Our Backyard Birds
Whenever time permits, we try to
identify the bird visitors to our backyard habitat. The National
Audubon Society and the National Wildlife
Federation jointly sponsor the popular "Peterson Field Guides" published
by Houghton Mifflin. We keep
the "Eastern Birds" edition of "A Field Guide to
the Birds" handy as a reference.
We've lived in South Carolina since 1975 and in Newberry since 1992. On the back flyleaf of our Peterson's we've written down (almost) all the species of birds that we've been able to recognize just here in our Newberry backyard. No doubt we've probably missed a few:
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
House or Purple Finch *
*(When we first saw these, back when we lived in Columbia, we thought they were Purple Finches. Now we're not sure. We know it's one of the two!)
American Goldfinch
Northern Cardinal
American Robin
Eastern Bluebird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Grey Catbird
Carolina Wren
Blue Jay
European Starling
Chimney Swift
Barred Owl
White-throated Sparrow
Northern or Slate-colored Junco
Evening Grosbeak
Rufus-sided Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
English or House Sparrow
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Mourning Dove
Sharp-shinned or Cooper's Hawk
Nighthawk
Yellow-shafted Flicker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pine Siskin
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Crow
Cedar Waxwing
Brown-headed Cowbird
Ruby-crowned
Kinglet: 
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Great Crested Flycatcher
Common Bobwhite (Audio only)