Three Birds, a Spotted Towhee, and a Hooded Oriole

Today was a very exciting day!  I saw a lot of neat birds!

I'll start with an unsually good photo I took of a bushtit.  They usually don't pose so well for pictures.

Bushtit

Below is a photo of the two most common finches in my area- the house finch and the lesser goldfinch.  There aren't often just one of each sitting right next to each other, so it was pretty neat.

House Finch and Lesser Goldfinch

Below is a spotted towhee.  They are common in brushy areas and open woods in the western United States down into Mexico.  They summer in the northern middle states, and winter in the southern ones.  In the rest of their range, they are around all year.  Like other towhees, they scratch the ground to look for bugs.  They are often shy and can be hard to find when they hide in thick bushes.  However, they are often singing their very noisy, buzzing songs, which can make it easier to find them.  They are similar to Eastern towhees, and in fact the two species were once considered to be the same species- the rufous-sided towhee.  Like the Eastern towhee, the spotted towhee has a black head, back, and tail, reddish-brown sides, a white belly, and red eyes.  However, spotted towhees have white spots on their backs, which Eastern towhees lack.  The one below was not in my yard, but in a tree just down the street from my house.

Spotted Towhee

Spring is officially here in my backyard with the arrival of the first oriole!  Below is a hooded oriole, the most common oriole in my area.  They are found in the summer in the coastal and southern part of California, and southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.  They are also found in Mexico, and I believe they winter in South America.  They are common in areas with trees and are particularly common where there are palm trees, where they build their nests.  Males have black faces, backs, and tails, white spots on their wings, and orange bodies.  Females are greenish-yellow all over.  They eat nectar and fruit, and are often attracted to hummingbird feeders and oriole feeders.  The male below was eating nectar from the red flowers.

Hooded Oriole