List the Top 5 Birds You Want on Your Life List!!!

Remember they have to be seen in the wild to go on your list.

For me my # 1 would be any type of Owl

#2 The Red Knot

I'll finish my list later today.

Let's hear what are the top birds are that you would like to see!

Well so far I can think of Painted Bunting and Bobolink in breeding plumage!

Beautiful shot of the Junco Pelle.

A few weeks ago a Great Horned Owl landed in the dead tree. At first DH thought it was a cat but when it flew away he had to admit I was right!! LOL!

It will take some traveling to see mine in their natural habitat, but I want to see rhea's, peacocks, penguins of all types, and I would like to spend a couple of months in the rain forests of Central and South America seeing as many of the inhabitants as I possibly can. DH got to spend 7 months in Honduras and his tales of the resident wildlife in his area of Central America really intrigued me and I *had* to add Central and South America to my bucket list.

I have a lot on my list, especially warblers, but here is what comes to mind immediately. Of course, my list only includes species that might be seen in my region from time to time. Otherwise, the list would be too extensive.


#1 - Snowy Owl
#2 - Red-headed Woodpecker
#3 - Prothonotary Warbler
#4 - Cerulean Warbler
#5 - Mississippi Kite

Here is the rest of my list

#3 Black-throated Blue Warbler

#4 Roseate Spoonbill

#5 Pileated Woodpecker

Of course I want to get pictures of all of them too!

Funny you mentioned a peacock JuneyBug. I had to do a double take to be sure, but there was a peacock walking down the side of US 1, a major four lane between Raleigh and Sanford this evening about 6:30. I was like WTH?

I think mine would be...............

#1 - Painted Bunting
#2 - Baltimore Oriole
#3 - Indigo Bunting
#4 - Scarlet Tanager
#5 - Western Tanager

I already have the Indigo Bunting on my life list, but since I've gotten into photography I want pics! :)

In my area;

1. Any kind of Owls, but the one, I really want to see, is the Snowy Owls.

2. Rough-legged Hawk,

3. Peregrine Falcon,

4. Belted Kingfisher

5. Scarlet tanager

I would love to see puffin. When we were in Alaska, it was too soon in the season for them.
And I know you asked for 5 and that's only one... how about "I'd love to see 5 puffin?" LOL

Pelle, you're not making this easy on me, keeping the list to only 5 birds; but I'll try.

1. Rainbow Lorikeet - Margaret has posted some pictures of these birds and they are absolutely gorgeous. Maybe I'll actually get to see one when I visit Australia later this year.

2. Painted Bunting

3. Belted Kingfisher

4. Western Tanager

5. Emperor Penguin - Most likely, the closest I'll ever get to seeing these guys is to rent the movie "March of the Penguins" again.

* My number 2, 3 & 4 are supposed to be found in New Mexico; but I've never seen any of them. I'll just have to keep looking and maybe one day I'll get lucky!

This is so difficult because I know there are tons out there that I have never even heard of.

These are mostly ones that I think I could probably see at some point in the U.S., in no particular order.

Snow Bunting
Cerulean Warbler
California Condor
Pileated Woodpecker
Greater Prairie Chicken

For me number one would be a Barn Owl, it's the only owl native to PA that I haven't seen
After that I would say painted bunting, green jay, great gray owl and gyrfalcon.

Linthicum, there are 2 Mississippi Kites in Lancaster, PA right now. Not sure how far of a drive that is from your spot in MD, but if you're interested I could point you in the right direction.

Edit: Linthicum, if you really want Photonary Warblers, I could point to a few different examples in DE and WV that are pretty much guaranteed to be there.

This message was edited Jun 5, 2009 2:08 PM

Difficult!

Here's a semi-random selection of Asian stunners I'd like to see some day (but doubt I ever will) . . .

Siberian Blue Robin (what other bird has such an evocative name?!) http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=17&action=searchresult&Bird_ID=2568&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1
Crested Tit Warbler http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=10&action=searchresult&Bird_ID=1819&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1
White-browed Tit Warbler http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=6&action=searchresult&Bird_ID=1838&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1
Narcissus Flycatcher http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=12&action=searchresult&Bird_ID=2679&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1
Spoon-billed Sandpiper http://orientalbirdimages.org/birdimages.php?p=5&action=birdspecies&Bird_ID=1239&Bird_Family_ID=138&pagesize=1

Resin

Wow those oriental birds are crazy looking. Thanks for the links Resin. Ive only been seriously birding the last couple of years "have always loved birds tho" so I dont have a life list yet. I guess any Warbler I havent seen is what i really want for now, and that's a large list.

This is tough narrowing a list down to just five but I'll give it a whirl. here's my list but not necessarily in order of priority:

1. Male Pheasant
2. Ivory-billed Woodpecker ;))
3. Western Tanager
4. Bald Eagle
5. any kind of Owl besides Barred (I've seen it already)

Hey Lith I think I saw the Prothonotary Warbler at the Cheltenham Wetland. I've gone there a couple of times and there's no one out there but me, me and me...peace and quite. There's a Kingfish that hangs over there, plenty of Common Yellowthroats, redwinged blackbirds, GB Heron, Green Heron, Blue Grosbeak.

1.All the warblers in some good light (does this count or is it too many...smiles)
2. Red-head Woodpecker
3. Owls
4. More Hawks
5. Brown head nuthatch
6. Red-breasted nuthatch

This message was edited Jun 5, 2009 12:21 PM

This message was edited Jun 5, 2009 1:10 PM

only 5? ok, here is my list, i have seen these already, but i want to see them again! nothing too exotic, but i am just a casual observer:)

snowy owl!
northern flicker
killdeer
common nighthawk
whip-poor-will

Thanks for the info, Meth. I have not been to Cheltenham. There are a couple of sites around Upper Marlboro that I should visit but I need more time. Fran Uhler Natural Area and Governor's Bridge Natural Area have been mentioned to me, also (Bowie area). Schoolhouse Pond in Upper Marlboro can have some surprises periodically. I go to the North Tract at Patuxent Research Refuge quite often and some birders have been seeing the Prothonatary Warbler there, also. One just has to be in the right place at the right time ...... with a camera.

