Easy Bird Identification

Compare these two birds:

Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Sandhill Crane
Sandhill Crane

About half of the non-birders you know call the bird on the left a "blue crane." Despite the similar long legs, long neck, and pointed bill, other anatomical features are quite different. Taxonomists would say that these birds are not closely related. Most field guides are arranged taxonomically, to help scientists understand bird relationships. Thus, you will not find these birds near each other in most field guides. This is confusing for beginners trying to identify a bird they saw.

Next:

American Coot
American Coot
Pied-billed Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe

Look at these swimming waterbirds above. Both share the dark coloration, white chicken-like bill with dark ring, fluffy short tail, and lobed toes. However, these birds are not closely related taxonomically. They are not found near each other in most field guides. Beginners find this confusing.

Want to know something even more confusing? The crane and the coot above share many internal anatomic structures and are considered very closely related. Thus, they are found near each other in the field guides!

Field guides are not user-friendly for beginning birders.

Yet, if you want a simpler "beginner" guide, you'll soon find that many of the birds you'll see day-to-day won't be in it. There aren't just common birds and rare birds. There's a full spectrum from birds seen every day to birds seen twice per season. There are too many birds that are likely to be seen sporadically that are left out of simpler guides. Often, a beginner guide may only show breeding males of the most common species. A field guide based on color, you say? Then what about differently-colored females? What about strikingly varied winter plumage? What about dissimilar-looking younger birds?

Enter the Field-Friendly Bird Sequence.

In this sequence, birds that look alike, structurally, or share obvious habitat or behavioral similarities, are found near each other in the guide book. Thus, no matter how often the taxonomic relationship is shuffled in the future, the field guide can stay pretty much the same.

In such a field-friendly arrangement, designed to help beginners identify birds, the heron and the crane would be together in the group of Wading Waterbirds. The coot and the grebe would be together in the group of Swimming Waterbirds. And the coot and the crane would be farther apart in such a field guide.

A few field guides were actually produced using variations of the field-friendly sequence. My favorite, as far as grouping similar birds together, was the Kaufman Focus Guide to Birds of North America. 2000. Kenn Kaufman (now the Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America. 2005.). But it wasn't as good as I thought it could be.

So I created my own field-friendly sequence in 2012 (blog post here). Using this sequence, North American birds can be placed into one of 13 field-friendly categories. The best part? You probably already know at least one bird in each category. Most non-birders can quickly place a bird they see into one of these 13 categories. All similar birds would then be near each other in the field guide.

The 13 categories are:
Swimming Waterbirds
Flying Waterbirds
Wading Waterbirds
Chicken-like Birds
Raptors
Miscellaneous Landbirds
Aerial Landbirds
Flycatcher-like Birds
Thrush-like Songbirds
Chickadee & Wren-like Songbirds
Warbler-like Songbirds
Sparrow & Finch-like Songbirds
Blackbird-like Songbirds

If you learn a couple of birds in each of the 13 categories you are more likely to identify a new bird that you observe. This sequence should make it easier for beginners or non-birders to look up a bird and get to the correct grouping. Of course, birds are highly varied and complex. So there will always be some complaint with any system that tries to simplify them--this arrangement is no different.

Here are the overviews of each category:
(Sadly, the following charts do not display correctly on all mobile devices--use a PC or laptop, if possible.) From a smart phone, go to the bottom of the page and select "view web version."

Swimming Waterbirds
Mallard
Mallard
Swimming Waterbirds are primarily web-footed birds most-frequently observed swimming. Oh, many are strong fliers, but these search for food in the water or graze on the ground near water. They spend a great amount of time swimming or even diving under the water.

