Having trouble identifying birds?
Sometimes I get questions from readers about identifying the birds they are seeing.
All birders have this problem in varying degrees. Here is a comment posted yesterday about this very issue:
I’m still very new to trying to ID birds, and while I pick out the most distinctive features to keep to memory, often my bird book still doesn’t include the bird I see, or the picture isn’t quite right. Sometimes I remember to take the camera with me, and this helps plenty with identifying the birds later. While I enjoy just watching birds, I have this need to know what they are called. It’s all fun!
If you are having trouble getting the ID of birds rights DON’T PANIC!
You are in very good company. Even the most experienced birders have trouble – or get it wrong. A photo can help but sometimes just confuses the issue further.
A standing “joke” amongst birders is identifying those infuriatingly difficult LBBs – “Little Brown Birds.” They can all look the same.
Some general hints to help narrow the possibilities:
1. Size: compare the unknown bird with something you know – is it the size of a wren or a magpie or a duck?
2. Shape: Many species have a distinctive shape eg most honeyeaters are similar but are not the same as the shape of a duck, a hawk or and emu.
3. Behaviour: some only feed on the ground, some in water, others in the foliage. Knowing the preferences of each species will help.
4. Habitat: Study the preferences of each species as detailed in the field guides. Mallee birds are generally not found on the beach, water birds usually are near water etc
5. Distribution: Study the field guides and memorize the normal distribution of each species. You won’t see a Cassowary in a private garden in Adelaide (if you do – PHONE ME IMMEDIATELY LOL). Be aware that the birds haven’t read the field guides and are sometimes a long way from where they are “supposed” to be. This makes the hobby so interesting – odd things pop up in unexpected places from time to time.
These 5 steps will help you to narrow the list of possible species to perhaps half a dozen – hopefully less. Identifying a bird is often just a series of eliminations.
If you dip out and can’t ID something, it’s not the end of the world. Remember: the bird knows what it is.
Above all: Have fun.
CONGRATULATIONS to Trevor’s Birding for 1000 posts
CONGRATULATIONS.
Congratulations to Trevor’s Birding blog.
This article marks the 1000th post on this blog.
It has been quite a journey, from a hesitant start on another platform through to the introduction of photographs and on to this point. It has taken a little over 4 years with plenty of interesting articles – I hope. The readership has steadily increased to over 20,000 visits per month – and growing. The readership also extends to over 100 countries every month so we are getting around. Only wish I could visit all those countries to watch the birds there!
To celebrate I would like to list the most popular articles over the 4 year period based on the number of comments:
- Baby Magpie (255 comments)
- Common Blackbirds (176 )
- Pesky Plovers – dealing with swooping birds (174)
- Do Blackbirds swoop ? How to deal with aggressive bird behaviour (107)
- Crested pigeons as pet birds (66)
- Eastern Rosella (61)
- Great birding moments #5 Crested Pigeon (53)
- Welcome Swallows (53)
- The problem with Common Blackbirds (49)
- Australian Magpies (47)
Why not visit some of these articles and read some of the comments?
Feel free to add further comments of your own. (Note: first time visitors will need to be moderated before the comment appears.)
Now that we’ve reached a thousand articles, why not dig deeper into the archives? You can access the archives by clicking here or on the link called ‘Archives‘ at the top of each page. You can also search for particular topics via the categories on the sidebar, or through the search box at the top of each page.
Photos:
Over the life of this blog I have shared thousands of photos. I take every opportunity to add to my collection. Later this week I might feature my favourite photos. In the meantime here is my all time favourite photo taken on holiday in Victoria earlier this year.
Australian Pelicans, Mallacoota, Victoria
Christmas Greetings
No Comments »25th December, 2009; Category: General
King Parrot at Adelaide Zoo
Christmas greetings to all of my loyal readers.
I appreciate all of you – those who visit only occasionally, those who visit regularly and those who take the time to comment, or ask questions.
This birding blog has grown from strength to strength with increasing numbers of visitors and people commenting. Several records for this blog have been broken along the way during the year and interest in Australian birds continues to grow.
I especially want to thank all of the kind readers who have made flattering comments about the photos posted here. Your kind words have encouraged me to keep on going.
A few weeks ago I mentioned that this blog has just had its 3000th comment, a significant milestone on this journey. In a few days’ time this blog will reach another significant milestone. Stay tuned – it will happen before the end of 2009.
In the meantime, may you have a wonderful, peaceful, blessed and enjoyable Christmas.
Male Flame Robin, Mt. Macedon, Victoria
White Faced Heron
Apostlebirds near Peterborough
3 Comments »24th December, 2009; Category: General
Apostlebird, Cocoparra National Park
Last Saturday we were travelling from Murray Bridge to Peterborough in the mid north of South Australia. We were visiting relatives for a Christmas get together. As we were approaching Peterborough on the road from the small township of Terowie, I saw three Apostlebirds on the side of the road. This was near the entrance gate to the only farmhouse along this road.
Apostlebirds are widespread throughout large parts of Australia and are very common in some areas. Here in South Australia however, I only occasionally come across them. This sighting is nearing the south eastern extension of their range. A small population of about twenty are resident within the town of Peterborough, about ten kilometres from my sighting. I’ve also recorded them in the Dawson area, some 20 kilometres to the north east of Peterborough.
Related articles:
Guest speaker
No Comments »15th October, 2009; Category: General
Today I was the guest speaker at the Mallee Aged Care, a group which meets in the local soccer club rooms every fortnight. The organiser invited me – and my wife – for lunch and after that I gave a one hour presentation, talking about Australian birds. I illustrated my talk with photos of our lovely birds. Most of the photos have been shown here on my blog over recent years.
While many in the group were hard of hearing, all said they could hear me clearly – it must be the remnants of my teacher voice at work.
All said they enjoyed the talk very much and learned so much about our birds. One lady even started taking notes on a paper napkin!
I’ve done similar talks to various group before, and the requests are becoming more frequent as word gets out. It’s something I enjoy and I not only love sharing about Australian birds, as a former teacher I love imparting knowledge about them with any who will listen. Friends and family know this and often ring or ask about something they’ve seen birds doing.
An offer too good to refuse:
I am prepared to go anywhere to talk about Australian birds. If it’s interstate just provide the air fare and I’ll be there. What the heck – I’ll even fly overseas to talk about Australian birds.
Emu, Monarto Zoo, South Australia