Birdwatching, also known as birding, is one of the fastest growing hobbies and has broad appeal for the young and old alike. It brings great joy and can be a welcome escape from the stresses of modern day life. It allows us to connect with nature not just through aesthetic appreciation but also through the joy of learning. There is almost no limit on what we can learn, whether it be about feeding or breeding behavior, vocalizations or migration. The very first step along this path is being able to accurately identify the birds around us, and that is basically what birding is. The beauty of birding lies in its simplicity. After an initial investment in a pair of binoculars and a bird book (field guide), you are good to go.
Birdwatchers
Making a start on trying to identify birds can be a daunting prospect. There are over 10,000 species in the world with over 1,000 species in the US alone. But don’t worry. Our advice is to start with what you know. Have a think about how many of your local birds you already know the names of. What is it about these birds that tells you what they are? Probably the size, shape and color, right? Take the male Northern Cardinal. It’s medium-sized, has a long tail, a crest, and is bright red. Maybe where a bird is or what it’s doing are also important. You might see a bird swimming on the water and assume it’s a duck, a bird flying in the sky might be a swallow or a bird climbing a tree trunk, might be a woodpecker. In actual fact, birdwatchers use a lot of these cues in identifying birds.
A male Northern Cardinal
So, let’s start with size. When you see a bird for the first time and you want to know what it is, try and think about what species that you already know is the closest in size. Is it the size of a sparrow? A thrush? A crow? Or something bigger, like a goose. This is the measurement from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail. Take a look at the measurements of the bird that you know, then make sure to check whether potential candidates are in the same ballpark. Be aware that it is not always easy to judge size.
Comparing sizes is easiest when birds are next to each other
Next, let’s think about shape. Birds differ greatly in the shape of such things as bill, neck, legs, feet, wings and tail. The shape of the bill is usually related to what it eats. Nectar feeders often have long, thin bills, such as hummingbirds; seed or nut-eating birds have strong, thick bills like a grosbeak; raptors, or birds of prey, have hooked bills for tearing flesh, like hawks. There are even more specialized bill shapes, like a flamingo’s for filtering, a spoonbill’s for sifting, or even the unique shape of the crossbill’s bill which is used for extracting seeds from pine cones. Pay special attention to the shape of a bird’s bill when trying to identify it.
American Woodcock probes with its long bill
The neck, legs and feet of birds also give us a clue about where they live or what they eat. Water birds often have long legs so that they can wade. Birds that eat fish or frogs, often have long necks which they use to shoot forward their dagger-shaped bills. Raptors have strong legs and feet with sharp talons which are used to grasp and kill their prey. Swimming or diving birds, like ducks or cormorants have webbed feet that are used to propel their bodies through the water. For identification (ID), note the length of the neck, legs and even what kind of feet they have.
Snowy Egret has a long neck and long legs
The wings and tail are functional, and enable the bird to fly, which apart from a few exceptions, almost all birds can do. The shape of the wings and tail dictates how a bird flies, and this is sometimes used in identification. Take birds of prey for example. Some, like eagles have long, broad wings which allow them to soar on thermals. Some sparrowhawks have shorter wings with longer tails which allows them to fly and change direction quickly. Falcons show more pointed wings in flight. For identification, pay attention to the length, breadth and shape of the wings in flight. Some birds also have long tails which have a decorative function.
Wing and tail shape can be important for ID
Next, let’s think about color. The bird world is packed with a myriad of colors, and this is one of the things which inspires such admiration. Some birds use colors for display, while others use it for camouflage. When trying to identify birds, it is not only important to note what color they are, but also which body parts are what color. Many of these are fairly obvious, like head, back, wings or tail. You may find yourself however coming across less familiar terms, like rump, vent or nape. Take some time to study the names of each of these body parts, and later on if you come across a word you don’t know, go back and check what it is.
Prothonotary Warbler has a yellow head, greenish back and gray wings
Patterning is also often used in bird names, especially in the tropics where there are many more species. Some examples of colors used in bird names might include ‘red-headed’, yellow-rumped’ or ‘blue-winged’, and patterning, like ‘checker-throated’, ‘stripe-breasted’ or ‘bar-backed’. These are known as field marks, and the one in the name is often one of the most important to note. More often than not, you need to know around three of these to make a positive ID. Start with the common birds and study what field marks differentiate them from similar species.
Blackburnian Warbler has streaked sides
Finally, let’s talk about putting birds into groups. Bird species are split into around 40 orders. One of those orders is the passerines, or songbirds, and this contains around 60% of the world’s bird species. So, the first useful division is between these songbirds (passerines), and everything else (non-passerines). Passerines include such birds as warblers, flycatchers, finches, thrushes, crows, blackbirds, vireos, wrens and swallows. Any small bird that sings, is likely to be a passerine. Non-passerines are more difficult to group, but they include most larger birds, seabirds, waterbirds, raptors, plus a wide variety of others like cuckoos, pigeons, kingfishers, etc. If you can learn what a passerine is, you are going to save yourself a lot of time flicking through pages, looking for your bird.
Baltimore Orioles are passerines, or song birds
The 40 or so orders of birds, are further subdivided into families. When an experienced birder sees a new bird, they will probably first try to decide what family it is in. There are currently around 250 bird families recognized worldwide, but less than 100 in the USA. Some of these are pretty obvious, like pigeons, cuckoos or hummingbirds. Others are more difficult to tell apart. Sometimes unrelated families can look very similar, such as swallows and swifts, or hawks and falcons. While you are out birding, try to see what are the common features within a family, and what features set them apart from similar-looking families. For example, swifts tend to have fast, direct flight, whereas swallows have a slower and more meandering flight. Falcons are usually smaller than hawks, with more pointed wings in flight. As you use your field guide more and more, you will start to remember where to find the various families. Maybe you will remember that the ducks are at the beginning, the sparrows at the end, or the woodpeckers in the middle. This will save you a lot of time.
The Rallidae family, like this Sora, are stout-bodied, secretive birds usually found near water
Finally, a few other things to bear in mind. Not all individuals of a species look the same. Males and females often have different plumage. This is called sexual dimorphism. Males are usually more colorful or striking, with a few rare exceptions. Many birds also change their plumage during the breeding season, often making them easier to identify. Young birds, or juveniles, also can look different, although many resemble the female plumage. A species can also have regional variation within their range. Finally, many birds migrate, so they are not present throughout the year in any given place. The Spring migration, when the trees are full of colorful warblers, is a magical time to go birding in North America.