Included families: Ducks, geese, swans, grebes, coots, alcids (auks and puffins), loons, pelicans, boobies, and cormorants.
Canada Goose
Canada Goose
Common Merganser
Common Merganser
Clark's Grebe
Clark's Grebe
Common Loon
Common Loon
Pigeon Guillemot
Pigeon Guillemot
Double-crested Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Tundra Swan
Tundra Swan
Common Gallinule
Common Gallinule
Blue-winged Teal
Blue-winged Teal
Brown Pelican
Brown Pelican
Brown Booby
Brown Booby
Common Murre
Common Murre

Flying Waterbirds
Western Gull
Western Gull
Flying Waterbirds can and do swim on the water, however they spend more of their time flying over the water looking for food. When they do find food, they often either pick the food off the water and keep flying or plunge-dive into the water from flight. Many of these are restricted to ocean waters.

Included families: Skuas, gulls, terns, skimmers, albatrosses, shearwaters, and petrels.
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Pomarine Jaeger
Pomarine Jaeger
Elegant Tern
Elegant Tern
Black-footed Albatross
Black-footed Albatross
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel
Heermann's Gull
Heermann's Gull
Northern Fulmar
Northern Fulmar
Black Skimmer
Black Skimmer
Pink-footed Shearwater
Pink-footed Shearwater

Wading Waterbirds
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Wading Waterbirds are often long-legged and long-necked. Many have longer bills for probing in mud or sand for invertebrate food, or stabbing fish. Though most are found in wetlands or on beaches, some can forage in pastures and open grasslands.

Included families: Rails, shorebirds (plovers, curlews, stilts, oystercatchers, sandpipers), herons, cranes, and ibis.
Sanderling
Sanderling
White-faced Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Long-billed Curlew
Long-billed Curlew
Sora
Sora
American Avocet
American Avocet
Snowy Egret
Snowy Egret
Killdeer
Killdeer
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Baird's Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe
Wilson's Snipe
Lesser Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Green Heron
Green Heron

Chicken-like Birds
Wild Turkey
Wild Turkey
Chicken-like Birds are familiar game birds known to all. Small bills, strong legs, plump bodies are typical.

Included families: Grouses, quails, pheasants, turkeys.
Ring-necked Pheasant
Ring-necked Pheasant
California Quail
California Quail
Chukar
Chukar

Raptors
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Raptors are birds of prey that hunt other animals or birds for food with an aerial attack. Strong beaks and claws. Many can be seen soaring high overhead on thermals, while others hunt low from a concealed perch.

Included families: Vultures, hawks, eagles, owls, falcons.
Turkey Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Bald Eagle
Osprey
Osprey
American Kestrel
American Kestrel
Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl
Barn Owl
Barn Owl
Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
Cooper's Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
White-tailed Kite
White-tailed Kite

Miscellaneous Landbirds
Domestic Pigeon
Domestic Pigeon
Miscellaneous Landbirds are a category of odds-and-ends birds. Generally larger birds that don't fit into the above categories. Members of this groups are known by most people--even non-birders.

Included families: Pigeons, roadrunners, cuckoos, kingfishers, woodpeckers, parrots, and jays and crows.
Northern Flicker
Northern Flicker
Red-crowned Parrot
Red-crowned Parrot
American Crow
American Crow
Greater Roadrunner
Greater Roadrunner
Belted Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher
California Scrub-Jay
California Scrub-Jay
Mourning Dove
Mourning Dove
Hairy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Red-breasted Sapsucker

Aerial Landbirds
Barn Swallow
Barn Swallow
Aerial Landbirds generally feed on the wing and spend most of their waking hours flying, chasing flying insects for food.

Included families: Nightjars (nighthawks and whip-poor-wills), hummingbirds, swallows, swifts.
Common Nighthawk
Common Nighthawk
Allen's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Vaux's Swift
Vaux's Swift
Tree Swallow
Tree Swallow
Purple Martin
Purple Martin
Anna's Hummingbird
Anna's Hummingbird

Flycatcher-like Birds
Western Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Flycatcher-like Birds: Tyrant flycatchers, found only in the Americas, are the world's largest family of birds with over 400 species. Medium to small birds, primarily drab greens, yellows, grays, and browns. Perch upright with large head, flat bill, and ample tail. Many remain motionless until they sally out to grab a larger flying insect, then often return to the same perch.

