Bird Identification

It’s early morning and you’re out on a bird walk following your guide under a gray sky. A flock of small songbirds flits over the distant treetops. The birds reveal no field marks (or so you think), so you’re surprised and mystified when the birder leading the group says matter-of-factly, “Eight House Finches.” “How is

In a previous post I wrote about differences in the black-and-white pattern on the neck of Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, and in comments there Dan Lane reminded me of a difference in the pattern of red on the nape of males, that I’ve heard about over the years but never really investigated. Male Downy Woodpecker

It’s easy. Experienced birders do it subconsciously, using clues from the wingbeats, rhythm, and path of a bird’s flight. These are usually described in vague terms – the roller-coaster flight of a goldfinch, the slightly undulating flight of a blackbird – but I don’t know of any published effort to really define what is different

Instead of song, most woodpeckers use a mechanical drumming sound as their audio advertising display. It’s easy to tell when you hear a woodpecker, harder to tell which species. Nevertheless there are distinct differences between species, and with practice most drumming sounds can be recognized with a high level of confidence. I’m comparing just Downy