Author: Gregory Hamby

Are you wondering what birds eat thistle seed? There are many types of birds that eat thistle and we’ll share the 10 most common examples of such birds here. Thistle seed is delicious to many species of birds, including finches, sparrows, buntings, and more. Most small birds eat thistle seed during the breeding season, especially in the spring and summer, when they need more nutrients to feed their young. While large birds like hawks and crows will eat thistle seed, it’s not their main diet and they don’t need it for breeding purposes. What do different birds eat? You might have an…

The short eared owl, also referred to as the short-eared owl or Asio flammeus, is one of the smaller owls in North America. It has yellow eyes with dark brown rings around them, yellow eyebrows, and black ear tufts that look like the tips of horns protruding from its head. The owl has thick, fluffy feathers on its body, with dark brown markings across the top of its wings and back of its head and lighter feathers underneath. Asio flammeus belongs to the genus Asio, meaning a form of an Asiatic vulture, in the family Strigidae, which contains all true owls.…

The red breasted grosbeak, also known as Pheucticus ludovicianus or rose breasted grosbeak, is the largest of the grosbeaks and the only one in North America that has an entirely red breast. This bird was once known as the Connecticut Grosbeak but changed its name in 1994 to reflect more modern scientific findings. There are only two subspecies of red breasted grosbeak, which are found across southern Canada and most of the United States, with the exception of California and Nevada. This species usually lives in deciduous woodlands and parks, where it breeds and lives in small flocks. The etymology…

Bunting birds are some of the most beautiful varieties of birds in existence, and they have been drawing the attention of people from all over the world for years. But many of these birds aren’t as well-known as their stunning colors would suggest, and others are totally unfamiliar to most people. They are small to medium-sized passerine birds that typically feed on the ground and many of which, in the non-migratory species, have highly distinctive male plumages, often reds or yellows and white or grey outlined with black. They are usually found in open woodland, forest, or scrub and some species eat invertebrates, fruit, and…

The pine bunting (Emberiza leucocephalos) belongs to the bird family Emberizidae, which also includes finches, sparrows, and buntings. It is part of the genus Emberiza, which includes about 30 other species of buntings scattered throughout Europe and Asia. The pine bunting was first described by Linnaeus in 1758, after an initial sighting in Sweden by Peter Kalm in 1747. Emberiza leucocephalos was not previously placed in the genus Emberiza but following the publication of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, it was moved to the resurrected genus Emberiza. The genus formerly contained other buntings now considered more distinct, in particular…