Bridlemile Birds
“In Forest Park alone, the city of Portland has identified … 104 bird species.” Source: Forest Park Wildlife Report 2012.
Keys to identifying birds include: noticing their:
1) size and shape, 2) body color pattern, 3) call, 4) habitat - where to look, 5) when to look (season and time of day)
Bushtit, American (Psaltriparus minimus)
Where to find them:
All over. Especially in open woodlands, such as in Bridlemile gardens, parks and near streams.
How to recognize them:
Left, middle, and right: Bushtit, Bridlemile backyard feeder. 2024-11-30.
Size-shape: Small. Plump. Relatively large heads. Long tails. Short bills.
Color: Gray and brown. Males - dark eyes. Females - pale ones.
Sound: Soft chirps and twitters.
Habitat: Travels in flocks.
Diet: Mostly insects. Sometimes they forage at bird feeders for seeds, as shown above.
When: Year round.
Chickadee, Black-Capped (poecile atricapillus)
Where to find them:
All over. Look for them in forests areas, as in residential yards and in city parks. Check for them at feeders with suet, sunflower and peanuts.
How to recognize them:
Above: Chickadee, Black-Capped. Bridlemile bird feeder camera. 2024-11-28.
Size-shape: Small. Round head. Small body. Short bill. Thick neck.
Color: Distinct black cap and bib. White cheeks and underparts. Brownish sides and underparts.
Sound: A distinct “chick-a-dee” call. The more dee notes one makes in a call means the higher the perceived threat level.
Habitat: All over northern USA and southern Canada.
Behavior: Travels in flocks. Friendly and curious around people.
Diet: Eats mostly seeds. Sometimes insects.
When: Year round.
Crow, American (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Where to find them:
All over. Look for them feeding on the ground or hanging out in trees.
How to recognize them:
Left: Crow, Bridlemile cut-thru between SW 45th and SW Admiral Ct, iPhone, 2024-10-11.
Right: Crow, Bridlemile backyard. Security camera. 2021-05-17.
Size-shape: bigger than a jay, smaller than a raven. Thick bill and neck. Short tail. FYI: Pacific NW crows are smaller than those in other parts of USA.
Color: Distinct trait with their all-black plumage, feet, legs and bill.
Sound: A distinct and loud “caaw caaw” call.
Habitat: All over. They congregate hear people - and people food. They hang out in trees, but mostly feed on the ground.
Behavior: Gather in flocks. Relatively comfortable around people.
When: Year round residents.
Miscellaneous: Common in Portland and elsewhere.
Duck, Mallard (Anas platyrhynchas)
Where to find them:
Look for them in or near water, from ditches to ponds to Fanno Creek.
How to recognize them:
Mallard ducks: Female (hen) and male (drake). Bridlemile stream. 2021-03-19.
Size: Fairly large for a duck. Bigger than a crow. Smaller than a goose.
Color: Males: iridescent, glossy green head, white neck ring, yellow bill, reddish/maroon breast and pale body.
Females: mostly mottled brown with orange-black bill..
Both sexes have white in tail.
Sound: Distinct loud quack (females only)
Habitat: Anywhere with water from ditches to ponds to Fanno Creek. Portland’s most common duck.
When: Year-round resident
Flicker, Northern (Colaptes stratus)
Where to find them:
Look on the ground on grass fields at Albert Kelly Park. They are ground (insect) feeders, so they may be out looking for food.
How to recognize them:
Northern Flicker at Albert Kelly Park. iPhone. 2024-08-26.
Size: Bigger than a robin. Smaller than a crow
Color: Distinct black patch (bib) on breast. Also: brown back with black bars. Gray face. Red mustache (males). Brown back with black bars. Black spots and dashes all over. White rump in flight.
Sound: Distinct ”wicka-wicka-wicka”
Habitat: They are ground (insect) feeders, so look for them on the ground. Focus on open areas like the playing fields at Albert Kelly Park.
When: Year-round resident.
Goldfinch, Lesser (Spinus psaltria)
Where to find them:
Bridlemile trees, along creeks, especially cottonwoods. Also, you can find them in low weeds, like thistles, shrubs and at bird feeders.
How to recognize them:
Above left: Lesser Goldfinch male.
Above right: Lesser Goldfinch female.
Size: Small. Sparrow-sized or smaller.
Color: Lesser Goldfinches show a more muted yellow than American Goldfinches.
Adult males have a black forehead, cap and tail, yellow below, and white patches in the wings. In Oregon, their backs are a dull green.
Female and immature birds have gray-olive-green backs, dull yellow underparts and black wings with two whitish wing bars.
Food: Seeds, such as sunflowers.
Sound: Chig chig chig. Or a rising “teeeyeee” or a falling “teeeyooo”.
