Mine is pretty inaccurate, because I am… not great at observing birds. They move too fast, sit too high, hide amongst leaves, and generally refuse my entreaties to stay still, come closer, please be my friend, etc. So there are lots of birds that go unobserved and I have no way of knowing who they are or who should be in the top two rows.
Of the ones shown, I am especially fond of the cinnamon hummingbirds who noisily visit all day long, both species of doves who sweetly raise families in the garden, the hilariously tiny gnatcatcher, and my all round favorite, the Groove-billed Ani. I think the mockingbird may be the one who has the crazy song that is like every song all in one? I am not sure. I love hearing it. The Zanates are loud but distinctive. I like the females’ coloring so much.
Who am I kidding? I love all of them. 5 stars, would recommend. (That said the parrots, which travel in large groups, are so loud they sometimes set the neighborhood pups barking.)
I’m not too surprised by mine except the house wren since I don’t feel like I’ve seen that species all that often. The others are common and more easily photographed than a lot of other birds. I was just thinking the other day that I used to see at least one great blue heron pretty much every time I went birding in a wetland area but now I haven’t seen one in a while.
What surprises me is that of my top 50 species, only two are non-native (House sparrows and European starlings, neither of which made top ten)
Not surprising is that all of my top ten are visitors to my feeders or my yard, because I don’t go out actively bird-watching.
A lot of mine seem related to what is easiest/most obvious to photograph–I don’t always allow myself the patience to get decent photos of birds even though I do a fair amount of birdwatching. I also I tend to put in more effort when away from home, which is probably why I have an Australian species in my top 10 (probably some overlap with the great egret and osprey as well).
I guess mine make sense since they are mostly common in my area, although since I generally prioritize adding new species rather than more observations of an already seen species I don’t have so many of each bird. The plush-crested jay is a surprise tho
I’d say this is pretty representative. Eastern Bluebird tied with American Robin, Summer Tanager, and Blue Jay with 18 obs, but didn’t make it in the photo. The egret is probably higher than it should be since they are easier to get a good photo of because they are so big. Also I see Turkey Vultures flying very frequently, but don’t often take photos because I get dizzy when I try to.
Mine make sense, common species that are easy to get photos of. Although the brush turkey is top because I’ve decided it will always be my top observed species because I think they are funny.
Mine are mostly widespread species that I have seen in numerous places. I don’t tend to add numerous observations of the same species in a limited area but I do try to document things I see when I am in someplace new.
