Bird Identification Tips
Key Features Help Identify Birds You Haven’t Seen Before
Taking note of certain characteristics can help with wild bird identification. This article describes specific things to look for.
Have you seen birds you couldn't identify? There are times when we’re more likely to see unfamiliar birds, including during the spring and fall migration periods and when we’re away from home. The keen bird watcher can make wild bird identification easier by remembering which things to look at specifically. Carrying a pen and a notebook helps a lot too, as details are soon forgotten. The more features you can note, the better your chances of identifying the bird.
If you see a bird you don’t recognize, try to note these features:
- Environment: Is the bird on the water or standing in shallow water near the shore? Perhaps it is staying high in trees, feeding in grasslands, or soaring high above on thermals. All of these things can help put the bird in a category: waterbirds, wading birds, shore birds, raptors etc.
- Size: How big is the bird? Think about common birds that you know well, perhaps a pigeon and a house sparrow. Is the unidentified bird larger or smaller than these species?
- Tail: How is the tail shaped? Is it long or short, fan-shaped or forked? Does the bird hold its tail up or down? Does it wag its tail? Some tails are very characteristic and can help a lot to identify birds—some swallows, for example, have deeply forked tails, while birds of prey tend to have wide tails. The colour pattern on a bird’s tail is helpful as well.
- Wings: How are the bird’s wings shaped? Again, a swallow’s wings are characteristically pointed, while other birds have wide rounded wings, seabirds tend to have long wings, and the silhouette of a hawk can be absolutely characteristic of the species for the experienced bird watcher. Bars and other color patterns, both above and below the wing, should be noted if possible.
- Bill: The shape and length of the bill is important for identifying birds. The bill may be long and narrow, short, hooked, upturned, or have crossed tips like a crossbill. Bird species have bills that are adapted for feeding: shorebirds and wetland birds often have long bills for probing in mud, while raptors have hooked bills for tearing up dead prey.
- Colours: The colour of a bird can be the most distinguishing feature. Note the colour or colour pattern on the breast. Look for bars on the wings and tail, patches of colour on the rump, and eye stripes or eye rings. Don’t jump to conclusions based on colour however—different species often look very similar to one another.
- Flight pattern: How does the bird move about? Does it fly? If so, does it fly in a straight line or in a dipping pattern? A woodpecker or creeper will move up the side of a tree, then fly a short distance to another tree and do the same thing. Raptors often ride the thermals with little wing motion. Mourning doves make a typical whistling noise when they fly.
- Call: Is the bird calling? How would you describe its call? Though learning to recognize bird calls can take a lot of practice, many birders become very good at using calls for bird identification.
Remember that young birds don’t have the markings typical of mature birds and can be very difficult to identify. Moulting birds look odd as well, and may be lacking tail feathers or have bald heads. Many birds have different plumage in the winter and summer seasons.
Related content:
Places to See Atlantic Puffins
Sources:
Getting Started in Bird Watching. Cronin, Edward W. Jr. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1986
Peterson First Guide to Birds. Peterson, Roger Tory. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1980
