Odd Bird

The Odd Bird in Real Estate

First Things First.

ECHO Won. Thank you for voting us the Best Brokerage of 2026 in Palm Beach Country out of 3,696 real estate brokerages. We attended the Palm Beach Post Awards on Thursday evening at the Palm Beach County Convention Center to find out the winners as voted on by the community. Our agents are handpicked and the best in our industry. Thank you!

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In real estate we often talk about snowbirds. Snowbirds drive the market. The seasonality of when they fly down and when they go back is often a catalyst for making the market fly.

But how about their namesake? Snowbirds got their name from their migratory flying friends. According to CHAT GPT, there are 50 billion to 350 billion birds. Kind of a wide range and also an example of why I wouldn’t trust CHAT GPT too much. No matter the number, there are a lot more birds than people. Whoever said man rules the earth? Birds are ancestors of the dinosaurs so perhaps the dinosaurs are still in charge. Hitchcock got that right. But birds also share your property both physically and verbally. And enhance the value more than you think. Additional info about that later.

My unwinding from the real estate craziness is nature, and for the holidays my family surprised me with one of those bird feeders with a camera. I named my Bird Buddy, Gimbird (Gimbo was an old nickname that the grammar school friends still call me for no good reason other than Gimbo is fun to say). Anyhow, Gimbird attracts all sorts of birds. Bluejays, Cardinals, and the dreaded squirrel. Mourning Doves. Grackle. Buntings. Bird Buddy lets you name your bird visitors. Bob Gibbeakson is named after the great St. Louis Cardinal pitcher. Blue Jade is named after our daughter, Jade. Why not as professional sports and college teams have birds such as the Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Arizona and St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Pelicans, Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, FAU & Rice Owls. I actually went to a FAU Owl versus Rice Owls game. The Owls won. The Vancouver Canucks are not named after a bird. I knew that because as a 10-year-old my Dad took me to a Chicago Blackhawks versus Vancouver Canuck game and some fan had a sign that read “What the F*&K is a Canuck?” Still my favorite sport sign. I digress. Some people think Canucks are birds because of the beloved bird, Canuck, who resided in Vancouver. Canuck stole a knife from a crime scene and had all these other shenanigans with people. There is a short documentary, Canuck and I, if you would like a quick smile this morning after reading our Journal. On the other hand, you could get Sean Penn’s bird and wish you never read this Jeff’s Journal!

The bird people are very into this and will chirp your ear off. One thing the guy at the bird store insisted I do was download Merlin. Merlin is an app developed by Cornell University. Stick your phone in your backyard, and you’ll be shocked at how many birds live on your (or their) property. There is good and bad with this. At 56 I now know the chirps of a cardinal, osprey, barred owl, blue jay, mourning dove, purple martin, woodpecker, Carolina Wren (4 chirps), and the odd duck. The good thing is that I’m much more observant. The bad news is that the background noise is now identified. I hear all the chirps and know who is talking in the yard. I’m becoming an odd bird!

So, how do birds help the value of your home?

Years back, a client of mine had a bird feeder off her breakfast nook that attracted painted buntings. If you’ve never seen a painted bunting, you wouldn’t believe it existed let alone was in South Florida. The male painted bunting has feathers of green, blue, red, and yellow. The female is green and yellow. They are quite small and very easy to miss. Once you see one though, it’s just a thing of beauty. The bird feeder off the breakfast nook became a selling feature and part of the good vibes of why the house sold.

Another home we have right now has an amazing view of multiple fairways and waterways. In the front of the house at 403 Ryder Cup Circle in PGA National is a bird sanctuary where hundreds of birds come at night to settle down. Take a look at the video that is provided in the link. The show is breathtaking and it’s part of living there, which increases the value of your home.

If you have ever owned a condo off the water, the pelicans and other birds flying by or stopping by are all part of the attraction.

My favorite bird that we get naturally is a hummingbird. You do need the right types of tubular shaped flowers to attract them.

We have a family of mourning doves that live in a palm tree. Last year momma bird pushed the babies out of the palm tree. School of hard knocks. Get up and fly and leave the nest or become something delicious for the raccoons. All of the action in the trees, in my yard, and off our lake view, is part of why I enjoy my home.

Florida has so many beautiful tropical birds. Subdivisions are named after them. I live in Egret Landing. The Club at Ibis. Try doing a deep dive of all the Flamingos in South Florida. Flamingo Park, Flamingo Lake, Royal Flamingo Villas, Flamingo Gardens, Flamingo Lummus, Flamingo Groves, Flamingo Terrace, Flamingo Plaza, Flamingo Bay, Flamingo Village, Flamingo Estates, Flamingo Lakes Townhomes, Flamingo Manors, Flamingo Villas, Flamingo Ranches, Flamingo Isles Estates. A true flamboyance.

If you’ve never paid much attention to your garden, don’t have a Bird Buddy, or haven’t downloaded Merlin, you should start. I promise it’ll be a hoot!