Bird watching

I am woefully ignorant of birds, especially those native to our area. I think the last time I "studied" native birds (not ostrich and peacocks and the like) I was four years old. I know about toucans, albatrosses, and emus, but I know almost nothing about wrens, swallows, finches, and sparrows. I would like to rectify this before Pearl is ready to start school, so this spring I am going to learn to identify by sight at least ten birds that are native to our area. I'm not entirely sure how lucky I will be at finding the birds (I've never bird-watched before!), so I put together a rather long list to help me get started. The * indicates birds that I'm pretty sure I can already identify, so I will try to concentrate on the others. All of these birds are year-round residents of our area, based on my research, so we ought to be able to spot 1/3 of them over the course of 13 weeks. I hope.

• American Crow*
• American Goldfinch
• American Robin*
  
• Belted Kingfisher
• Blue Jay
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Brown-headed Nuthatch
• Carolina Chickadee
• Carolina Wren
• Chipping Sparrow
• Common Grackle
• Downy Woodpecker
• Eastern Towhee
• Gray Catbird
• House Finch
• House Sparrow
• Killdeer
• Mallard*
• Mourning Dove
• Northern Cardinal*
• Northern Flicker
• Northern Mockingbird
• Pigeon
• Red-headed Woodpecker
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Ruby Throated Hummingbird
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Song Sparrow
• Tufted Titmouse
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Wood Duck

These are only the year-round residents. I expect we'll come across more than a few birds passing through on their spring migration, too.

I'm hoping to borrow my parents' field guide to birds to help with identification. The next step, should I blow through my list at lightning speed, will be learning to identify them by their calls. Yay for learning!