You can see amazing bird behavior anywhere, even in your own backyard. In your backyard, there are amazing things happening right now, if you know what to observe. With numerous complex behaviors, our feathered friends participate in territorial battles and intricate courtship displays, and this guide outlines 15 of them.

Mourning Doves Nest Building

Mourning doves build nests with not much care put into it. A male might fly off into the distance and collect some twigs while the female is left behind. While this sounds like the female is to be the supervisor and commands the male to go off and gather materials, this isn't the case. Females just appear to structure the nest in the way they want but do not seem to be in charge of collecting materials. They literally just sit in place. Mourning doves nests are not structurally sound and look like they are missing quite a bit. With poor construction however, they still manage to rear several broods a year. Construction might take several hours to a couple of days. Construction of mourning dove nests takes even less time than other bird species. They are also not picky about how secure the structure is. They prefer laying their eggs on horizontal branches, or even in the planters. You might even see males repetitively making trips with twigs in their mouths and landing next to females. This is social construction in mourning doves. This social behavior is nested to demonstrate that in nature, when it comes to the success of reproduction, ‘good enough’ might just be the best.

Northern Flickers and Cavity Protection

Northern flickers excavate nest cavities in dead trees or wood constructions with great enthusiasm and will aggressively defend their work. Look for flickers attached to tree trunks, bobbing their heads and loudly calling while competing flickers enter their zone. Wicka calls are only made by males. They do this while showing their tail that has bright yellow or red underwing colors. They can be seen soaring after challengers and sometimes even engaging in serious chases in aerial loops over yards. Around this time, the breeding season starts, and the competition for cavities becomes even greater because European starlings take over cavity holes. Flickers will be seen to the peck furiously near the entrances and perform territorial displays on proximal branches. Since these cavity nesting and ground feeding wood peckers spend so much time on the nest holes their defense is rational. This behavior peaks in spring, but continues throughout the nesting period.

Nest Takeover by the European Starling

European starlings are known for being hostile cavity nesters and do not have any problems removing other species from their nests. Starlings can be seen removing native woodpeckers, bluebirds, and flickers from their nests, and occupying any hole or crevice in a buildings, trees, and even nest boxes. They can destroy nests or kill the young in order to take the nest for themselves. Starlings work as a team when doing this. One will distract the defender while the other takes the cavity. They can be easily seen for these takeovers because of their bright yellow beaks and shiny feathers. They can be seen bringing in nesting materials, and building untidy nests that take up the whole hole. Although this seems ruthless, with little room for competition as an invasive species, this is how starlings have evolved to succeed. This explains why it is so important to have nest boxes with properly sized entrance holes, and why starlings need to be controlled.

Practice Hunting of Red-Tail Hawks.

The red-tailed hawks in your area have a remarkable mastery of patience and precision, and they exhibit this as they hunt. They are known to sit still for a long time while waiting for their prey. Look for a hawk on a telephone pole or on a large tree. Their heads turn from side to side as they try to spot any movement from grass that might be hiding a mouse, vole, or a rabbit. When a hawk is about to catch a prey, its body is going to be in a position with its head tilted slightly forward. Juvenile hawks are going to be seen performing multiple practices and this gives people something to watch because they often do not make the correct strike or misjudge the distance and do not catch the prey. When a hawk actually decides to catch the prey and dive down, that usually happens in a blink of an eye, and this also demonstrates their talons control. Over the year, any person watching from the window while these hawks are training is going to have a good chance of seeing these wild animals.

Display of Throats by Calliope Hummingbirds

With a weight less than that of a penny, the Calliope Hummingbird is North America’s smallest bird. It shows off one of the most incredible courtship displays in nature. The males have a gorget, which is a patch of iridescent magenta feathers that can be expanded like a a fan. During courtship displays, males will hover in front of potential mates or rivals and vibrate rapidly to get the iridescent feathers to catch the light. Males will also make buzzing sounds and rapid chirping as they dance to the side. The gorget can be hard to see and will look dark, until the right light hits it. It will then explode with color. This display is most common in breeding season and can be seen at the edges of forests and higher meadows in the western United States. At the feeders, this display can be seen anywhere there is competition. The entire display lasts just a few seconds, but can be seen numerous times throughout the day. To see this amazing color change, you will need the correct light and a lot of patience.

Winter Finch Flock Formation

While woodpeckers are solitary, a variety of finch species, including American goldfinches, pine siskins, and purple finches, demonstrate remarkable social behavior by forming large, constantly changing feeding flocks. If you watch winter finches closely enough, you will eventually see them move between the trees in waves, or flock together and feed at your bird feeders. These finch flocks use the many eyes of their fellow feeders to reduce their individual risk of being seen by a predator while they focus on feeding. If you are observant enough, you will see that many of the finches move in a collective, coordinated way. They will feed while a few others are watching out for predators, and then they will switch and everyone will feed. To ensure that their flock does not split up, they use a form of constant communication. They use contact calls to stay together as they split into multiple groups at different feeding locations. When one bird flushes, the rest of the flock often follows in a synchronous burst of wingbeats. Other species of finches may also be in the flock. These flocks are extremely beneficial. Even during mild winter conditions, the snow and cold make survival much easier for the finches in the flock some extremely harsh weather conditions.

