A First Look at Identifying Birds

Bird Nerd Blog

Hoping to provide birdwatching help/information to anyone who is interested in the hobby.

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A First Look at Identifying Birds

In this blog I am going to start a first look into how to try to identify those quick, sometimes small, sometimes far away, beautiful creatures that we encounter in our yards, on our hikes or walks. This is just a first go-around, so we are going to start off with some of the basics. Maybe you know lots of birds or maybe you are just starting out. Hopefully you can learn a little something from this either way.
So you see a bird and it lands on a branch near you. What is the best thing you can do to identify that bird? Open a Merlin app on your phone? Get a bird field guide? Check the internet? Take notes and make a sketch? NOPE! The best thing to do is to just sit there and watch the bird.

That bird will be there for minutes or seconds, those other things will be there when it has gone. So, what you want to do is watch it. Try to pay attention to some important aspects of the bird. Let’s go through some of these aspects:

- SIZE – How big is it? Small, medium or large? Comparison is great tool to help determine size, but can also be very tricky. Compare it to something you know the size of. For example: a Robin may be a good comparison bird. Ask yourself is it smaller than a robin, larger than a hummingbird? For instance, a chickadee is smaller than a robin but larger than a Hummingbird.
- SHAPE – Is the body round and plump; long; large body; large head; or long tail? A chickadee has a round shape while a starling has a longer shape.
- WHAT IS THE FIRST IDENTIFYING FEATURE – this could be different depending on the bird. For example: the chickadee – For me the black cap and chin color really stand out when I see one. Maybe it a single color like a cardinal is all red. Maybe its spots on the chest like a wood thrush. All of these should be able to be done if the bird sticks around for a couple of seconds. If the bird stays longer then you can look for a couple more things.o

START AT THE HEAD

- Does the head have a different color than the body? Does it have a pattern?
- What does the bill look like? Is it thick, thin, large, small, curved up, curved down?
- Look at the eye. Is there anything that pops out at you? An eyeline above the eye? A circle around the eye? A different color to the eye?
- Look at the back of the bird. Is the color different than the head? Does it have streaks? Is it solid?
- Wings – again look at color, look at wing bars (white stripes that are on the wings) Are the wings long or short? Do they go past the tail?
- Look at the belly, if you can see the underparts or the breast. Are they streaked, spotted or maybe is the breast a different color?
- Check out the tail. Is it long, short, rounded at the end or forked? Is it held down or up? Is the color dark or light, have a pattern or have spots? Does it move a certain way or bob?

Obviously, the more information the better. Also, keep in mind that the environment you are in can be tricky and can cause some of these things to be hard to determine. The lighting on the bird and the position of the bird may change how you see it.

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Lastly look at or try to notice these final things the best that you can.

WHAT IS THE BIRDS BEHAVIOR? – Quick movements, moving out from a branch to catch an insect and returning to the same branch, bobbing its tail or things of that nature.

WHAT IS THE HABITAT YOU ARE IN? At the beach? In the woods? A neighborhood park? Scrub brush? Parking lot? In some kind of water? Is the bird up high in the tree or on the ground?

TIME OF YEAR? So, this can be important to rule out certain birds. You probably won’t see a Dark-eyed Junco in Connecticut in the middle of summer

IS THE BIRD SINGING OR MAKING SOUND? This is something that can take time to work on when identifying birds. If something seems specific, try to remember it the best you can.

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