Introduction

In creating this book there were two things that I wanted to share with the readers: my artistic progress and creations, and knowledge and appreciation of the birds in DC. Before this project, I had never worked with watercolors before. I had always been interested in them, so I took the chance to work with them for this project. With lots of practice and determination, I was able to teach myself how to paint with watercolors. It was a much more complex medium than I had realized, and I learned a lot through getting to know them. I really enjoy working with watercolors, and I’m excited to continue using them in the future.

In the summer of 2020, my family focused on learning about birds, especially the ones in the Washington, DC area. I learned so much that I didn’t know before, and since then I’ve really enjoyed being able to identify the birds that I see in my backyard and around the DC area. I wanted to share that knowledge with those who read this book, which is why I chose to paint the birds of DC. I didn’t paint every species of bird in DC, but I picked the ones that I thought were the most interesting and the ones that people tend to see most often. I then painted each bird and wrote summaries of important information about them. I hope you enjoy this book!

American Goldfinch

Appearance: Male American goldfinches are bright yellow on their back, chest, and stomach with an orange beak during the summer. During the winter, the parts that are normally yellow are a dull brown, and their beaks are grey. All year long they have black wings, a black stripe on their head, and black tails with white underparts. Females are mostly dull brown with hints of yellow and have grey wings and tails. During the summer they have slightly more yellow in their coat and have pink beaks. In the winter their beaks are grey.

Size: 4.5-5.5 inches

Habitat: Fields, gardens, parks.

Location: United States, Southern Canada, parts of Mexico.

Diet: Seeds, vegetation.

Fun Facts: Goldfinches can often be seen perched on flowers, eating the seeds from the middle.

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Blue Jay

Appearance: Blue jays have a variety of shades of blue along their back, head, wings, and tail, with the wings and tail being a brighter blue than the rest. The wings and tail have black stripes. Their faces and undersides are white. They have black beaks and black markings around their face.

Size: 9-12 inches

Habitat: Gardens, urban areas, wooded areas. Prefers oak, pine, and beech trees.

Location: Southern Canada, Eastern/Central United States.

Diet: Eats many things, including seeds, nuts, fruit, berries, meat, insects, grains, and bread.

Fun Facts: Blue jays are aggressive and territorial, and will often chase other birds away from food. Blue jays have a crest on their heads that move up and down depending on their mood.

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Great Blue Heron

Appearance: Great blue herons have light grey necks and heads and white faces. They have black feathers along the top and back of their heads. The feathers near the bottoms of their necks are longer than the rest. Their beaks are yellow-orange. The rest of their bodies are a darker blue-grey. The undersides of their wings are dark grey, visible when they are in flight. They have very long, skinny legs.

Size: 3-4.5 feet

Habitat: Grasslands, saltwater and freshwater areas such as lakes, swamps, and coasts.

Location: United States, Mexico, Southern Canada

Diet: Fish, insects, small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. They often impale larger prey with their sharp beaks before eating it.

Fun Facts: Even though great blue herons are so large, they only weigh about 5-6 pounds because of their hollow bones.

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House Sparrow

Appearance: Male house sparrows are grey on their undersides, and different shades of brown on their back, wings, and tail. They have a thick grey stripe along the top of their head and black and white markings on their face and throat. Females look similar but have no black, white, or grey markings on their faces. They generally have duller browns and greys on their body.

Size: 5-7 inches

Habitat: Cities, parks, gardens, urban areas, farmland.

Location: Every continent except Antarctica

Diet: Seeds, grain, scraps, insects

Fun Facts: House sparrows are the species of bird that are most widely distributed, mainly because they were introduced or brought to different places by humans.

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Mourning Dove

Appearance: The majority of their body is covered in shades of warm grey and brown. They have long, tapered tails, and their undersides are slightly pink. They have black spots on their wings and white feathers along the edge of their tail that are visible when in flight. They have small half-circle-shaped markings underneath their eyes. Males have some areas with slightly iridescent coloring while females only have grey and brown.

Size: 12 inches

Habitat: Suburban areas, woods, grassy areas, parks.

Location: United States, Mexico, Southern Canada.

Diet: Mainly seeds.

Fun Facts: Mourning doves are named for their sad “coo” that is often mistaken for an owl. When they take off and land their wings make a loud fluttering sound.

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Northern Mockingbird

Appearance: Northern mockingbirds are grey on the top of their bodies and white underneath. They have large white bars on their wings that are visible when they are in flight. The ends of their wings and tail are darker grey than the rest of their body.

Size: 8-11 inches

Habitat: Gardens, fields, suburban areas, parks

Location: United States, Canada, Mexico.

Diet: Berries, fruit, worms, insects, seeds

Fun Facts: Mockingbirds are named for their ability to mimic other birds and sounds and are well known in pop culture, most notably in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee.

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Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Appearance: Ruby-throated hummingbirds have green backs and green wings that are tipped with black. They have very long, thin bills. Males have a patch of iridescent red on their throats with a small black patch above it around their eyes. They have forked tails and their chests are white. Females are a dull green with a streaked white chest.

Size: 3-4 inches

Habitat: Gardens, lightly wooded areas, parks,

Location: Eastern United States and Southern Canada in the summer, Florida and Southern Mexico in the winter.

Diet: Small insects and nectar. They will drink from flowers while hovering next to them by sticking their bill and tongue into the middle of the flower.

Fun Facts: Ruby-throated hummingbirds can be easily attracted to backyards in DC during the summer by making or buying a hummingbird feeder and filling it with sugar water (four parts water to one part sugar). Within a few weeks of hanging it up, hummingbirds should start to visit your feeder.

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Bibliography

• Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Guide to Birds, 2nd Edition (Sibley Guides). 2nd ed., Knopf, 2014.

• Bce_Admin_User. “Cornell Lab of Ornithology—Home.” Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 12 Mar. 2021, www.birds.cornell.edu/home.

• “Audubon Guide to North American Birds.” Audubon, www.audubon.org/bird-guide. Accessed 16 Mar. 2021.

• Wikipedia contributors. “Main Page.” Wikipedia, 3 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page.

• Birds and Blooms. “Homepage.” Birds and Blooms, www.birdsandblooms.com. Accessed 16 Mar. 2021.