State Bird

[mcbammer]

Hey   bammers   ,  I  havent  seen  our  state  bird  the  Yellowhammer  in  years  .  Where  have  they  gone.

[CannonKrazy]

The Yellowhammer may be extinct much like the Owee Bird of Georgia. None have been seen here in many years. These were very ackward looking birds full of bright color. They had stubby short legs and very long balls and everytime they landed you could here them call out OWEE!!! OWEE!!! OWEE!!!      Thats the reason we have the brown thrasher for a state bird now

[mcbammer]

The Yellowhammer may be extinct much like the Owee Bird of Georgia. None have been seen here in many years. These were very ackward looking birds full of bright color. They had stubby short legs and very long balls and everytime they landed you could here them call out OWEE!!! OWEE!!! OWEE!!!      Thats the reason we have the brown thrasher for a state bird now

Yep  sounds  like  the  owee  bird   suffered  the  same  fate  as  our  mileormore bird 

[Graybeard]

I still hear them each year here at my home and most years see them a few times as well. I do agree tho they seem to be in much shorter supply these days as compared to when I was a boy.

It might be a matter of not enough nesting locations for them. I believe they require fairly large dead trees to nest in. There are a lot of woods  around my area and they are still holding on here.

I also generally see and for sure hear pileated woodpeckers most years. What I haven't seen in prolly more than ten years is a red headed woodpecker. When I was a boy they were all over the place. The last one I saw was in a old cutover in the Choccolocco WMA. If they aren't extinct they sure must be close to it.

[Ranger99]

i don't recall ever seeing one of those
around here. i had to look it up. they
said it would nest in a made-up nest box,
so yall might have to get busy and build a few.
i see the red headed wood peckers all the
time here. ever now and then, if i go to the
bottoms, i see one that must be a foot tall.

[mcbammer]

I still hear them each year here at my home and most years see them a few times as well. I do agree tho they seem to be in much shorter supply these days as compared to when I was a boy.

It might be a matter of not enough nesting locations for them. I believe they require fairly large dead trees to nest in. There are a lot of woods  around my area and they are still holding on here.

I also generally see and for sure hear pileated woodpeckers most years. What I haven't seen in prolly more than ten years is a red headed woodpecker. When I was a boy they were all over the place. The last one I saw was in a old cutover in the Choccolocco WMA. If they aren't extinct they sure must be close to it.

Lots  of  clear cutting  by  timber  comp.  around  here  . Probably  like  you  say  a area  problem. Thousands  of  acres  of  pine  plantations  here  in  central  part  of  the  state  . Hardwood  is  sprayed  by  helecopter  to  kill  the  competition  for  pines.I  suspect its  loss  of  habitat.

[Graybeard]

This is the red headed woodpecker I was talking about.



Here is the pileated wood pecker which is likely the large one you see with a red head.



And here is the Alabama state bird the yellow hammer aka Flicker.

[mcbammer]

Nice pics .    Alot  of  people  have  birdfeeders  now.  they  may  have  moved  to  town  for  those  free  meals.

[scootrd]

Is Yellowhammer a local nick name?
As far as I know the only yellow hammer birds I am aware of are a European yellow brown sparrow looking bird.

[streak]

Come here to Aurora, Colorado, I think you will find all of your " Yellow Hammers" right here!! Local name for them here are " Flickers".

[mcbammer]

Come here to Aurora, Colorado, I think you will find all of your " Yellow Hammers" right here!! Local name for them here are " Flickers".

I  think  there is  a  western  species  . Ill  have  to  study  up  on it.

[CannonKrazy]

I see a few yellowhammers around my mothers home. She has plenty of pecan trees to feed on. Usually in the spring I begin to see more of them feeding in the grass or garden area.
 
We have a few of the pileated wood peckers around too. It seems the only time they appear is when I'm on the deer stand.   They sure do make a fuss.

[mcbammer]

I see a few yellowhammers around my mothers home. She has plenty of pecan trees to feed on. Usually in the spring I begin to see more of them feeding in the grass or garden area.
 
We have a few of the pileated wood peckers around too. It seems the only time they appear is when I'm on the deer stand.   They sure do make a fuss.

Yep  you  can  here  them  coming  from  a  long  way.

[streak]

Come here to Aurora, Colorado, I think you will find all of your " Yellow Hammers" right here!! Local name for them here are " Flickers".

I  think  there is  a  western  species  . Ill  have  to  study  up  on it.

mcbammer,
 There is a western species along with a eastern and northern species.

[Bugflipper]

There are quite a few in the north east part. They have a big stretch of WMA up here with some pine flats and a paper plant has pine plantations. I think they must like pines because that's the only place I see them. I don't think I've ever seen them down in the bottoms where there are no pines. I see plenty of those brown thrushes as well that folks say are about extinct. They look like a brown mockingbird and stay in the thickets at the edge of fields. A lot of red headed woodpeckers here, but not the big pileated ones we call Indian hens. Just see 4 or 5 a year out hunting. One thing that's odd is all the sea gulls that come to spend the winter here. We never had them until 20 years ago or so. I think maybe they are coming from Lake Michigan or somewhere similar. Those suckers are the welfare crowd of the bird world. I don't know how many I've caught trying to cast a line out and they go for the shiny spinner. They just get twisted in the line. Then try to bite the piss out of you when untangling them.