Debbie, Just before my husband and I got married (1969) we bought 2 budgies and named them Tweety and Sylvester. Tweety only lived @ three years but our Sylvester lived for 12 1/2 years and the veterinarian said it was extremely long for a hybrid Parakeet, that their lifespan is generally 5 to 6 years ... so, it sounds as if your budgie and mine were exceptions to the rule.

We had Sylvester the parakeet for so long and he knew his name, would whistle and say "Pretty Bird". If he was out of his cage and I called his name he would fly to wherever I was in the house. One year we were living in Va. when hubby was stationed there in the Navy and I adopted a stray cat at our apartment complex. I'm so bad about thinking up names for pets so I gave our black kitty the name Tweety. People were always telling me how we had it backwards, that Tweety was the bird and Sylvester was the cat. They always looked at me funny when I told them that we'd had Sylvester the parakeet for four years and he knew his name so we couldn't change it.

Great story Lin!

Thanks Lin for the info on budgie/parakeets. Very interesting read.

A few pic's from my backyard this morning.

Northern Cardinal



I'm not sure about the one below; at first I thought it was the American Goldfinch (winter male plumage) but the bill isn't right for a Goldfinch; then I thought perhaps Pine Warbler but it doesn't have the white eye patch of the Pine Warbler. After googling and looking at lots of bird pictures, I'm leaning towards a female Orchard Oriole. It fits the Nat'l Geographic description of the Orchard Oriole with the down-curved, thicker at base bill, and blue-gray color at the base of the lower mandible. The description says the female is olive above; bright yellow below with two crisp white wing bars and white edging on the flight feathers. I'm thinking Female Orchard Oriole, any ideas?


Palm Warbler ....................................... Downy Woodpecker ......................... Grackle


House Finch ........................................... Red-winged Blackbirds

Palm Warbler


Dove

I thought this was a Little Blue Heron, but I'm really not sure. Most of the ones on Google were somewhat "leaner" than this guy

@plantladylin after looking at all 3 of my bird guides, I would agree with female Orchard Oriole. I am jealous! I have so hoped to someday see an Orchard Oriole of wither sex!

@Claudia, Thanks for the confirmation! The female Orchard Oriole is the closest I could come to an identity!

@IbisFla, Beautiful photo!! That sure looks like the Little Blue Heron to me! Sometimes, the way Herons/Egrets stand stand itmakes them appear chubby! Really nice shot ... I'd have to frame that one!

More photos of the Little Blue for comparison:
http://identify.whatbird.com/o...
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/...

More from my backyard this afternoon;

Downy Woodpecker ................................ Grackle, Dove, Finches


House Finch


Tufted Titmouse ................................... Palm Warbler ...................................... Cardinal

Tufted Titmouse look like they're going to a fancy party, all dressed up and hair slicked back. Dashing is the word that comes to mind

Ibis, I really love your photo of the Little Blue Heron!

I've never gotten a picture of an adult Little Blue, only the juvenile as shown below and (in my opinion) the juvie's aren't very pretty at all as they are growing into their blue/gray color. This photo was taken in May 2011 at a friends place in Rockledge, Fl:

Little Blue Heron, juvenile:

Lin - I actually have never seen a juvenile Little Blue, only the adults. I'd love to get some of those around, I like it when the babies show up.

We are expecting a big shift in weather Sunday with strong winds and snow. They are saying we could see single digit wind chills. I have stocked up on suet so I can put the double suet feeder out so the birds have plenty to eat.

These are just a few from the last week.
Juncos on the suet on one of our few nasty days we have had.


Downy, Flicker and a House Sparrow taking off!


Showing difference in size of Downy and the Flicker!


Blue Jay

That is a lovely shot of the Little Blue heron. Maybe he had his feathers fluffed up a bit because of the cool weather?

Lin, your shots are beautiful, too. I love the Downy Woodpeckers, and that's a great Titmouse shot! They're hard to catch standing still, aren't they!

Had to add, what an amazing shot of the sparrow taking off - and it's even in focus! Looks kind of like somebody threw him . . .

Claudia, Brr, sounds like it's gonna get cold where you are! Stay warm and thank you for feeding our feathered friends to assist them through such cold temperatures! Love your pretty pictures! There sure is a big difference in the sizes of Flickers, Red-bellied WP's and Downy WP's. The Downy is quite small. The photo showing the sparrow taking off is so cute and that is one really beautiful shot of the Blue Jay!

Thank you Lin!

@IbisFla I think your shot of the Little Blue Heron is fantastic!

I see the Green Heron here quite often but I have yet to get a photo of one!

Elaine, At our old house there were always lots of Tufted Titmouse around and they got so they weren't afraid of me and would sit still for photo ops ... I could get to within five or six feet and they'd just go right on feeding. Anymore they seem quite skittish and flit off as soon as I step out the door with my camera. Today I was in the yard taking pictures of the House Finches (who don't seem too bothered by human presence) and I was shocked when that Tufted Titmouse flew to the feeder and stayed a few minutes while I clicked away ... I was only about 10 feet away but stood as still as I possibly could. I need to figure out how to stop the camera *beep* when I take pictures because while some little birds seem curious, others take off each time they hear it. On my old camera I was able to turn it off so I just need to go through the manual for my current camera to figure it out.

Ok, I'm already on record liking those Flickers, but I didn't realize they had red on the back of their head. That's even cooler! And I think it goes to show that pictures from all viewpoints are valuable. Whether it's plants or animals, I think we tend to focus on the bloom or the front of the subject. It's nice to see some alternative perspectives. Keep up the good work, folks!

Budgerigar is an Aussie word that means "mighty fine eating". Budgie is just shortened. I have had them off and on since 1976. I now have an adorable pair - The Honeymooners Alice and Ralph.

Best one I ever had was Adam Smith. I spent a lot of time training him. He could say > 200 words or phrases.

When a woman walked in the door he said 'Hiya Chick" while giving the shweet-shwew (how spell that?) whistle.
When someone started to leave he said: "Close the door, thank you"
I would say Adam - introduce yourself and he said: "I am Adam, who are you? Who are you? Who are you?"

And lots of other stuff - all recognizable.

He loved to perch on my right eyeglass wing.

He was a real hoot.

One of my other favorites was Willie Nelson.

Glad you got an id on that bird Lin. I didn't know orioles would eat bird seed though. Maybe Orchard Orioles are different than the Baltimores. I get Baltimores on my hummingbird feeder all the time. I put out a separate feeder for them with grape jelly, which they love, but once again all the house sparrows eat it.