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Yellow-rumped warbler (fall plumage) by Shutterstock A special publication from

Yellow-rumped warbler (fall plumage) by Shutterstock A special publication from T H E T O P 2 0 S E C R E T S O F Bird Identification Identifying birds is at the very heart of bird watching. Each bird encountered is like a little puzzle or mystery to solve, because, while birds of a single species all share a certain set of physical traits, no two individu- al birds, like no two individual humans, are exactly alike. Y ou solve the mystery of a bird’s identity by gathering clues, just like a detective. Most of the clues we birders use are called field marks. Field marks are most often physical things we can see—visual clues such as a head crest, white bars on the wing (called wing bars), a forked tail, patches of color, spots on a breast, rings around eyes (yes, called eye-rings), long legs, and a curved bill, for example. But field marks also include behavior, such as hover- ing in flight, probing with a bill, pecking on a tree (woodpecker!), and flitting about actively. And field marks include sounds, too—songs, calls given in flight, chip notes, and even the whistle of wings. When added up, these clues should lead you to a cor- rect answer: the bird’s identity. New birders are wise to start with the obvious visual field marks of a bird. Y ou’ll want to collect these field-mark clues in Bird watchers who know the basic parts of a bird will find it easier to describe and identify unfamiliar birds. tail rump primaries secondaries wing bar back mantle eye line crown supercilium (line over the eye) bill (upper and lower mandible) lores throat breast belly toes flanks tarsus undertail vent Parts of a bird a logical way: Start at the top of the bird (by the head and bill) and work your way down and back. Most North American birds can be identified by field marks above the bird’s shoul- ders: on the bill, head, and neck, and near the bend of the wing. Some birds may appear to be completely plain and will require a longer look. But plainness itself can be a field mark! Don’t give up. The clues are there, wait- ing for you to notice them. The challenge of identifying birds is one of the best parts of bird watching. It can seem dif- ficult and frustrating, but there are a few hints that will make it easier and more enjoyable. The steps for identifying a bird are the same no matter where you are, no matter what bird you are watching. Here are some basic steps to follow. Top 20 Rules of the Bird Identification Game Bird watchers everywhere know that identifying birds can be either easy and intuitive or the hardest, most confusing thing they’ve ever attempted. Different people become birders in different ways and for dif- ferent reasons, but what never changes are the basic techniques that maximize your chances of getting your identifications right. To give you a head start on the journey ahead, we’ve broken them down into the Top 20 Rules of the Bird Identification Game. Y ou’ll certainly come up with your own versions of some of these rules. They are not intend- ed to be set in stone; think of them as guidelines, meant to be adapted to fit your circumstanc- es. The idea is to give you the tools you need to enjoy the bird identification process more, and let fewer birds get away from you unidentified. What to Look For 1. Look at the bird, not at the book. Roger Tory Peterson, the father of American bird watching, once said, “Birds have wings and tend to use them.” How right he was. Birds have wings — books do not. Unlike the bird, your field guide will stay right where you left it. When you have a mystery bird in sight, resist the urge to dive into your field guide and start flipping through the pages for a matching image. What if all you noticed in your brief look was that it was a yellowish warbler, or a streaky sparrow? There are dozens of birds in your guide matching these descriptions. It’s tempting to reaching for the guide, espe- cially if you’re excited about an unusual bird — but resist. Watch the bird for as long as it lets you. The longer you look, the more you’ll notice and remember about the bird’s field marks and behavior. Then, when you do open your field guide, you’ll be better prepared to make your identification. 2. Start at the top and work down and back. If you’ve man- aged to follow the first rule, you’re taking a long careful look at your mystery bird. The next step is to look at the bird in an organized way. The head is the best place to start, provid- ed you can see it; many North American birds can be positively identified by the shape of and markings on their heads. Start at the crown, work down toward the breast, and then back toward the tail. By the time your eyes get to the bird’s tail, you will prob- ably have noticed at least three key field marks, and these should be enough to nail an identifica- tion. 3. Shape says a lot. The flight silhouette of a chimney swift, the bill of an American avocet, and the tail of a scissor-tailed flycatcher are a few examples of birds whose shape alone is enough for a positive identifica- tion. Though the shapes of other birds may be less immediately identifiable, it is nonetheless an important clue. First, try to get Swamp sparrow. an impression of a bird’s overall shape. Then look specifically at head shape (is it peaked, flat, rounded, or crested?); tail shape (is it long, forked, fanned, or pointed?); bill shape (is it long, decurved, upturned, pointed, blunt, thick, tiny?); and finally at wing shape (are they short, long, broad, pointed, angled or straight?). The descriptive terms you use may vary from those in the field guides, but the point is to give yourself a general im- pression of how the bird is put together. 4. Size sometimes lies. Small dark birds can look larger than they actually are on overcast days. Y oung birds might appear larger than their parents. The effects of temperature might also alter how big a bird looks. Still, size is an important clue to its identity. When judging size, it’s often more useful to compare your bird to other nearby birds or objects than to try to gauge its size in inches. Noting its size in relation to familiar spe- cies — “It’s larger than a robin, but smaller than a crow” — can be very helpful. Judging the size of distant birds, like soaring raptors, is much more difficult. In those cases it’s better to rely on other clues, such as shape and behavior, in working toward an accurate identification. 5. Color can mislead. Most beginning bird watchers (and even some experienced ones) fo- cus too intently on a bird’s color when attempting to identify it. Perhaps this is because color is such an obvious clue. Or perhaps it’s because as birders, we tend to get more excited about the really Male Wilson’s warbler. colorful birds. (Go ahead, try to remain calm while watching a male painted bunting.) Color is certainly important in bird identification, but overempha- sizing its importance can lead us astray. Accurate bird identifica- tion relies on several clues—it’s not a puzzle with just one piece. Factor color into your identifi- cation process — it certainly can be diagnostic, not least for the male painted bunting— but bear in mind that viewing conditions, seasonal molt, and individual variation make it an unreliable clue most of the time. . And remember that sometimes even “plainness” can be a field mark. 6. Behavior. Bird behavior (much like human behavior) centers around food and sex. Like humans, different birds pursue these objects in different ways. Watching a mystery bird long enough to notice its spe- cific behaviors — tail flicking, wing flapping, feeder-hogging, and so on — vastly increases your chances of identifying it. As your bird knowledge grows, you’ll be able to sort out familiar birds by their habits and behav- ior, even if you can’t get a long careful look. What to Learn 7. Learn the anatomy. Words such as crissum, lores, tarsus, mantle, and flank may seem like a foreign language at first, but learning the parts of the bird that these words refer to will make you more fluent in fieldguide-ese and give you the Male Painted bunting. vocabulary you need to describe the bird very specifically. Don’t be discouraged if you cannot remember the names of all the parts of the bird at first. Just knowing that they can be used in identification is half the trick to using them. 8. Learn the sounds. Sound is often the first clue to uploads/Geographie/ top-20-secrets-birdid.pdf