How to Identify a Bird

Environmental Explorations 2012

Identification

• Size of bird• Field marks• Behavior• Song• Habitat• Range

Size

• 3 common standards– Sparrow, 5-6 inches long– Robin, 9-11 inches long– Crow, 17- 21 inches long

Birds are classified as larger than or smaller thanFor example a hummingbird would be classified

smaller than a sparrow

Field Marks

• Distinctive features used to identify a bird• Includes features such as– Color– Bill (beak) size and shape– Tail size and shape– Markings such as wings stripes, patches or color

Robin

• For example a robin has gray head wings and tail and an orange breast. These are all field marks.

Northern Flicker

• White patch on tail, can you see any other field marks

Eastern Meadowlark

• Has a black V on its yellow breast, do you see any other field marks?

Behavior

• Feeding– Woodpeckers cling to trunks of trees as they drill

inside the wood to find insects– Nuthatches walk head first down a tree trunk

Behavior continued

• Turkey vultures soar with wing tips up• Raptors (eagles and hawks) fly with wing tips

straight or slightly down tilted

Attack

Song

• In many birds, song is special activity of males during breeding season– Used as defense of territory– Attract females by repertoire– Bird song can be used to identify as well as count

numbers of birds

Habitat

• Feeding and nesting sites are very specific by species

• Types of habitats include marsh, meadow, woodland, seashore, lakeshore, backyard, city

• Storms may blow birds off course during migration and they end up in strange habitats

Confused Herring Gull

• Often show up inland during a storm, blown west by wind

Geographic Range

• This is where a bird can be found• We have northern species and southern

species• We have eastern and western species• We have wide range species and narrow range

species• Some bird species occur worldwide and others

are specific to very small areas such as a valley

Range maps

• All bird guide books have a section of range maps

Another Range Map

And Another

Other Bird Behaviors

• Imprinting: the first thing, living or nonliving a baby birds sees as it hatches is recognized forever as its mother

• Philopatry: wherever a bird is born it comes back to that same spot to breed and raise its young, important to migration, also explains why bird populations sometimes increase dramatically, example ducks at BRHS