We live a few blocks north of the El Cerrito Plaza BART station. We moved here in March 1996. My list includes birds seen in the yard. I've added notes on birds seen or heard from the yard without being seen in it. We have several feeders with a wide variety of food. A tall Monterey pine in the back yard attracts many birds to drop by. A neglected back yard two houses north is one huge bramble patch, and I suspect many of our birds nest there (I've not yet spotted evidence of nesting in our yard). Total of 33 species observed in the yard so far. (1 April 1999)
American Kestrel flew into and quickly out of our big pine.
(9 April 1999)
European Starling seen at backyard birdbath. (12 May 1999)
Great Egret flew directly over the yard. (26 May 1999)
Nuttall's Woodpecker seen and heard from yard on nearby telephone pole. (6 June
1999)
3 Turkey Vultures flying overhead. (13 June 1999)
Ash-throated Flycatcher in yard briefly. (8 August 1999)
Song Sparrow in tree near kitchen window. (4 December 1999)
Black Phoebe in tree near kitchen window. (4 September 2001)
Great Egret (Ardea albus) - Flyover on 26 May 1999.
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) - 3 flying over on 13 June 1999.
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) - Occasional visitor, on rare
occasions takes a Mourning Dove.
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) - Paused briefly in our pine
once (9 April 1999).
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) - 6 to 12 drop in almost daily
to feed on ground or seed spread on fencetop.
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) - Female or a pair often at
feeder and pineapple sage bush by kitchen window.
Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) - Seen about once a year
visiting the feeder or pineapple sage.
Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin) - Same as Rufous (playing
percentages here on all-green back being Allen's).
Nuttall's Woodpecker (Picoides nuttallii). - Seen and heard from
yard on nearby telephone pole on 6 June 1999.
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) - Usually seen hammering
on telephone pole, but has visited our pine.
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) - Brief visit on 4 September
2001, looking lost.
Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) - brief visit
on 8 August 1999.
Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) - A couple of visits during
last year's irruption.
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) - A pair and young
are regulars (but missing in spring). Love peanuts.
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) - Small flock in neighborhood,
sometimes visit our Monterey pine.
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) - A pair are regulars,
often seen in a small Douglas fir. Eat sunflower seeds.
Oak Titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus) - Common farther up hills,
but seen in our yard only occasionally.
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) - A flock passes through the yard
once or twice a month. A pair seen often during winter of 1998-99.
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta candensis) - One or two in pine tree
now and then - may be residents. Rarely at feeders.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) - Seen in yard a few
times a year.
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) - Common in neighborhood,
but rarely in our yard. Little lawn area.
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) - Noisy residents in
neighborhood, but only occasionally visit our yard.
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - Common half a block away,
but first seen in our yard at a birdbath on 12 May 1999.
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) - Sizeable flock visits neighborhood
now and then, a few seen in our yard.
Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata) - Seen in the yard a
few times each year.
Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) - One with nice reddish breast
streaking seen once in our yard.
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata) - Seen in our yard
once or twice a year.
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis) - Pair (and offspring) are
regular residents, heard each dawn and dusk.
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) - December 4, 1999.
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) - Flock of 15 or
more are regular winter residents. Like cracked corn.
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) - See one now
and then, but seem to be regular in the bramble yard.
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) - Sometimes have one resident
for weeks, otherwise just occasional visitors.
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) - A flock of a dozen
or so dropped into the back yard once.
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) - Occasional visitor.
Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus) - Pair visit frequently in
summer.
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) - Dozens in residence. Fledglings
in spring-summer. Love black-oil sunflower seed.
Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) - A few with House Finches on
sunflower feeder once in 1997.
Pine Siskin (Carduelis pinus) - A dozen or more in residence during
some winters, see a lot of young (high mortality).
Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria) - Sometimes several, but
they never seen to hang around for very long.
American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) - 40 to 50 at times in
winter, especially bad weather. Fledglings in late spring to summer. Love Niger
thistle "socks."
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) - Dozens congregate in bush
by house. Fledglings in spring and summer. Have their own feeder of "cheap
seed."
Unidentified gulls (Laridae) soar over the house almost every day. Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) and Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) are rarely seen from our yard, though I often see them flying over within a few blocks. An owl has been heard, probably in our backyard pine - it sounded like the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) that a non-birding neighbor claimed to have seen in the block. A sizeable flock of Rock Dove (Columba livia) is resident at the nearby BART station but has not yet been seen to visit our block.
A family of 3 to 6 (varying numbers over the years - roadkill takes its toll) red fox squirrels are regulars in our back yard. A small family of raccoons (usually one adult with up to 3 youngsters) visits frequently at night. A skunk drops by now and then to dig up what lawn has survived our gardening efforts (Lynn likes bulbs and roses, I'm planting mostly natives). Now and then I've seen a small native rat.
Niger thistle seed is a great hit with Pine Siskins and goldfinches, especially in the mesh "socks." Black oil sunflower seed is popular with squirrels, finches, chickadees, and nuthatches. I solved the problem of squirrels raiding the bird feeders by giving them a lot of sunflower seed on the fencetop each morning, with another easy-to-reach hopper feeder of it that is actually for them (although they think they're getting away with something!). The House Finches love digging the sunflower seed out of a globe-shaped feeder with big holes around the bottom - they have to "chin themselves" to get the seed, but they seem to enjoy it and will actually ignore other feeders to use this one. A big feeder with a cylinder of wire mesh filled with sunflower seed is often covered with finches. These two feeders seem to minimize the "mess problem" from the sunflower seeds. The "wild finch mix" from Wild Bird Annex in Berkeley is very popular with almost all of our birds - it's in a couple of feeders, and I spread it on the fencetop each morning. Cracked corn scattered in flower beds and under shrubs (it won't sprout!) keeps the sparrows busy hopping around and foraging much of the day. I also put out some of the Safeway "Trail Mix" food in a big hopper feeder, and KayTee Songbirds mix in a couple of feeders - finches and sparrows mostly go for these, although the chickadees and nuthatch occasionally visit. The KayTee chickadee mix has so far been mostly popular with House Finches, but I'm hoping to find a feeder and location that the chickadees and nuthatch might like. Safflower seeds are popular with doves and srub-jays on cold rainy winter days (too expensive for regular use). Suet is rarely eaten in my yard - only sometimes in the coldest part of winter. For the House Sparrows, I put a feeder full of cheap Safeway seed mix (milo, millet, and sunflower) close to their gathering bush, and it seems to keep them away from the more expensive seed a good part of the time. Small dishes of water are scattered around the yard, and a birdbath added last year is very popular (I rigged a drip irrigation tube to drip into it to make it more attractive), even though it is out by the front sidewalk. I keep a hummingbird feeder year 'round, and add an oriole feeder when they seem to be around, but the hummers actually seem to prefer the pineapple sage and other sages and penstemons - the chickadees like a nip of sugar water in cold weather, and the raccoon drains the feeders if I leave them out overnight.