Gull, Glaucous-winged (Larus glaucescenss)
Where to find them:
Open areas, such as Hamilton Park.
How to recognize them:
Glaucous-winged gull
Left: Bridlemile School rooftop. 2025-01-03.
Right: Hamilton Park. 2025-01-03.
Size: “A large, heavyset gull with a big, somewhat flat head and a long, heavy bill with a thick tip and pronounced angle along the lower edge.” All About Birds. Thick bill. Short, square-tipped tail. Flat forehead. Big bill.
Color: White head, neck, breast and belly. Wingtips are gray, same as their backs, and not white or black. Gray above and white below. White spots on wingtips. Yellow bill. Pinkish legs and feet. Young gulls are brown or gray with black beaks.
Habitat: Open areas. City parks. Graceful fliers.
Sound: low-pitched "kak-kak-kak" or "wow", or a more high-pitched wailing
Diet: Omnivorous.
When: In Portland, mostly in the winter. Sometimes in the spring and fall, Not seen in Portland in the summer
Hawk, Red-tailed (Buteo jarnaicensis)
Where to find them:
All over.
If you hear their distinct “see-eeeee-arr” call, look up. Otherwise, look on the tops of utility poles. Either way, they will likely be searching for that next meal.
How to recognize them:
Color: Distinct: Reddish-brown tails. Also dark feather band across the belly. White shoulder streaks. Dark leading edge of wings.
Sound: Kee-eeeee-arr
Habitat: All around Portland. Especially soaring over open fields or on telephone poles.
Behavior: Soars above.
When: Year-round, but more in the winter when the Canadian hawks migrate here.
Heron, Great Blue (Ardea herodias)
Where to find them:
Look for them year round in Fanno Creek, standing motionless while hunting for food.
(Helps support the idea that there must be fish and/or crawdads in Bridlemile’s portion of Fanno Creek)
How to recognize them:
Left: Great Blue Heron as seen from the bridge over Fanno Creek at 56th Ave between B-H Hwy and SW Seymour Court. iPhone. 2015-12-19.
Right: Great Blue Heron near 45th and B-H Hwy, before that intersection was redone with new culverts. Photo by Joel Bluestone. Date unknown.
Size: Large. Long neck. Long legs. Big bill. Up to four-feet tall!
Color: Grayish-blue. Yellow-orange bill. Black eye stripe. Black head plumes.
Where: Standing motionless in shallow water, like in Fanno Creek, while looking for food.
Sound: Rough croak.
When: Year-round resident.
Miscellaneous: The official bird of Portland since 1986.
Hummingbird, Anna’s. (Calypte anna)
Where to find them:
All year round at Hummingbird feeders.
How to recognize them:
Left: Male. Bridlemile feeder. 2024-11-28.
Middle: Female. Bridlemile feeder. 2024-11-28.
Right: Female: Bridlemile feeder. 2024-05-19.
Size-shape: Small (four inches), but normal for a hummingbird. Broad tail. Straight bill.
Color: Mostly green and gray. Males: Red-pink throat and crown. Females: Green above, gray below, sometimes with red spots on throat.
Sound: Buzzy, grating, squeaky (males). Chee-ik-ee-ik-ee-ik.
Habitat Gardens and Hummingbird feeders.
When: Year-round resident.
Jay, Steller’s. (Cyanocitta stelleri)
Where to find them:
Look all year round for them in bird feeders and on the ground in back yards and parks where they go to find food.
How to recognize them:
Steller’s Jay, Bridlemile yard. Security camera. 2020-09-27.
Size-shape: larger. A distinct feature is their tall black-or-blue triangular, straight-up head crests.
Also, they are larger birds and have a long tail.
Color pattern: Deep-blue and black. Pacific NW variants have blue streaks in their head crest (see photo above).
Sound: Harsh “shack shack” or “chook chook” call.
Habitat: Wooded areas.
Behavior: Ground forager.
When: Year-round resident.
Junco, Oregon Dark-eyed. (Junco hyemalis)
Where to find them:
Look in backyard bird feeders - all year round.
Also, look on the ground for them to be eating seeds.
How to recognize them:
Left and middle: Oregon Dark-eyed Junco. Bridlemile School fence. iPhone. 2024-05-30.
Right: Bridlemile bird feeder. 2024-11-28.
Size/shape: Roughly robin sized.
Color pattern: Distinct solid black head hood (males) and gray hood (females). Chestnut-reddish-brown back (Oregon variant). Distinct white tail feathers in flight.
Sound: Thrill
Habitat: Backyard feeders.
Behavior: Ground forager. Eats seeds. Backyard feeder visitor.
When Year-round resident.
Miscellaneous: Currently, a common bird in Portland (Oregon variant), but only since around 2000.
