Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
My Tiny Backyard Birds
I love birds of all sizes, especially the tiny ones in my yard.
These black-capped chickadees were perfectly camouflaged in the tree while I watched them through my office window. Chickadees were my gateway birds, the first I learned to identify by their sound (chickadee-dee-dee) and are still one of my favorites. They range in size from 4 – 6 inches long.
Similar in size to the chickadees, Juncos visit in great numbers throughout the day, all seasons. The males have dark black heads, females, lighter shades of brown. These friendly birds make themselves at home; I’ve had to discourage their nest building too close to the house, for their safety.
I see more of them than any other birds in my yard, or maybe I just notice them more, because they’re ground feeders. You wouldn’t think there’d be seeds in the grass this time of year, but they found some yesterday.
I love the burst of gold when golden-crowned kinglets show up. These are some of the tiniest birds that visit, only 3 – 4 inches long. They flit around quickly, moving from the grass, to garden pots, even the deck, so it’s harder to get a clear picture of them.
After looking for food below, they often fly into the evergreens above where they hang on to the branches looking for insects.
Anna’s Hummingbirds, are similar in size to the kinglets, perhaps a bit larger. As you already know, if you follow my blog, I never get tired of posting pictures of them.
And that will do for birding today.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 
So cute! Nature fascinates in all shapes and sizes!
Thanks, John! True, there are so many tiny birds to enchant us!
Beautiful photos, Susanne! I love the little birds and see Anna’s hummers on my feeders daily. So cute! 🥰
Thanks, John! I’m happy to get such a wide variety of birds in my yard. 🙂
You have more than I do but you aren’t in a desert. 😂
Our backyard is junco heaven, Susanne. Such cute little things. I’m looking forward to seeing them once we get home. Your Anna’s are gorgeous!
I agree those little juncos are adorable! Happy to hear they call your place home, too. ☺️ And I can never get enough of the hummingbirds!
Lovely garden visitors. We don’t get any of those here, but I certainly remember them from Washington State.
Thanks, Graham. These are some of my regulars and I love to have them visit. ☺️
Such sweet visitors
Yes indeed! ☺️
I’m always interested to see and to learn about the different birds you have in the US. The chickadees look cute but it’s the golden-crowned kinglets that really caught my eye – I love that flash of bright yellow!
Thanks, Sarah. I love having the golden-crowned kinglets drop by. They always get my attention.☺️
The photos are lovely and sharp, and really bring out the character of the individual birds.
Best wishes, Pete.
Thanks so much, Pete. I’m glad you enjoyed them. 😊