Identifying Birds
Bird watching involves identifying birds by their physical attributes as well as by their behavior. There are 9 points that can be used when identifying bird species – size, color, shape, bill (shape and color), leg (length and color), eye color, flight pattern, habitat and distribution. It is best to use a field guide for your area, for example a field guide on identifying British birds if you are in Britain, as these will contain the species for your area. The secret to bird identification is to recognize which family the bird belongs to. From there, finding the exact species is matter of elimination.
Let us take the example of identifying birds of prey. If you saw a large raptor with legs feathered to the feet, large powerful talons, you would know that it is a true eagle. To identify the exact species you would consider habitat, size and coloration. Another example of identifying birds of prey is: If you saw a small raptor with pointed wings, a long narrow tail, facial markings like “sideburns”, direct flight with rapid wing beats and hunting on the wing, you would know it belongs to the falcon family. By process of elimination you would identify the exact species.
When identifying backyard birds, consider the above points and pay particular attention to distribution. Distribution is an accurate and great help in identifying a bird. If a bird is noted as not being found in your area, chances are it’s a different species that you have spotted. Identifying garden birds can be difficult and may require the use of binoculars to note leg and bill color. However, starting with identifying backyard birds is the perfect way to begin birding.
Another useful way to determine bird species is by identifying bird song. Many CDs are available to assist in identifying bird song. Bird song is very species specific and leaves you with little doubt as to the bird you are listening to.
Once you have started to identify birds using the above tips, you will understand the delight that many bird watchers experience in observing these feathered wonders.
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i live in ocean shores washington and i seen for the first time a black and blue bird in my backyard and i wanted to know if anyone could tell me what it is. it look like a cardinal but it had a black upper body and a deep blue lower part of its body. i would say about half and half of the colors. it was a bird about a little bit bigger than a robin. thank you for your help.
For those of us birders who have an Iphone the Audubon just came out with a new great application to help identify birds. There are great images, range maps and voice examples. Check it out!
Reggie Roan Eagle i think your bird is a Superb Blue Fairy Wren!
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I live in Tarpon Springs Florida, and we have a swampy, boggy area behind our house with a lot of huge trees. In the treeline on the farthest edge of this wooded area,we keep seeing a HUGE bird of prey of some type that we can’t identify. I would say it’s wing span is at least 5 feet, maybe more, and we watch it bring food up to the same branch of the same tree every day pretty much. It is not black, more of a dark greyish color, with lighter feather underneath, with some spotty lighter areas on it’s back and underneath. I would guess it is probably about 3 to 4 feet in height, and I probably couldn’t get my arms around it. I have never seen a bird like this! Any ideas?
I just had about 25-30 or more Robins in my back yard. Is it strange to see them this time of year. I’m in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan?????
Maybe this is a good sign!!!
I just saw a bird in my backyard which I have never seen before. It is slightly smaller than a robin and is mostly black with a pure white belly. At the margin of tha belly and the dark body is a bright blue area about 1/2 inch wide. It is a ground feeder and has a straight yellow beak (1/2inch long) I am a real ameteur and only have a National Geographics “Birds of North America” field guide and cannot find this bird in there. Can anyone give me an identification for this bird? Thanks Dick Ampleman
By the way I live in Florissant Mo and we are on the Mississippi and Missouri fly ways.
Reggie Roan Eagle What you saw might have been a Stellers Jay.
I live in Utah and have a strange bird who has just shown up at my feeder. It has a long slightly bent beak, a lighter colored chest covered in large dark spots, and its back looks darker with almost stripes on it. It has bright red near its neck, only seen when it moves it’s neck. It also looks like it has a black band around its neck. Can anyone help me identify it?
Annette,I think you might have seen a Northern Flicker. I have also seen a bird like the one you heve described in my back yard.
From Ft Myers Fl I had a new bird to my feeder. a small very blue bird with a yellow beak, any ideas?
We found a black baby bird with a white beak with a black strip across the tip, red eyes and green feet and legs. What the heck is it?
Blondi, I believe you may have found an American Coot. Hope this helps:)
I live on the coast in mississippi for about the past 4 months there is a bird every night that shows up in the top corner of my deck. It’s small dark brown and light brown and the hair on his back looks like those of a porkepine. it’s tail is brown with black spots all over it any ideas?
I think birds are so great! I saw one today it was a “BLUEJAY!”
I saw a little yellow bird hopping around in my water oak this week, it was a very bright yellow, and about the size of a chickadee. I think it was eating bugs. I never saw the back of it, does anyone know what it could have been?
oh, yea you may want to know calcasieu parish louisiana.
I saw a large bird, aprox 3 ft with a very long tail, blue back, mostly white belly with 2 prominent curved feathers coming down in opposite directions on top of it’s head almost like an ‘M’ shape. I saw it in LA near the zoo but it did not have an ID band. I think it could be an escaped pet. I’ve never seen a bird like this in the wild. Can anyone help me try to ID it? I’m not finding any pics online that look like it. Thank you!
elle,
Sounds like a Prothonotary Warbler.
To answer Elle, I think the yellow bird would have to be a Goldfinch.
At my home in SC I have been watching a nest of Carolina Wrens that build in a box at corner of house each year. After the parent feeds one, a little wobbly baby gives the parent a small white pill of excrement to be carried away. I wonder if the babies take turns doing this amazing task.
Today they all fledged without hitting the ground. The cat would have been put up but it happened so fast with much scolding from the parents. The fledglings appeared pretty accomplished for first flights. Amazing creatures!
i just found a baby bird on the ground alive coverd in ants we got those off but now we cant tell what it is it has a yellow top beak andblack on the bottom wwhat kind is it.
it is in florida help!
hello, i just saw a HUGE bird in my yard. I live in miami. It has a LARGE beak & it was all black. it barked at me. any ideas??
Okay. Quite a few years ago a bird flew into my window and stunned itself on the glass. It was very small and green (a bright green, not like an emerald color). This was in Marysville, WA. This area is between the Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains, north of Seattle. I fell in love with this bird but left it where it was and it eventually flew away. Can anyone please help me figure out what type it was? I’ve figured out that it looks very similar to a Female Blue-Crowned Manakin, but I don’t think that’s what it would have been since the manakin’s range is much farther south than Seattle.
Thanks to anyone who can help!