What are your thoughts on the Washington state bird? And what your pick would be? Super enjoying these bird musings :D
The American Goldfinch is a great little bird, but given that their range covers practically the entirety of the United States, they don’t exactly strongly invoke a certain place or ecosystem.
I’d prefer a more western bird for Washington! For the Evergreen state, I think a green colored bird to match the iconic forests would be lovely. My selections would be something like the Violet Green Swallow or Anna’s hummingbird
This is how I keep my hummingbird feeder open in below freezing temps - a large mason jar wrapped in paper towel and tin foil and filled with very hot water.
It gives off enough heat to keep the juice liquid in mild freezing temps like today’s -5C, but tomorrow’s forecasted -14C will probably be too much for it, so I’ll combine this method with swapping out my second feeder throughout the day.
Bewick's Wrens!! They may be small in size but they have such big personalities, they're so fun to watch. It actually sparked my interest in birding when a pair nested on my family's porch so I used the Audobon app to identify what species they were, and since then I've identified over 20 different species in my neighborhood alone :) I'd say Anna's Hummingbirds are a close second for similar reasons, it's so cool I can observe their hyperactive antics right outside my window every day
God I wish I got hummingbirds more often. They seem to only come around when the feeder is empty—otherwise it’s just wasps.