First a little news. On June 17 I fell and broke my right ankle and just learned July 1 that I’ll be in a boot for three more weeks! Since it is my right ankle I can’t drive so I’m more or less restricted to photograph birds in the yard. On the other hand, I had a nice day in the yard on July 2. The day was cool and overcast, almost perfect for photography other than for a little mist that was falling around midday.

One of the most numerous birds in the yard now, in addition to American goldfinches, are chickadees. We have both species (Chestnut-backed and Black-capped) in the yard… this is a photo of one of the Chestnut-backed chickadees. I estimate that at times we may have as many as 10-12 in the yard at one time, the result of successful breeding seasons for both species.

We have at least two Bewick’s wrens in the yard, and judging by the time that they’ve been flyng away with suet I suspect that they may have raised two broods.

We’ve also has a successful breeding season for Downy woodpeckers. I’ve seen at least two juvenile males in the yard… unfortunately, we also had one killed when flying into a window.

We are getting visits from at least two families of House finches. This male is rather at the higher end of the color spectrum.

We have an adult male Northern flicker which has been accompanied by two juvenile flickers. This is one of the juveniles accessing one of our water features.

The American goldfinches seem to be taking somewhat of a break lately, with not as many in the yard. This is a female standing above the watercourse.

The visitors of the day were the following two grosbeaks which visited at different times. This male Black-headed grosbeak is a regular visitor to our suet feeder.

This female Back-headed grosbeak visited later in the day. I was sitting unusually close to our watercourse due to having to navigate with my boot when this female flew and landed directly in front of me on a staging stick above the watercourse. This was unusual for two reasons. First of all, the grosbeaks are among our shier species and this may be the closest I have ever been to one. Second, the grosbeaks don’t usually access our water features.

This female ignored the sound of the camera’s mirror and hopped from staging stick to staging stick and then down to the rocks of the watercourse to obtain a drink. I took numerous photos from only about eight feet away!

It’s that time of year when juvenile birds begin showing up in the yard. Some have little or no resemblance to their parents and can be difficult to identify. I’m going to display some of the juveniles in our yard and point out some characteristics to help identify them.

I’ll take up the rogues gallery first…

This is a juvenile House sparrow. The juveniles look similar to a female House sparrow but the juveniles can be distinguished by the yellow at the base of the bill, a characteristic of MANY species of juvenile birds. The House sparrow families are often gregarious, with the birds traveling in family (or larger) groups.

Next up, a juvenile European Starling, another introduced species. These birds are initially a dull gray color and are best distinguished by the length of their beaks.

This is a White-crowned sparrow juvenile. Note the gray and brown stripes on top of the bird’s head, and the yellow at the base of the bird’s bill. The bird’s crown will eventually morph to black and white. (There is a very prolific and widespread tan (Taiga) morph that closely resembles this juvenile, but the tan morph lives in the interior of the country and I see none in this area.)

Again, note the yellow at the base of this Spotted towhee‘s bill. This juvenile has very little resemblance to the parents. The juvenile has a yellow eye which will eventually turn red. The bird’s striped breast and flanks will eventually disappear. All of the juvenile towhees I see are already independent of their parents, feeding and exploring independently.

Another juvenile bird that can be difficult to identify, the Dark-eyed junco (Oregon race). These birds are ground nesters and the young are almost always independent by the time they show up in our yard. In the winter this species can constitute the most numerous species in the yard, but the adults leave in the spring to breed at higher elevations.

Pine siskins are more easily identified but can quite closely resemble the adults. Most, but not all, have some yellow on their backs/wings. One of this bird’s notable physical characteristics is its relatively sharp bill which it uses as a threat to defend its place at bird feeders. I usually assume that the birds with an unkempt look are juveniles… they may appear relatively ‘naive’ and approachable.