Nuthatch, Red-breasted. (Sitta canadensis)
Where to find them:
Listen for their tinny, nasal “yank yank” call and look at nearby conifer tree trunks. They walk up and down and around tree trunks.
How to recognize them:
Left: Bridlemile backyard bird feeder. 2025-01-05.
Right: Bridlemile stream with a trail-camera. 2024-05-031.
Size-shape: Small. Short tail. Little neck. Pointed bill. Slightly smaller than a sparrow.
Color pattern: Black eye strip, white eyebrow. Blue-gray back. Rusty-orange below.
Sound: Distinct tinny, nasal “yank yank” call.
Behavior: Head-down. Distinct in how they walk up and down trees trunks. Shows little fear of humans.
Diet: In summer: insects and spiders. In winter: seeds.
Where: Trees, especially conifers (e.g. Douglas Firs).
When: Year-round resident.
Owl, Barred. (Strix varia)
Where to find them:
Look in dense wooded areas, especially those with conifers. Also, look near water, as in Fanno Creek.
They are easier to hear than to see.
How to recognize them:
Left: Bared Owl. Near the Tigard-Rogers house. Photo by Terry Hancock. Date unknown.
Right: Bared Owl. Back porch railing. Near the Tigard-Rogers house. Photo by Kim Burgess. 2024-08-23.
Size-shape: Large. Round-headed. No “ear” tufts.
Color pattern: Grayish brown. Horizontal bars on chest/throat. Vertical ones on lower breast and abdomen.
Sound: Easier to hear than to see. Distinct. Hoots loud “hoo, hoo, hoo. - aw!” or “Who cooks for you”.
Where: Dense wooded areas, as those with conifers. Also, likes to be near water, as in Fanno Creek.
When: Year-round resident. Mostly active at night.
Miscellaneous: Barred owls were only first spotted in Oregon in the 1970’s.
Mostly, eats small mammals. May also eat birds, insects, reptiles, or fish.
Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)
Where to find them:
Look for them where there are seeds, such as trees, especially pine and other conifer trees, and on bird feeders.
How to recognize them:
Pine Siskin. Bridlemile backyard feeder. 2025-01-12.
Size-shape: Small size. Sharp, pointed bill. Short, notched/forked tail.
Color: Streaky brown and white upper parts. Pale under parts. Yellow patches on wings and tails. White streaks on wings.
Sound: Rapid, high-pitch chittering, upward thrill, fast buzzing. Bzzzzt.
Behavior: Eats small seeds. .
Where: Clings on branch tips, especially of conifers.
When: October to May. How many appear varies greatly from year to year.
Robin, American (Turdus migrators)
Where to find them:
All over. Common bird. Look for them on the ground as they feed on earthworms, especially right after it rains.
How to recognize them:
Left: American Robin, male. Hamilton Park. iPhone. 2024-06-02.
Middle: American Robin. Immature. SW Seymour Court. 2024-06-02.
Right: Robin pair. Bridlemile stream bed. 2020-08-04.
Size-shape: Large, round-bellied.
Color pattern: Distinct orange-rusty belly. Dark head. Yellow bill. Black streaks on throat. Female and immature birds are paler than males (see photos to the left).
Sound: Sings “Cheer-up, cheerily, cheer-up, cheerily” early in spring and summer mornings.
Behavior: Eats earthworms in AM and insects and fruit later on. Frequents bird feeders. In the fall, especially after it rains, larger groups (roosts) gather together at Hamilton Park looking for earthworms. Hops around on ground.
Where: Ground feeder. Frequently seen on lawns.
When: Year-round resident.
Sapsucker, Red-Breasted (Sphyrapicus ruber)
Where to find them:
Often in a forested area of either conifers or deciduous trees. Also, they congregate near bird feeders with suet.
How to recognize them:
Above: Red-Breasted Sapsucker. Bridlemile yard. 2024/11/02.
Size: About the size of a Robin.
Colors: Red head and chest. Large vertical white patch on wing. Other parts are black, white, yellow.
Behavior: Drills horizontal rows of shallow wells in trees – and drinks the resulting sap. After the Sapsuckers leave the area, insects, other birds, and mammals use the wells to add to their diets.
Sparrow, Song. (Melospiza melodia)
Where to find them:
All over. Common bird. Find them on the ground, in open areas, gardens, bird feeders or hiding in bushes.
How to recognize them:
Song Sparrow.
Left: Under Bridlemile porch. Security camera.
Middle: Bridlemile yard. Security camera. 2024-10-05.
Right: Bridlemile bird feeder camera. 2024-11-28.
Size-shape: Small to medium. Round head. Long tail. Short beak.
Color pattern: Distinct brown streaks on white breast and sides join near throat. Brownish streaks around the eye and throat.