Feeders for cold weather cardinals

In winter, Northern Cardinals become noticeable for their unique behaviors as they gather at bird feeders. Most noticeable is their last minute gathering at dusk when cardinals are often the last species to visit feeders. They try to maximize their feeders and calorie intake so that they have enough during the night when they are unable to feed. Northern cardinals do some of the fluffiest feather adaptations to keep warm and to create insulating air pockets, making them look near perfectly round. Their powerful beak also helps them create and leave a distinct pile of hulls below as they crack the seeds on which they feed. Cardinals also show feeding site fidelity, meaning they will return to specific locations to feed. Female cardinals also strengthen pair bonds in winter by feeding males. During the winter, the males offer the female cardinals seeds, and during snowstorms, their bright red feathers create a beautiful contrast against the white snow. Their behavior is endearing, as they remain tolerant fo close observations, making them ideal for stream bird watching. You will be able to observe their feeding behavior, mate interactions, and how they regulate their body temperature in close quarters.

Bluebirds Box Nesting

The bluebirds in your area will use nestboxes placed correctly, and you will get to see the entire nesting cycle from your window! You can spot the males first in the early spring, as they arrive first. They sing from their favorite perches to lure in a mate. After they have paired up, the female bluebird takes the lead in nest construction. She will carry grasses, pine needles, and other material to the box while the male looks out for her. You will see her go inside the box a lot as she makes a nest for her eggs, and this will probably take her four to five days. In fact, some species of bluebirds will even shy away from using boxes that are poorly placed or poorly sized! Once she is finished with the nest, she will start her morning's by going to the box and dropping in a few pale blue eggs. After this, the incubation stage starts, and she will feed the eggs until they hatch (this is a role her mate performs). This is when you can start monitoring their parent birds, which will make constant trips to feed the hatchlings! In a period of about six weeks, the entire flock will leave the nest. Many bluebird families will attempt this type of nesting up to several times. If you place a bluebird nestbox correctly, right by your window, you will get to record this nest cycle!

Internal Conflicts of House Sparrows

House sparrows are scrappy, social birds that engage in surprisingly intense territorial disputes, especially around nesting sites and reliable food sources. Watch for males puffing their chests, drooping their wings, and hopping aggressively toward rivals while chirping loudly. These confrontations escalate quickly into aerial chases, with birds spiraling around buildings and through shrubs in tight pursuit. Multiple males often gang up on a single intruder, demonstrating their colonial nesting tendencies and cooperative defense strategies. Females also participate, particularly when defending chosen nest cavities in building crevices, vents, or nest boxes. You’ll notice elaborate displays where males spread their tails, raise their wings, and bow repeatedly while vocalizing—part threat, part courtship, depending on the audience. Physical combat occurs regularly, with sparrows grappling mid-air or tumbling to the ground, locked together. Despite the drama, serious injuries are rare. These battles intensify during breeding season but occur year-round wherever sparrows establish feeding territories. The behavior provides endless entertainment and reveals the complex social hierarchies within even the most common urban bird species.

Dives for courtship by hummingbirds

Males of some species of hummingbirds engage in some amazing aerial displays to impress potential mates. These displays include some combination of speed, precision, and vocalizations. It is possible to see males climbing up to over 50 feet and then diving down toward a female who is perched. Each species has different sounds made by their tail feathers when they pull out of the dive. Ruby-throated hummingbirds make U-shaped or J-shaped patterns while Anna's hummingbirds make vertical climbs and dives that produce sharp sounds. Male hummingbirds have a gorget which reflects sunlight and is most brilliant at the climax of the dive. Hummingbirds repeat their displays over and over some may dive as many as 20 times. Males may perform for other males and even humans which shows that is also a territorial display. Performing these displays requires a lot of energy and is heaviest during the peak breeding season. Males also perform unspectacular versions of these displays to show their presence in an area.

