I personally have been obsessed with birds for almost as long as I can remember. They quickly became one of my favorite things to photograph when I started photography here at GBHS, as honestly they’re quite difficult to capture. They move fast and are unpredictable to an amateur birdwatcher like me. However, during my recent trip to Capitol Park in Sacramento, I managed to capture shots that even I am proud of. In these captions, I will be pulling information about the different bird species from the “Stokes Essential Pocket Guide to the Birds of North America” by Donald and Lillian Stokes for species information, and “Ornithography – An Illustrated Guide to Bird Lore & Symbolism” by Jessica Roux to go into the fascinating symbolism of these birds throughout different cultures of the world. I hope you enjoy! (This is a scrub-jay that was following us around –he was a big showoff.)

These little robins are some of the most distinct birds you can easily see almost anywhere; they have quite a large variety of habitats and can survive almost anywhere. This one was hopping around in the flower beds looking for worms and even briefly got into a scuffle with a squirrel. It was quite tame, though wary of us. Many of the birds were, in fact, quite tame, and the squirrels definitely were, which was expected somewhere as thoroughly traveled as Capitol Park.

Robins typically represent hope in many cultures and lores around the world. In fact, they’re closely connected to fire in many mythologies due to the rosy color on their stomachs. One story, from the shíshálh people, tells that one of these birds beat his wings around a dying fire on a cold night which let the people survive, and his actions around the fire gave him the bright coloration on his stomach.

Doves are known around the world as a symbol of love, hope, and peace, with earlier cultures designating it as a symbol of Astarte in Mesopotamia, and Aphrodite in Ancient Greece, both their cultures’ respective goddesses of love. Then, in the story of Noah’s Ark, the dove returning with the olive branch created the second meaning for the dove, hope. The name ‘mourning dove’ actually came from the noise they tend to make, a mournful cooing.

This is a kind of woodpecker called a Northern Flicker. They are known for their bright flashes of color, either red or yellow. This one specifically is a red shafted male, shown by the “mustache” of red that females don’t have.

Though my ornithography book doesn’t specifically cover flickers, (it covers a lot of birds and types of birds worldwide instead of just North America) it does cover woodpeckers in whole. They represent toughness, being known for the loud noises their beaks made against wood like a hammer, linking them in Norse mythology to Thor. Interestingly, their skulls have evolved to be spongy, and their tongues wrap all around their brains to keep them safe during this percussive action.

These little birds are a subspecies of yellow-rumped warblers called Aubudon’s warblers in the west. (They’re also called “butterbutts” due to their colorful plumage.) These birds are, appropriately, mostly used to represent embellishment, hence the overarching name of “warbler.” They are commonly distinguished by their calls, which are very melodic and trilly.

These little guys, dark-eyed juncos, are quite common and widespread, and there are a lot of them in Capitol Park. The ones here are mostly Oregon juncos, shown by the dark ‘hoods’ of the plumage on their heads. This coloration is mainly found in the West, and rather confuses the meaning and appearance of other species of juncos that represent winter. Juncos in the east have plumage reminiscent of a winter day, snowy white under grey skies.

According to some sources, these little birds tend to thrive better in colder climates, even flying to higher elevations when it gets warmer. This pattern, plus how they look in more Eastern areas, gave them the nickname ‘snowbirds,’ and being the representation of winter.

This little flock is a group of Cedar Waxwings. They are almost exclusively seen in flocks, as shown here, and get their names from the waxy, smooth finish of their plumage on their inner wings. Interestingly, these birds are typically used as a symbol of malady and disease due to how their migration patterns lined up with outbreaks of the plague in the Middle Ages, even though they aren’t very likely to spread illnesses.

The next few photos are of this one bird: our western/California scrub-jay buddy that was following us around and striking poses for me to photograph. Scrub-jays are one of the most common North American jays, and, as you may have guessed, fairly localised to the west.

These birds tend to be very tame, hanging out in backyards and parks for birdseed and from feeders, and eat a wide variety of foods in general; anything from seeds to frogs.