Our History in Birds continued...
To me our handsomest bird is the rufous-sided towhee, a seven-inch bird with a black hood, whit breast and rust-colored sides. He scratches the ground under the bushes in the center bed during the winter. But of course the official Most Beautiful Bird is the painted bunting. They are hard to see most of the time, staying well down in the brush. But every so often they come right out into full view.
Once we had two on the plum trees by the deck. And once no fewer than four males in full spring plumage dawdled in the center bed just outside the back door for at least an hour.
You may know that Austin is the birdwatching capital of North America. It is right in the middle of the big funnel into Mexico and South America. All the migratory birds pass through in the spring and fall. We are on the line between the dry west and the wet east, so we get both sets of birds.
We have winter birds from north of here and summer birds from south of here. In all, I believe you can see more than 300 kinds of birds in Austin. I have not seen half, and I no longer go out specifically birdwatching like I did years ago. Instead, I keep the binocs handy and the old Golden Guide, and wait for the birds to come to me.
