"What bird is that?!"

With all the trees around us, we see a lot of birds, especially in summer: cardinals, wrens, bluejays, robins, ducks - and an occasional wild turkey.

We don't know the names of many of the birds we see - which is why we have a collection of books about local birds. 

But it's hard to find the name of a bird by looking through a book... there are SO many pictures to leaf through! The internet really does make it easier.

The other day, Terry saw a bird he didn't recognize: "There's a bird with a red spot on the back of its head. What kind of bird is that?" Terry asked.

I quickly snap a photo. After giving up on trying to locate it in our books, I turned to Google:

"GREY BIRD WITH RED SPOT ON HEAD" I typed in.

Up come several possibilities: a woodpecker (above)...

Or maybe a Northern Flicker...

I think that's it! Didn't know we had Northern Flickers in our neighbourhood! Now I can read more about them in our books!