Listen to the Mockingbird

Birds were chirping in the pear tree this morning, a cheerful sound that I don't hear often.  I began thinking that what small ability I once  had to identify birds by sight and/or sound has left me.  We see few birds around, not like it once was on the farm when among others one could hear the killdeer across the field.

My favorite birds were the mockingbird, blue bird, cardinal and robin.  Blue birds built a nest and laid four eggs in our mailbox once (we didn't get much mail) but the birds abandoned the nest after humans had touched the eggs.  Among the birds that we saw often in addition to those already named included red headed woodpecker,  sparrows, black birds, crows, blue jays, purple martins, hummingbirds, quail, and wrens. We heard the owls at night but seldom saw them. 

For several years seven crows stayed in this neighborhood, often being seen at Albertson's. One year there was only six and then they disappeared.  We enjoy the visits by robins each spring; they stay late some years before heading north.  When we had two apple trees in bloom one year, a group of finches paid us a visit and then moved on.

I would be pleased to hear from anyone about their experiences with birds, the ones they see, how to attract and care for them, etc.