Included families: Flycatchers, phainopeplas, waxwings
Western Wood-Pewee
Western Wood-Pewee
Phainopepla
Phainopepla
Gray Flycatcher
Gray Flycatcher
Cedar Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing
Vermilion Flycatcher
Vermilion Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Black Phoebe

Thrush-like Songbirds
American Robin
American Robin
Thrush-like Songbirds are a diverse group of medium-sized land birds. Most with long bodies, long tails, and thinner pointed bills suitable for eating insects rather than seeds. Often found on the ground or in larger tree branches.

Included families: Shrikes, larks, bluebirds and thrushes, thrashers and mockingbirds, dippers, pipits, tanagers, meadowlarks, orioles.
Hermit Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Townsend's Solitaire
Townsend's Solitaire
Western Bluebird
Western Bluebird
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Mockingbird
California Thrasher
California Thrasher
Loggerhead Shrike
Loggerhead Shrike
Horned Lark
Horned Lark
American Dipper
American Dipper
American Pipit
American Pipit
Western Tanager
Western Tanager
Western Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark
Hooded Oriole
Hooded Oriole

Chickadee & Wren-like Songbirds
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee
Chickadee & Wren-like Songbirds are a diverse group of small, plump, active, primarily gray or brown land birds. All are insect eaters, though some eat seeds by pounding them open with their bills, as they cannot chew. Often found in brush or tangles or smaller tree branchlets.

Included families: Chickadees, verdins, bushtits, nuthatches, creepers, wrens, wrentits, and gnatcatchers.
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Brown Creeper
Bushtit
Bushtit
Oak Titmouse
Oak Titmouse
Verdin
Verdin
California Gnatcatcher
California Gnatcatcher
Wrentit
Wrentit
Bewick's Wren
Bewick's Wren

Warbler-like Songbirds
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Warbler-like Songbirds are small to very small birds, with short, thin, bills. Green is a predominate color, but many warblers are colorfully patterned in yellows and black and white. Vireos are sluggish, others are active to hyperactive. Often glean for insects in the foliage of trees.

Included families: Vireos, kinglets, warblers.
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Cassin's Vireo
Cassin's Vireo
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Hutton's Vireo
Hutton's Vireo

Sparrow & Finch-like Songbirds
House Sparrow
House Sparrow
Sparrow & Finch-like Songbirds are a large group of seed-eaters that have conical bills, sometimes quite thick. Ground-dwelling sparrows are patterned or streaked in brown and grays; tree-loving male finches are colorful, but females are usually streaked brownish like sparrows. Look for these birds at your backyard feeders.

Included families: Sparrows, munias, weavers, finches, longspurs, towhees, juncos, grosbeaks, and buntings.
Song Sparrow
Song Sparrow
House Finch
House Finch (female)
House Finch
House Finch (male)
Lesser Goldfinch
Lesser Goldfinch
Spotted Towhee
Spotted Towhee
White-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Junco
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Black-headed Grosbeak
Black-headed Grosbeak
Lapland Longspur
Lapland Longspur
Red Crossbill
Red Crossbill
Evening Grosbeak
Evening Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Lazuli Bunting
Scaly-breasted Munia
Scaly-breasted Munia
Lark Sparrow
Lark Sparrow

Blackbird-like Songbirds
Red-winged Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Blackbird-like Songbirds are medium-sized (smaller than crows) blackish or brownish birds often forming large winter flocks. Have longer, more pointed bills.

Included families: Starlings, blackbirds, cowbirds, grackles, bobolink.
European Starling
European Starling
Great-tailed Grackle
Great-tailed Grackle
Bobolink
Bobolink
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird


3 comments:

  1. HI I live in San marcos,CA and have been watching a spotted thee for a couple of years..he's very fast and very hard to take a picture of him.I font see but one and I don't know what females look like.he stays but a sec and is great at hiding is this common?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, towhees like to hide low down in bushes and on the ground. Female Spotted Towhees may be slightly browner than makes, but look very similar.

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

I really want to hear from you! I've changed settings (again) in order to try to make commenting easier without opening it up to spammers. Please note, however, that comments to posts older than 14 days will be moderated. Thank you.