This page is just for the perching birds (order Passeriformes) that commonly visit our bird feeders.
One of our most recognized birds: the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata).
This is a male American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis). It's a migratory bird that we only get in the winter, and not every year (they often stop a little further north or a little further south during their migration). The summer plumage, which we don't really get to see, has much more yellow in it.
This is another easily recognized bird: the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). This is a male. The females are paler, with more brown and no black facemask (but they still have a bright beak).
This is a male Common Grackle. They are very showy in their behavior when a female is around during the mating season. Grackles in general are very boisterous birds that form huge flocks and have unusual calls.
Here is a Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis). Like Jays, they get their name from the sound they make. Scientists have recently discovered that the more "-dee's" in the call, the more threatened the bird is feeling.
These three photos are of House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus). The two top photos are males, and the bottom photo is a female. As with so many other birds, the female finches have more drab coloration to protect them when they're sitting on the nest. The males usually have reddish coloration on their head and breast, but sometimes a yellowish one can be seen (as in the photo on the right).
These are House Sparrows (Passer domesitcus). The males (the majority of the birds in the left-side photo) have some black, gray, and rich chestnut coloration, while the females (like the one in the right-side photo) are mostly browns. This is a European bird that was deliberately brought over by humans, and now the highly adaptable escapees have colonized virtually every city in America.