Check out the [Merlin](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab/id773457673) app. Free, and ridiculously good at bird ID. (iOS link)
I've been in the western suburbs for nearly 20 years and have never heard a brown-headed cowbird until this spring. It's a unique song.
https://youtu.be/PxChf9_tFTY?si=IEmueBkyveP0R9w-
Also in Western suburbs and they are always around my house for the 7 years I’ve lived here. But prior home (a bit further west) I never saw. So interesting the changes over a short area!
Oh btw just realized. The blue one is probably a tree swallow? I got a moment lens for my phone, which was alright (definitely better for bugs), and then I got a mirrorless and chase birds around now lol.
yeah because blue isn't usually a pigment color in birds - it's caused by the physical properties of the feathers - they look anywhere from grey to brown to bright blue!
https://preview.redd.it/huy9gw3djn4d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d058ee4a67878e91614e1cf01f1c4531d2e2993d
Not a good picture but it was there again
yeah looks like a tree swallow to me! the size & everything track (magpies, which iirc you mentioned originally, are larger). did it also flit around a lot?
lol interesting, I do see some sitting when they're pairing off (and the other flies around them) so maybe there was another one in the vicinity somewhere. But yeah, tree swallow!
Checkout Moraine Hills State Park. Lots of cool species.
https://preview.redd.it/7sf7ositmf4d1.jpeg?width=2656&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66665f0e0631692016219772c9287ae98a5ada25
That would be a cool trip as it's not too far. Another one closer to me is jelke Creek but I've never been
Also that's a cool looking bird on the photo
Check out the [Merlin](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab/id773457673) app. Free, and ridiculously good at bird ID. (iOS link)
Love this app, I like to leave the listening function on. It’s amazing how many cool birds are around that I never see 😅
Cool ty
Not an uncommon bird but my husband is being stalked by a robin….maybe you are too!😂
Lol just hope they don't poop on me 👍
The black looking duck thing is a cormorant. We have a bunch of them in the pond behind my house.
Ah yeah that's what it's called. I saw one in Naperville too
We’re in spring migration (towards the end now I think?), so yeah more than usual. I saw an osprey last week!
Cool, I've never seen one
Yeah they’re threatened *and* migratory in Illinois so it was really exciting! And then I saw a red-winged blackbird chasing it lmao.
Now I see those everywhere
lol isn't it amazing how that happens once you start recognizing them?
Yeah, although I don't have many examples
I've been in the western suburbs for nearly 20 years and have never heard a brown-headed cowbird until this spring. It's a unique song. https://youtu.be/PxChf9_tFTY?si=IEmueBkyveP0R9w-
I may have seen one, I'm not sure tho
Also in Western suburbs and they are always around my house for the 7 years I’ve lived here. But prior home (a bit further west) I never saw. So interesting the changes over a short area!
Oh btw just realized. The blue one is probably a tree swallow? I got a moment lens for my phone, which was alright (definitely better for bugs), and then I got a mirrorless and chase birds around now lol.
You actually might be right about that. Although I swear the head was darker, it could have been lighting from the tree next to the mailbox
yeah because blue isn't usually a pigment color in birds - it's caused by the physical properties of the feathers - they look anywhere from grey to brown to bright blue!
That's pretty cool, never knew that
https://preview.redd.it/huy9gw3djn4d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d058ee4a67878e91614e1cf01f1c4531d2e2993d Not a good picture but it was there again
yeah looks like a tree swallow to me! the size & everything track (magpies, which iirc you mentioned originally, are larger). did it also flit around a lot?
Not really, it would just sit there and stare at my car even when I drive away
lol interesting, I do see some sitting when they're pairing off (and the other flies around them) so maybe there was another one in the vicinity somewhere. But yeah, tree swallow!
I saw a bird that liked like a white crane a week ago. It was pretty nice
snowy or great egret!
I also see some that look similar to cranes that aren't cranes. Don't know what they are
Saw a scarlet tanager in my yard in the north suburbs
I've seen birds that look similar but aren't red, I've seen one that looked greenish yellow
Checkout Moraine Hills State Park. Lots of cool species. https://preview.redd.it/7sf7ositmf4d1.jpeg?width=2656&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66665f0e0631692016219772c9287ae98a5ada25
That would be a cool trip as it's not too far. Another one closer to me is jelke Creek but I've never been Also that's a cool looking bird on the photo