Here’s your 2022 Collective Bird Calendar info page!
First, a Special Offer!
Here’s a special offer for my calendar owners. I have a poster-sized download of all the backyard birds you are likely to encounter- free! There are two versions, depending on where you live. For instance, there are no cardinals west of the Rocky Mountains. And no Blue Jays. There are Scrub Jays and Steller’s Jays, however. That’s why I made two different posters- you can download both or just the one for your area. Those who live in the Mountain States region will have some overlap.
This is created to print big- 24 x 36 inches. So you’ll want to take this/send the file to your local copy shop to get a big version of it printed because 8 x 10 with this many birds will be difficult (impossible?) to read. Or, you can go to my shop at: TheNatureOfHopeShop.com and buy a high-quality, professionally printed poster. The paper quality and printing will be better—but then you have to pay and wait for delivery. :o)
The files you are downloading will be a combined, “zip” file of both east and west bird posters. (So you can print out the birds that live near you). Once the zip file is downloaded, just double-click on it and it will expand. Those in the Rocky Mountain states and west, pick that. Those that live east of the Rockies, pick the east poster. Either way, you get both! Maybe a nice gift for someone?
Please remember that these are copyrighted images that took months for me to paint. Please do not reproduce or use in any shape or form. Bless you.
Both posters are FREE for you!
The 2022 Collective Bird Calendar information
The month of January shows a “Council of Owls.” They are (left to right):Long-eared owl, Burrowing owl, Barn owl (tilted head), Great Horned owl.
February is a “College of Cardinals.” All are North American cardinals (male) but the coppery/orange one is the female.
March gives us a “Charm of Goldfinches.” Two are American Goldfinches, but the bottom left is a Lesser goldfinch. Not as brightly colored as you can see.
Now about April, here’s the big secret about this calendar: I made up this collective noun!! Bluebirds are in fact, thrushes (like Robins). But the collective noun for thrushes is, a mutation. I think bluebirds deserve better! Just like hummingbirds have a collective noun that describes how they look, (a “glittering of hummingbirds”) I think bluebirds should have the one that describes what they are known for- happiness! Now onto the birds, left to right: Mountain Bluebird, Eastern Bluebird, Mountain Bluebird, Western Bluebird. As you can see, the Mountain Bluebird is all blue- no rosy chest.
May shows us the perennial favorite, a “glittering” of hummingbirds! They are clockwise, starting from the top left: Female Ruby-Throat, Blue-Tailed (Central America), Male Anna’s hummingbird (perched), Male Ruby Throat, Black-Chinned, Female Ruby Throat.
In June, there’s nothing like the song of a House Wren to brighten your backyard!! This “Chime of Wrens” features a Berwick’s wren on the birdhouse, A Marsh wren on the upper left branch, Berwick’s wren on the boots, and the biggest image is a House wren. You can tell wrens by their cute, upturned tails and very melodious song.
July brings us to orioles. North America has several interesting orioles. In our “Pitch of Orioles” we have (clockwise from upper left): Bullock’s Oriole, Hooded Oriole, Baltimore Oriole, Orchard Oriole, and ending with another Baltimore Oriole on the half orange slice. In fact, if you put out grape jelly and/or oranges, you will attract orioles!
August hosts the Jays party. You can call a group of jays a “scold” of jays (because they do a lot of that) or a “party” of jays. I went with “party.” Here we have (clockwise starting from upper left): Blue Jay, Scrub Jay, Blue Jay, and Steller’s Jay. Jays are part of the Corvid family which includes crows and ravens. All very smart and known to use tools!
September is for swallows. With their swooping flights and catching of insects, it’s no wonder a group of swallows is a “Gulp of Swallows.” The upper right is a Barn Swallow, the other two are Tree Swallows.
October called for crows. In our “Murder of Crows” we have two crows on the left (top and bottom) and a Raven on the right. All, as well as Jays, are very smart birds in the Corvid family. Did you know that they purposely keep ravens at the Tower of London? They are traditionally believed to protect The Crown and the Tower; a superstition holds that "if the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it."
November is my birthday month, so I went with waxwings. This “Museum of Cedar Waxwings” are all regular waxwings. In a breeding male, you can see the small, red tips on his wings which gives him his name. There are also Bohemian Waxwings which look very similar but I didn’t paint. If you grow berry bushes, you are more likely to be visited by a big group of waxwings!
The cold of December is no big deal to the tiny chickadee. Oh how I love chickadees! This “Banditry of Chickadees” is so named because of their bold attitude and cute black masks. This brave little guy is the most likely to eat from your hand. I talk about them a lot in my book, Wings of Mercy and how I struggled with being brave when I was small. Two of these are regular Black-Capped Chickadees. The bottom left is a Chestnut-Backed Chickadee which is what we have on the west coast.