Archive for the 'Bird Word' Category

Fledge: a bird is said to fledge when it is able to fly.
Fledgling: a young bird that is partly or wholly covered in feathers. It is also used of a young bird when it first begins to fly.

Fledgling birds can be very easy to see because they are still learning […]

Hackles: long, prominent feathers on the throat or neck, as in ravens and crows.
In the Australian Raven, our largest species of corvids, the throat feathers, or hackles, are quite prominent. In fact, this can be very helpful when identifying this species. I do not yet have a photo of an Australian Raven. In the Little […]

Field Guide: a book giving details of all the birds found in a region or country. Field guides usually include colour illustrations of the birds, descriptive notes to help identify the bird and a distribution map.

When I was growing up in the 1950s the only reliable and comprehensive field guide to Australian birds was Neville […]

Extinct: a species that has died out and is no longer in existence.
Sadly, some bird species have completely died out and no longer exist for our our enjoyment. Not only are we the poorer for this sad state, the environment is the big loser. Extinct Australian birds include:

Kangaroo Island Emu (this island is off the […]

Feral: a domesticated species that has been released or has escaped into the wild and is now living independently.
From time to time members of a species of bird escape from aviaries or captivity, or are deliberately released into the wild for a range of reasons. If a group of these […]