How to Identify Birds

By eHow Hobbies, Games & Toys Editor

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

Bird books
Binoculars

Step 1:
Buy or borrow books about bird watching. Your local library and bookstores should be able to help you find several books on the topic. You can also find them online at websites hosted by birding suppliers, such as the Best Nest and Birding Guide. "Stokes Field Guides" and "Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds" are separated by region to allow quicker access to information about birds that reside in specific areas of the country. Bird guides on CD-Rom are also available to make finding and identifying species even quicker.
Step 2:
Grab your binoculars and favorite birding field guides to your favorite bird watching area. Watch a specific bird you are unfamiliar with for an extended period of time, taking note of certain features that will make identification easier later. For example, take note on the size and shape of the bird's body, wings, tail, beak and feet. Some field guides will help you identify birds by their shape alone and you may get used to identifying birds quickly with just their silhouette.
Step 3:
Take note of the main colors of each specific bird, as well. Colors can be deceiving, though, and may not always be the best way to accurately identify a species. For instance, a bird may look one color in the middle of the day, but appear to change colors as the sun starts to set. You can, however, look for distinguishing color patches, especially around the wings and tail that might help with its identification.
Step 4:
Realize the habitat you are bird watching in will also help determine the species of birds you are likely to see. Birds that live next to the sea would not likely be found deep in the forest, so you can identify birds quicker by eliminating the impossible choices.
Step 5:
Talk to other bird watchers or go bird watching with a more experience birder. Whether you're talking over coffee or birding in the field, more experience birders can teach you some new tricks and pass along tips on how they learned to quickly and easily identify various birds. Many long-time birders can picture specific birds so clearly in their mind and give a description so accurate that you could identify each bird the first time you saw it.
Step 6:
Subscribe to birding magazines, newsletter or even e-newsletters. The electronic versions of newsletters usually arrive periodically in your email and many times are free of charge. These types of publications not only have interesting stories about birding, they often hold insider tips and tricks to help you in the field.
Step 7:
Join a local bird watching club. Not only can you be part of a group of people who enjoy birds and nature as much as you do, you can also share information with other birders about the best bird identification techniques.

Tips & Warnings

Take notes on as many features and details as you can discern about a specific bird, if you can't identify it in the field. Then look in several field guides. Whether the guides are in print or online, one of them is bound to hold the answer to the bird's identity.
Although other birders love talking "shop," they may be less likely to talk while in the field when any noise could scare off the bird they are currently watching.

Resources

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