My Hook Bird The Western Kingbird

A few years ago I was asked to write a short piece for the SL Tribune to add to an article from several birders about their "Hook Bird" a hook bird is the bird that first got a person interested in Birding as a hobby. Birding is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the world and one that I am hooked on. People of all ages and backgrounds are becoming fascinated with birds and keep a life list of the birds they see.

Here is my "Hook Bird" story:

When I was about 10 or 11 years old I got a BB gun for my birthday. Back in those days we would take our BB guns down to the cemetery in Centerville where I grew up and shoot sparrows. One day the next summer I was in my backyard and and a bird we called a yellow breasted robin landed on the telephone wire. I raised my BB gun and shot it. The bird fell to the ground but did not die. I picked it up and looked at it and all the sudden felt very sorry for what I had done. I remembered an episode of the Andy Griffith show where Opie shot a mother bird and left a nest full of babies crying for food. Opie took the babies in and fed them and raised them until they were grown and turned them loose. I took this bird in and put it in a box and nursed it for a few days until it was strong enough and took it out and let it go. The bird hung around our yard the rest of the summer and became my friend. From that time on I have had a soft spot for birds and used my BB gun for shooting cans and not birds.

A few years later my brother Ken and I raised pigeons and had a great time learning about birds and their habits. I also liked going down to Farmington Bay Bird Refuge and watching the birds.

Many years later my brother in law Frank Clawson gave me my first bird field guide and I started keeping a life list. I have been passionate about birds ever since. Once I learned to identify birds in the field I learned that my "Yellow-breasted Robin" was actually a Western Kingbird, so my hook bird is the Western Kingbird.