Oregon is home to more than 500 bird species. Portland has an annual month-long festival dedicated to the migratory Vaux's swift. The nearby Sandy River Delta boasts a blind (a special structure made for birdwatching) designed by Maya Lin, the artist who designed the Vietnam War Memorial.

Oregon lawmakers even passed a resolution last year following a debate over what the state bird should be, relegating the western meadowlark to state songbird and designating the osprey the state raptor.

But even if you can't make it to special locations, you can observe an incredible variety of birds in your own neighborhood! Following is a series of videos and images that will help you identify these birds by sight, sound and behavior.

Who's knocking? It's likely a northern flicker

They have a distinctive call of a single note, which you might hear just once every few seconds.

And don't be fooled by the name -- flickers are part of the woodpecker family, so you'll often hear them drumming on trees, telephone poles or even metal poles. Unlike other woodpeckers, you can also find them feeding on the ground.

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‪And the award for "Best Mustache on a Bird" goes to...drumroll, please...this Northern Flicker! 😄 Posted by Jaklyn Larsen Photography on Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Northern flicker spotted in Florence

Northern flickers have a few subspecies, and those in western North America are have red feathers under their tails, underwings, and primary flight feathers ("primaries" in birder parlance). Those in eastern North America are yellow-shafted, and are indeed yellow where their western counterparts are red.

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I just think the house finch call sounds like uptalk?

The house finch call sounds rougher than that of other common small perching birds. The call also often sounds like it's descending or ascending, like it's querying (or using the much-maligned uptalk).

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Mark Graves/The Oregonian

A male house finch spotted in Portland

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The song sparrow lives up to its name

Birds' vocalizations are classified into calls and songs. A call is typically a short, simple sound and can have a variety of purposes, like warning other birds or even calling on them to mob a predator.

Songs are longer and dynamic, and are used to attract mates, establish territory, identify one another and more.

The song sparrow's call may not catch your attention, but its song is long and dynamic, up to four seconds and comprising a great variety of notes and tempos.

Read more on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology song sparrow page.

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Francesco Veronesi, via Flickr

Song sparrow spotted in Sisters

A 2009 University of Washington study found that young song sparrows learn to sing by listening to mature sparrows, and that they were more inclined to listen to pairs interacting rather than birds singing alone.

According to lead researcher Christopher Templeton, "Having shared song is the basis of song sparrow communications. By listening to two birds, the juvenile can also learn how the songs are used, something he can't learn by listening to a single bird."

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The white-crowned sparrow song is famous

The Cornell Lab page for white-crowned sparrow sounds says it song is "one of the most studied sounds in all of animal behavior," seemingly because this widespread bird has many subspecies whose songs are regional too.

The similarity between bird song regionality and the evolution of human language is fascinating, but it also has practical implications. Neuroscience researcher Stephanie Plamondon is quoted in this 2004 Deseret News story on why her lab was studying white-crowned sparrows: "Like humans, songbirds learn particular regional dialects, so they represent excellent opportunities to study the physiological basis of language. If we can understand something about how song is represented in their brains, then maybe we can better understand how speech learning occurs in humans and, when it goes awry, how we might go about fixing it."

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Flickr user Kathy & Sam

White-crowned sparrow spotted on Sauvie Island

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The spotted towhee song has a mnemonic

The spotted towhee song typically starts with one or two notes and then a quick series (called a trill) that its Cornell Lab page charmingly describes as " like a taut rubber band being plucked, or a piece of paper stuck into a fan." As odd as these descriptions are, they're a great strategy for improving recognition.

Birders even develop mnemonics in the form of a phrase with a similar cadence: the spotted towhee's is "drink-your-tea" or "drink-tea."

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Becky Matsubara, via Flickr

A closer look at the spotted towhee

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Steller's jays sound like they want you off their lawn

You don't hear the Steller's jay call until 0:24 here, but when you do, you also get a glimpse of their behavior: They're aggressive at bird feeders and they even sound like they're scolding.

These jays almost sound like they're barking, and it seems fitting that they would when you see their prominent crests and clever, intrepid demeanor. Like other jays, they sound more rasping, even metallic, than other perching birds like sparrows and finches.

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Molly Goheen

Steller's jay spotted in Beaverton

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The California scrub jay may not be as stylish, but it's also smart and inquisitive

It was hard to find a video with helpful audio, but you can find a quality recording on its Cornell Lab overview page.

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California scrub jay spotted in Multnomah

This jay is easy to discern on sight from the Steller's jay because it doesn't have a crest. But like its relative, it is an intelligent and inquisitive bird, and its food-storage behaviors have been studied by memory researchers.

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The dark-eyed junco song is fast, high-pitched and consistent

You can also commonly hear its call, also quite fast, but with a clipped quality. It's worth listening to a variety of the audio on its Cornell Lab sounds page.

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A closer look at a male dark-eyed junco

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Image courtesy of Mario Manzo, via Flickr

Female Oregon juncos don't have the dramatic black cap.

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The rufous hummingbird sounds like a science fiction movie

Between the prominent sound of their wings and their rapid, brief chirps, rufous hummingbirds could easily serve as foley work for a Star Wars fight scene, subbing in for lightsabers and blasters.

Males also make a particular sound during their mating display for females, which you may have observed as a repeated, dramatic dive.

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A male rufous hummingbird spotted in Florence, Oregon

This is a characteristically vibrant adult male, while immature males and females may have only a patch of the burnished orange (rufous) color by which the bird is known.

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Cedar waxwing song

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Image courtesy of Tony Grover, via Flickr

Cedar waxwing

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Anna's hummingbird is long-winded

Their song is unusually long for a hummingbird, and continuous. Even among many other birds, it's easy to distinguish from other calls because of its pitch and quick, uniform rhythm.

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Jolene McArthur Photography

Anna's hummingbird mother and nest spotted near Sellwood

Like many bird species, the female coloring isn't as vibrant as that of the male. Here, she has built a cup nest with characteristic decoration: lichens and mosses, though she'll also sometimes use paint chips.

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Jolene McArthur Photography

It's a backyard bird if it's a bird in your backyard, right?

I tried to include only birds one might commonly see around a city neighborhood, but many exciting birds make appearances around cities and homes in Oregon. This stunning photo of a Cooper's hawk was taken in a Happy Valley yard.

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What's next?

Even when you can't see birds in your yard, you can practice identifying them by sound alone. With time, you'll distinguish between species, and sometimes even individuals, as they might return for feeders or nesting sites.

Here are some related links for when you want to take your bird nerdery to the next level:

Do you have any recommendations for nascent Oregon birders (or birdwatchers, if you prefer to distinguish)? Comment on this post or send me an email at mlewis@oregonian.com.