Passerines
The Passerines, often known as Songbirds or Perching Birds, are the largest order of birds, representing 60% of the birds in the world. This order carries nearly many small birds, from sparrows, to corvids and other birds.
Sparrows
Sparrows are the main species of songbird. The House Sparrow in particular is where the order's name derives from due to it's latin name: Passer Domesticus.
House Sparrows while not often regarded well by birders, are still interesting. They're ability to adapt to humans and having wide adaptation ranges made them one of the most widespread species of bird worldwide. Their success led to considering them invasive in the states.
Song sparrows can be found in meadow like areas, where there's less human activity. They get their names for their songs, having crisp and clearer songs compared to other sparrows, and also have a wider variety. One song has even been recorded to sound similar to the first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony!
Warblers
Warblers are some of the most sought out birds in birding. With many migrants of many songs, theyr'e the birds every birdwatcher waits for in the summer and fall seasons.
Warblers are some of the most famed songbirds, with many colorful varieties of them. So far the only two warblers of good quality with the others while not as good, still identifiable and worth showing.
Blackpoll Warblers was hard to find, and they've been known to fly from the North to South America in ONE GO during Migration!
American Yellow Warblers obviously get their name for their bright yellow colors throughout almost all of it;s feathers.
The Ovenbird (the tiny brown guy with the striped belly), can be mistaken for many other wood warblers and even the larger thrushes. To make up for the secretive colors, they make up for with a loud song.
The last two on this gallery, Although not as quality clear, are still identifiable and are some good finds. The first one being a black-and-white warbler: A small warbler known for it's distinct black white stripe coloration, similar to a Blackpoll Warbler but without the blackcap and more distinct stripe patterns. They're easy to spot so they were great to find as a beginner birder.
The other bird however, is very rare and probably one of the best birds I got: A Golden Crowned Kinglet. With it's distinct yellow crown, it's one of the rarer finds to seek. Unlike the olther warblers which are classified as New World Warblers, this Kinglet classifies as an Old World Warbler.
Blackbirds
Blackbirds, including bobolinks and grackles are very varied, but some species are hard to find.
The Common Grackle is a very distinct and common grackle amongst blackbirds. In some seasons when they are really dark, they are hard to distinguish from crows, but in the breeding seasons you can see their purple and browner glossy feathers in the male bird, where as the female retains more black and is more slender.
Red Winged Blackbirds are a rather recognizable species amongst birders. As the name suggests, the bird has a unique red and slight yellow marking on it's wings. They also have a unique call: scratchy oh-ka-leeee song. If you're ever near a large pind or lake, you may hear one or more of them nearby.
The Boat Tailed Grackle is one of the better species I found. They're very recognizable for their tails having that unique shape resembling the keel of a boat. The reason this species is one of the more sought out is due to their limited habitat being in Coastal areas. Check a salt water marsh if you'd like to have a higher chance of spotting one!
Corvids
Corvids are one fo the most intelligent species of birds in the world, alongside parrots. Including Jays, Ravens and Crows and even Magpies amongst other similar birds, Although there's a small amount fo species of corvids, corvid intelligence led to high success of survival with their usage of human activity and social aspects of intelligence.
Fish Crows, Although not as common and being mistaken for the more Widespread American Crows: are very interesting. Crows like them are highly adaptable. Despite being named Fish Crows for their diet mostly being small fish and crustaceans, they are still omnivorous, and are foten found also eating nuts, fruit and even human scrap in avaliable areas.
Blue Jays (one of my personal favorite birds in the world) are one of the more common Corvids found across North America. Not only that, they're actually kind of important in many ways. Blue jays are given credit for the spread of expanding oak trees due to them burying their seeds since often they don't eat every nut they burried. They also often help other animals that get preyed by raptors, as they're known to scream when they see predators, and are even known to chase at hawks or owls.
Mimids
If being an impersonator was a job in the world of birds, Mimids would be one of the highest paid bird. Mimids are noted especially to mimic other sounds, including other birds. This group of birds is rather small, similar to corvids, but hosts a fun amount of interesting birds.
The Northern Mockingbird is among one of my favorite birds. They're most noted by their white marks on their wings. There's also some interesting facts not many people know. They're known to join forces with others in neightboring territories, and are one of the other types of birds that mate for life, and are known to exhibit mutual mate choice.
The Brown Thrasher has often been mistaken for other thrushes and wood warblers due to their coloration despite their larger size. Of the birds, the Brown Thrasher is recorded to have the most songs in it's resume, with over 1,100 documented, with some claiming to have as much as 3,000 or more. That's alot of songs in such a tiny body!
The Gray Catbird is one of only two species of Catbird. The Gray Catbird looks rather plain at first glance, but it has a special talent other mimids don't. With a more developed songbird syrinx, it's able to sing two songs in one go. They're also not afraid of predators like many other mimids, and aggressively flash their wings and sound their signature call as a response.
Flycatchers
Probably one of the msot diverse groups of passerines , there are considered the largest family of bird, specifically Tyrant Flycatchers: Flycatchers that live and are identified living in North and South America. Right now I only found two species of Tyrant Flycatchers, both in NYC.
The first two are the Willow Flycatcher. OFten mistaken for other similar flycatchers, it's habitat often sets it near water. Despite being a neotropical bird, it comes to the upper states like NY during breeding season. They catch flies midair and can even hover to catch insects in shrubs and thicket, but also likes to intake berries too.
The other flycatcher I got and is probably my personal favorite bird at the moment: the Eastern Kingbird. They come to the North Americas to breed, but later migrate for the winter to South America. There is one interesting fact on the Eastern Kingbird's taxonomy. The Eastern Kingbird is a Type Species, meaning the species name is shared with it's genus and is taxonomically associated with.Int his case: Tyrannus Tyrannus or T.Tyrannus is it's species name!
Finches and Grosbeaks
Finches and Grosbeaks are the main birds of science, where Darwins Origin of species satrted. With a diverse group of finches and grosbeaks, there's plenty abound in America.
Cardinals are real common in NYC's famous spots, like central park, and have a very noticable song and distinct color and shape. Cardinals are actually related to grosbeaks and other members of the finch family.
The House finch is a fun watch when you're in a city park or anywhere where trees are abundant. While females look rather plain and are similar lookign to the female house sparrows, male ones have a noticable read head.
Other Passerines
Aside the Many Passerines listed, there are several Songbirds found that I could only find a singular species in it's genus and family, so I'm grouping these songbirds here in this gallery.
The Loggerhead Shrike is rather suspicious. Despite it's cute appearence, Shrikes have a deadly method of killing prey via spearing it's prey into thorns and spikes it can find. It's prey ranges from insects to rodents and sometimes even bats. If you see a Shrike, check for thorny or spikey areas in the tree or a nearby fence.
American Robins are some of the msot common and well known bird. There are 7 subspecies of American Robin based on the region. Despite being named similar to the European Robin, the two species are not related. American Robins are considered a True Thrush, whereas European Robins belong to Old World Flycatchers.
The European Starling is one of the birds in America that are non native. Originally they are native to Europe as their name suggests, as well as parts of Africa and Asia. These birds tend to flock very close together, asa defence against predators. While they are considered invasive, they are also good helpers in agriculture for feeding off insects that can harm crops, which is part of why they were introduced across the world.
The last Passerine here is the Cedar Waxwing. A very majestic bird, the Cedar Waxwing is well kown for it's distinct looks and high pitched whistles. They're called Waxwings for the "Red Wax" visible on it's wings. Cedar Waxwings have unique behaviors in breeding season. Most notably, mating pairs often groom each other's feathers and pass small objects back and forth to each other in courtship,