Robin Shivering Thermoregulation

One of the most interesting winter survival mechanisms you can watch right from your house is the American robin's shivering. In the winter months and cold mornings of the year, robins shiver, staying motionless, with fluffed feathers. Then, they begin to shake and vibrate rapidly. This method of generating body heat burns their fat storage and doesn't require them to use their flight muscles. As a result, they can generate significant body heat while remaining in an energy-conserving posture. Because of the low temperatures early in the day, you will most often see this during the early morning hours when they have not yet warmed up from activity. While American robins can be found shivering, they are often hiding in locations that protect them from wind. As a result, this is particularly common in winter for robins that overwinter in the north instead of migrating. As a result, the robins gain great insulating value from the feathers while gaining great value from shivering under the insulating layer. After a number of minutes, they will often return to their normal activities like foraging. This is not surprising given the hunter-gatherer lifestyle robins must be adapted to. American robins have a high winter feeding rate and high calorie food intake like berries to fuel their central heating systems through the long, cold insulators of the winter nights.

Woodpecker Drum Communication

While woodpeckers peck for food, they also use their drumming skills to communicate with other woodpeckers and to let them know they own that territory and are looking for a mate. These woodpeckers can be found near things like metal gutters, chimney caps, hollow trees, and wooden siding, all of which will make a loud sound that carries and also makes a good surface for woodpeckers to drum on. To drum, a woodpecker will hold itself in place, then strike whatever they are drumming on in a pattern that lasts about one to three seconds. The patterns and rhythms vary by woodpecker species. Downy woodpeckers drum at a faster rate than hairy woodpeckers, whereas pileated woodpeckers are slower but have stronger drumming sequences. This is not some foraging behavior (for food) but is a strong signal that can be heard from a great distance. Most of the drumming is done by the males in order to set a territory and attract some females to them, but you will see females drum as well. They will all return to the same spot over and over to drum on, and as a result, these spots can be seen as worn down from frequent drumming. The drumming can be especially high in the early hours of the morning and also in the spring woodpecker drumming will be at its highest frequencies. Because woodpeckers do this drumming behavior instead of vocalizing, they can stay on the lookout for potential predators or threats instead of being distracted by a risk. To attract woodpeckers to your house, install a feeder with high-quality suet cakes.

Junco Snow Bathing

Dark-eyed juncos snow bathe like some birds use water and dust and will plunge into powdery snow and wiggle around. Look for juncos landing in soft, fresh snow and immediately flop onto their sides. While snow bathing, juncos will put wings up and quickly flap them to help work snow into their feathers. This snow bathing behavior involves rolling, twisting, and shuffling to make small snow angels while they throw snow over their backs. This behavior helps with removing parasites, conditioning feathers, and the birds may help themselves cool down after foraging. The birds do have preferences when choosing snow to bathe in, and tend to avoid crusty and icy areas. Bathing sessions can last anywhere from 30 seconds to numerous minutes and juncos will often shake afterwards to remove moisture and then do some preening to restore order to their feathers. Multiple juncos will occasionally use the same bathing location in succession, and even though the behavior may seem playful, it’s for serious plumage maintenance and insulation to make sure they are waterproof for bathing in snow. This winter snow bathing behavior seems to be the most prominent in fresh snow fall during winter months when conditions are at their best for these sparrows.

Chickadee Seed Caching

North America's winter feeders are brightened by energetic little birds that are also incredibly smart. Carolina and black-capped chickadees seed caching behavior show how advanced they are. You can already start to see how advanced they are at your feeders! Look at them quickly choose a seed and fly over to a tree instead of eating it right away. They hide it in bark crevices, under the lichen, and tuck it under the loose bark. This way, they can hide it out of sight, and cover it with extra pieces of bark. Each bird creates thousands of hiding places, and they never use the same spot twice. Chickadees can remember these secret hiding spots and how many seeds they have stored away. Their behavior really picks up in the winter as they repeatedly travel to the tree with their seeds to help them survive the cold months. They are picky too – only storing the most calorie-dense seeds like sunflower seeds and peanuts. You can see that they have these advanced cognitive features. You can actually see one of the cognitive centers of their brain, the hippocampus, grow larger when they are caching seeds. These advanced abilities allow them to elaborate on their cognitive features to make them stand out compared to their peers.

Circles of Turkey Vultures

Due to their remarkable ability to ride thermal currents, Turkey Vultures can be sighted from extreme distances as they soar and circle in an effortless and spectacular manner. Look out for their wings in a V (dihedral) position, with light gray primary feathers and black secondary feathers (and black overall) on their wings. They rarely flap their wings, and often glide, rock, and sway as they soar relative to the air currents, demonstrating a stable attitude unlike hawks. Along with other vultures, they circle to gain altitude within thermal currents, while their uncommonly developed sense of smell (among birds) directs them to carrion. Vultures often soar together in groups ('kettles') of numerous birds (dozens) within the same thermal current. When vultures are flying as described, they are significantly more active and engaged than other birds, producing little to no drag which allows them to travel further at the same energy expenditures. This activity is maximized when it is warm and sunny, resulting in increased thermal currents. Vultures are also abundant during migration and their circled flight is a reflection of the ecological roles as nature's clean-up crew.