, mice, lizards all the time, and once a 3ft. black snake! Luckily my cat is now 15yr. old and doesn't catch nearly so many prizes for me, anymore.

Bird photos, but from the Arctic rather than home:

Arctic Tern




And from Brazil (real birds, in a bird sanctuary we visited). You need to click on the pics to see:

Oh my @Cliftoncat ... what amazing photos! That Arctic Tern is really beautiful as are the birds from the sanctuary in Brazil. Second one looks like an Emu and the last one a Flamingo! Really nice shots!

Thanks, Lin

Sea diving snowbirds and tropical large to very large birds...things just got very very exotic around here. Floridian birds to me are exotic.
Nice pics cliftoncat!
(as were all those preceding).

Thanks, jmorth. Does anyone know what kind of bird Mr Blue-eyes is?

Mr. Blue eyes sure is pretty! Interesting! It has a meat eating beak...

jmorth said:Sea diving snowbirds and tropical large to very large birds...things just got very very exotic around here. Floridian birds to me are exotic.
Nice pics cliftoncat!
(as were all those preceding).

@cliftoncat
Check out Red Legged Seriema. Only 1 link for you as I have to run start dinner.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Check out other resources but I think that may be it.