Oh....like everybody else that is just soooooooooooooo hard

Snowy Owl
Horned Owl
Scarlet Tanager
Pheasant
Cerulean Warbler

plus 100's of others!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It took me a while to come up with only 5.....I want to see them all!

1) piliated woodpecker (I keep getting reported sightings but come up empty handed every time!)
2) red headed woodpecker
3) scarlet tanager
4) cerulean warbler
5) owls....I love them all and have only seen a screech owl up close

Resin, Are there any in your own country you haven't seen yet?

Owls seem to be a on a lot of lists. :-)

Various rarities, but none of the regular species that I've not seen.

Resin

Owls are elusive and hard to spot....or they are for me anyway! LOL

I have seen "tamed" owls before but I don't count them because they are no longer living "native".

Yiippeeee!!! I just saw # 1 and #9 on my gotta' see before I leave Missouri list!!!
The ScarletTanager lives in my neighborhood too! How neat to finally see it.
The (30+) murder of crows was on the military base close to the river bluff. I lost most of "my" crows to west nile virus a couple of years ago and had wanted to see another big family group wheeling around the sky before I leave for Korea. I was over there because the realator was showing my house - lets hope that this was a "good" sign!

Congratulations Juney!!

Thanks! It sure made me happy!

YAY...CONGRATS!!!!

I don't know what five I would want. I'm proudest of the California Condors we saw at Grand Canyon. I've been a nature lover and hunter my whole live. Spent a lot of time outdoors. I only began keeping a list this year. The Condor is the only bird I've added retroactively. I have some pics, but the CD's are locked up in a file cabinet I've lost the key to. :(

My list is growing and gives me something to do. For 2009 I'm #2 in my county and #12 in the state. I'm lacking on water birds and warblers. I'll take care of the migratory waterfowl this fall. Not a lot of warblers around here. Maybe I need a trip East.

Thanks, the tanager was a suprise as I had given up on seeing one here in the Ozarks. My FIL has them in Houston, TX and I had seen them there, I had just sooo wanted to see a "yankee" one as the books say that they are here and I haven't seen one in the 14 years that we've lived here. Funny that it was 2 doors away from my house! "My" crows are bringing their babies around to eat now. I have 5 in my group now, there were only 2 left from the 40++ group that I had been throwing corn out for.

DH has been keeping a life list since 1972. He said he'd like to identify clearly some of the hawks we've seen here and have just guessed at using the bird book. I'd like to see a Painted Bunting. I heard a Whipper Will last evening, and rushed inside to tell him, but it was gone by the time we got outside again. In FL we had Chuck Will's Widow, Pileated Woodpecker, Ospreys, and Great Blue Herons nesting in the neighborhood, and a Bald Eagle nearby. I would love to identify the songs I hear to the bird, which generally requires seeing and hearing the bird at the same time. Even after many years, there are far more sounds and songs than I have been able to match.

I'm sure there must be a number of places online where a person can keep a Life List of birds. For North American birds many of us here at Daves keep our list here:

http://www.yardbirder.net/index.php

I'm not sure if there are sites for keeping lists of European, Australian or other birds but maybe Resin or Margaret could let us know.

Hi Pam, I know what you mean!! There is a pretty good site for Hawks in Flight, here it is. You can Pick a Raptor or Compare Two

http://www.virtualbirder.com/vbirder/onLoc/onLocDirs/HAWK/gallery/bkwheeler/index.html

I keep my list on eBird. It's sponsored by Audubon and Cornell University Lab of Ornithology. They share the data they collect with ornithologists and other professionals and your data as well as that for your county and state is useful to track recent sightings etc.

http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about

This one you can keep all your lists - birds, mammals, plants, insects, you name it, worldwide: http://www.globaltwitcher.com/main.asp

This one you can do world birds: http://www.bubo.org/

This one has lists for every region worldwide; you can't enter your own, but you can download a copy to use: http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/checklist.jsp?lang=EN

Resin

Thanks!

My five that I might see(and photograph)(I only count the ones I get a good pic of) someday locally are:
1) Bald Eagle
2) Painted Bunting
3) Summer Tanager
4) Blue Grosbeak
5) Wood Stork

There are lots of Warblers, Vireos, Sparrows and Orioles I have not gotten a pic of yet but I know it will take time. I noticed that in just about everyone's list their are birds that are elusive for them but are common for other forum members.

Resin....you know everything!! :-D

I saw California Condors when I was at the Grand Canyon a few years ago with DH and the kids. Everyone got really annoyed that I was "stuck" on that one spot mesmerized by them. There were 3 and they were swooping around in wide circles right at eye level.....amazing!! The park folks were non-plussed...I guess they are used to them! It is on my top five of great sightings.....that would be a fun list to see also.....

Last evening we were sitting on our deck which overlooks a tall grass meadow. A male Indigo Bunting came to the feeder and then flew to the top of a bamboo pole with orange construction tape on it that marks the wellhead out in the meadow. The male perched on the pole and sang his little heart out while the orange tape fluttered beneath him like a little flag. I finally got to match the song I've been hearing with the bird. What a treat. Today, the farmer came to cut the meadow, so now we have a clear view of the pole until the meadow grows up again. I hope the bunting returns.