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Terry Downey has always had a fondness for birds. Even as a young child he was curious about wildbirds, waterfowl and farm birds.
His greatest fascination was with the young, and how the parents took care of them.
About 15 years ago, his interest
grew from one of a casual observer, to a dedicated bird enthusiast. Terry noticed that birds of all types would occasionaly run into the glass at the front
of The District Vocational School where he worked. He would retrieve any that weren't
immediately killed and keep them for a few hours or over night if necessary and then release
them.
At about the same time he started to purchase bird books and took field trips to the
Gut Bridge area of Stephenville Crossing. He would spent time watching and identifying the
birds at that location. On his visits he often met Peter St. Croix, a wildlife officer and lover of
wild birds.
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Terry identifies birds by sight and by the sounds they make. "The more time you spend watching and listening", says Terry, "the better you will get at identifying the different species of birds".
He has a tape with many bird calls on it which helps him when he is trying to identify new bird sounds.
  
Terry's back yard is a mecca for local and migrating wild birds. He has nesting pairs of robins, swallows, and bluejays. Terry planned his garden with an eye to attracting birds.
His plants such as sunflowers, berry-producing bushes, and trees, attract many different feeding birds.
  
Bluejays are frequent visitors to his feeders. An interesting fact about them is that when they feed, take seed into their jaws, store it, then carry it off to store for the winter.
New bird watchers often think they are very greedy, when in fact, they are just being industrious.
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Terry uses different types of seeds for the bird varieties that frequent his feeders.
Red winged black birds like cracked corn and millet, Bluejays sunflower seeds and the Chickadees will eat just about any type of seed.
To learn more about Bird Watching as a hobby you can check out another of Terry's pages at
Terry's Bird Watching Page
Downloadable lists
The Birds of Stephenville Crossing
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