If you feed birds, you probably have had regular visits by some kind of hawk. The most likely suspects are Cooper's Hawks or their smaller 12-inch-tall cousins, Sharp-Shinned Hawks. Because they hunt in your neighborhood, they also nest and raise their young there. June is when you can see the young raptors perched on high branches or roofs, testing their wings over and over until, one day, they find that they actually can fly. They are not yet good at hunting so the parents still have to feed them daily. Soon they will be making sallies, usually unsuccessful, at your feeders, as they start their lives as grownup raptors. You can recognize the youngsters by the vertical streaks on their chests, kind of like smeared teardrops. The adults have horizontal markings.

A young Cooper's Hawk shows the vertical streaks on its breast, as it makes its first tries at hunting

What's that incessant "squeak-squeak" or "wah-wah" in my back yard? This time of year, it's probably a baby bird, begging over and over for the parents to feed it. Sometimes, an entire nestful of babies are crying relentlessly or food. What do they want? Most of the time it's worms. Any kind will do, but we have a favorite, live mealworms, at the store. Birds that normally are strict vegetarians, such as House Finches, in the spring are looking for the extra protein that their chicks need and that worms supply. As the chicks gets bigger, they may start following their parents to the feeder, though usually they don't know yet how to use it. Eventually, after watching their parents, they figure out that the feeder is the place to go. 

Black Phoebe finds a grass stalk is the perfect spot to look for bugs.

Last  year an enterprising Black Phoebe visited the back of our store almost daily, begging for live mealworms. She wanted us to throw the worms up in the air, and she would swoop down to catch them. She almost never missed. Midsummer she brought two of her chicks to the back door and showed them how she swooped to catch worms. Then she fed them to her babies. This year a Black Phoebe is back, begging at the back door for fresh worms. While we can't be sure it's the same phoebe, it likely is. They tend to establish themselves in a neighborhood and visit the same locations over and over. So, if you have a beautiful Black Phoebe in your neighborhood, keep her (or him) happy with our live mealworms.

Phainopeplas are unusual but beautiful birds that are plentiful here only in summer. Though they are desert residents, they move over to the coast for a second nesting about now.. A sleek shiny black bird with a prominent crest and a red eye (the females are dark gray), they perch in treetops, swooping down in the warmer months to catch insects. If your yard is to their liking, they will stick around into fall, when they are looking for berries, especially mistletoe.   

If you think you already have enough House Finches at your feeders, get ready for more. June is when they bring their little fledglings to your feeders and show them how to take advantage of the bounty. As our most common Southern California bird, House Finches are found in almost every neighborhood and environment in the Southland. Their cheerful chirpy song makes a relaxing backdrop to an afternoon in the backyard..