Behavior: Flit around. Eats insects in summer and seeds in winter.
Sound: Melodious. Three notes followed by a thrill. Variations on the theme that sounds sort of like “Madge, Madge, Madge, put on your tea kettle kettle kettle”.
Where: Ground. Open areas. Gardens. Bird feeders. May hide in bushes.
When: Year-round resident.
Swallow, Barn (Hirundo rustica)
Where to find them:
Between April and October, look in open areas, as in the grass fields in Albert Kelly Park or Hamilton Park.
How to recognize them:
Barn Swallows. Albert Kelly Park. iPhone 15. 2024-06-17.
Size-shape: Distinct large forked tail. No visible neck. Robin sized.
Color pattern: Distinct cobalt blue upper parts. Under parts are cinnamon.-orange.
Behavior: Distinct in how they dart fast and low across open fields, while hunting flying insects. They feed as the fly. Appear to be un-afraid of people.
Sound: Indistinct rattle sounds.
Habitat: Open areas, as in the grass fields in Albert Kelly Park and Hamilton Park.
When: Seen locally between April and October.
Thrush, Varied (Ixoreus naevius)
Where to find them:
From October to April, look for them in local residential yards and parks as they gather nuts and fruits.
How to recognize them:
Left: Varied Thrush male. Near Bridlemile stream. Security camera.
Right: Varied Thrush female. Near Bridlemile stream. Security camera.
Size-shape: Round head. Long legs. Robin sized.
Color pattern: Orange throat and undersides. Males have a distinct curved gray-black breast band (see left-side photo above). Females have a fuzzy gray-brown crest band (see right-side photo above) .
Behavior: Hop on the ground. Eat insects in April to October when they are up in the Cascades, and they eat nuts and fruits from October to April when they are around Portland.
Sound: Distinct with two or three long “lazy” whistles followed by pauses.
Habitat: Ground feeder. Hangs out in wet, dense coniferous NW forests.
When: Seen locally from October to April.
Towhee, Spotted (Pipilo maculatus)
Where to find them:
Look on the ground, especially around fallen leaves, as that is where they hunt and eat insects.
“Location: All over, especially in brushy areas (they love blackberry thickets). Look for them in your backyard and just about any wild place.” Ibid. The Nature of Portland. P. 197.
How to recognize them:
Spotted Towhee.
Left: Bridlemile backyard feeder. 2025-01.
Right: Bridlemile backyard feeder. 2024-11-28.
Size-shape: Thick bill. Long tail. Smaller than a robin.
Color pattern: Males: Red eyes and a black head and upper breast, Females have a brown hood. Both have a long tail and white spots on wings. Sides are reddish. Belly is white.
Behavior: Likes to hop on ground. Distinct in how it makes noise while scratching fallen leaves.
Sound: Longish, buzzy, chirpy sound.
Diet: Eats insects.
Habitat: Ground feeder. Back yards, fields.
When: Year-round resident.
Woodpecker, Downy, (Dryobates pubescens)
Where to find them:
Look for them in back yard bird feeders and parks. See them balancing on small deciduous branches.
How to recognize them:
Above. Bridlemile yard. iPhone. 2024-11-28.
Size-shape: Smallest North American woodpecker.
Color pattern: Black upper parts, wings and inner tail. White throat, belly and spots on wings. White bars above and below each eye. White outer tail feathers. Males have a distinct red batch at the rear of the head.
Beak: Shorter than the head.
Behavior: Mostly eats insects.
Sound: Four short “pik”’s, spaces at 1/2 second between each. Four drumming taps.
Wren, Pacific, (Troglodytes pacificus)
Where to find them:
In winter, look for them in back yards and parks, as that is where they go to hunt for food. The rest of the year, you are most likely to find them in dense conifer forests, especially of spruce and fir.
You can see on the ground as that is where they hunt and eat insects.
"“They’re likely the most abundant bird in the interior of Forest Park.” Kriegh, LeeAnn. The Nature of Portland. Tempo Press. Bend. 2020. P. 187.
How to recognize them:
Pacific Wren. Bridlemile front yard. 2019-12-09.
Size-shape: A distinct short tail, which often stands upright (see photos). Thin bill. Bigger than a hummingbird, but smaller than a robin.
Color pattern: Brown with dark stripes and pale eyebrows (see photos). Dark brown bill.
Behavior: Feeds on insects on the ground. May sometimes eat berries.
Sound: Complex mix of many short notes.
Habitat: Prefer forests of conifers, especially spruce and fir. In winter, they may venture to back yards and parks.
When: Year-round resident.
For more information:
Bird Alliance of Oregon: Meet the Neighbors: Portland Metro Area’s Backyard Birds
Kriegh, LeeAnn. Nature of Portland. Tempo Press. Bend, Oregon 2020.