Page 5 - Backyard Bird Photography: How to Attract Birds to Your Home and Create Beautiful Photographs

Hooded Oriole juvenile

Scrub Jay with peanut
The bird species that I feature in this book are unique to my experience, but the same
principles of bird photography that work in my garden will work with the birds that visit

your home. In my case, the cast of characters includes a few standouts, such as the
Western Scrub-Jay (hereafter referred to as the Scrub Jay), Allen’s Hummingbird, and
Hooded Oriole. I seem to spend much of my time photographing these three species, but
there are about thirty species that visit my backyard in the Brentwood Hills of Los Angeles
throughout the year.

The following species visit my yard every day: Scrub Jay, Allen’s Hummingbird,
California Towhee, House Finch, Mourning Dove, Song Sparrow, California Thrasher,

Lesser Goldfinch, California Quail, and Nanday Parakeet. Then there are the species that
visit the yard on any given day throughout the year, but not necessarily every day: Anna’s
Hummingbird, Northern Mockingbird, Bushtit, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Acorn
Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Wrentit, Black Phoebe, and Band-tailed Pigeon. During the
winter, the following species are in the yard every day: Golden-crowned Sparrow, White-
crowned Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and
American Robin. On any given winter day, I might see the Hermit Thrush as well. The

Black-chinned Hummingbird is a regular visitor to the garden during the spring and