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Identification
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No matter how experienced we are there are still birds out there that give us problems when it comes to deciding what we`ve seen hunkered down in a bush or on a distant mudflat. If you manage to identify that tricky little brown job where does it go on your list? The following links should help you decide on both. Whilst we vary in skill none of us are perfect... some recent discussions on a birding chatline revealed just how bad some mistakes can be. Not only have I identified a paper bag as a water rail, but I have identified a golden eagle as a black rubbish sack and a barn owl as a discarded plastic carrier bag. I even called out to my wife in Australia that just off the road were a small party of e-mails... that should have come out as emu! Beware, entering some of these links can seriously enhance your knowledge! |
Advanced Bird ID Guide: The Western Palearctic
By Nils Van Duivendijk | 308 pages | 10 line drawings | New Holland Publishers | 2010 | £14.99See Fatbirder Review
ISBN: 9781847736079
Buy this book from NHBS.com
Bird Identification - a Reference Guide
by Kristian Adolfsson and Stefan Cherrug 379 pages, about 100 illustrations Cover (Red-necked Stint) by Hans Larsson, drawings by Peter ElfmanFeathers - Identification for Bird Conservation
by Marian Cie?lak and Boles?aw Dul, Natura Publishing House 2006 ?25.62p - Buy direct at: http://www.naturapublishing.eu/ISBN: 8392441001
Buy this book from NHBS.com
Hawks at a Distance: Identification of Migrant Raptors
By Jerry Liguori | Princeton University Press | Softcover | 2011 | 192 pages, 558 colour photos, b/w illus, tabsISBN: 9780691135595
Buy this book from NHBS.com
Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding: Understanding what you see and hear
by Kenn Kaufman - 448 pages - Houghton Mifflin 2011See Fatbirder Review
ISBN: 9780547248325
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RSPB Guide to Birdwatching
- A Step-by-Step Approach by Mike Unwin 192 pages, colour illustrations | Christopher Helm | Softcover | November 2008 | £12.99 See Fatbirder ReviewISBN: 9780713679434
Buy this book from NHBS.com
The Handbook of Bird Identification for Europe and the Western Palearctic
by Mark Beaman and Steve Madge Princeton Cloth 1998 $115.00 ?80.00784 pp. 6 x 9 357 plates 625 color mapsISBN: 0713639601
Buy this book from NHBS.com
The Sibley Guide to Birdlife & Behaviour
Illustrated by David Sibley - Helm 2001See Fatbirder Review
ISBN: 0713662506
Buy this book from NHBS.com
ID-Frontiers
Mailing ListTo subscribe to list:listserv@listserv.arizona.edu
Discussion about highly difficult bird identification issues, mostly related to North America. subscription message: subscribe BIRDWG01 Your Name
World Waterfowl Forum
Mailing ListWelcome to the World Waterfowl Forums...
Airport Wildlife Mitigation
WebsiteBird ID Page
Aviscience
WebsiteA new and building scientific resource for ornithologists and birders everywhere...
Bird Nature
WebsiteID Guides by colour, sone etc. North America
Bird Sleuth
WebsiteOn line guide to ID from Cornell - North American
Birding.com
WebsiteLearning to identify birds is fun and frustrating. A field guide can help you attach a name to most of the birds you see...
Birds at Home
WebsiteLots of ID tips such as how to use filed guides and how to tell a downy from a hairy woodpecker... so its all North American birds.
Birds of North America
WebsiteThe Birds of North America, supported by The American Ornithologists’ Union, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, provides a detailed scientific account of each of the more than 700 species nesting in the 50 United States and Canada.
Bob Lewis's Gull Site
WebsiteGulls are one of the last frontiers of bird identification, and I have been a certified gull freak for 20 years. I have long felt that gulls are the most interesting of all birds. True, Peregrine Falcons, Golden Eagles, and Elegant Trogons have their allures, but nothing combines for me the intellectual and aesthetic qualities of birding better than gulls, especially the large white headed Herring Gull assemblage. Add to that the fact that an amateur like me can get decent photos of them -- without getting seasick -- and you've got an unbeatable combination. Parked at Cape Point in a four wheel drive vehicle with a couple thousand gulls standing around, on a cold cloudy day with the wind howling -- that's as close to paradise as it gets.
Dark Atlantic Yellow-legged Gulls
WebsiteIdentification of difficult gulls... not just YLG.
eNature.com
WebsiteWe feature over 700 species of North American birds- each species has detailed descriptive text and colour photographs. We have 893 colour photographs of birds to be exact. We also feature bird calls for 550 different species of birds which can be listened to in real time directly from our site. One of our newest features is the eNature Local Guide - allowing users toenter their zip code and get a customized guide to their local birds with photos and descriptions. In addition, our users can create and maintain online life lists, join discussions Forums, and receive our weekly newsletters.
Gadwall Birding Page
WebsiteIdentifying birds is tough. It`s tough for experienced birders and it`s even tougher for new birders. Birds have a variety of different plumages including: winter, summer, juvenile, first spring, male, female, eclipse and combinations thereof. Plus they molt. So don`t feel bad if you can`t identify every bird you see. On the other hand, learning those different plumage patterns, and the other clues that help identify birds, is what makes this hobby fun.
Gull Identification Website
WebsiteThese pages are dedicated to those rakish scavengers from the north (okay, some are from the south): gulls! gulls! gulls! Many breed in remote locales, migrate great distances, and, in winter, form the most coveted phenomenon that birders hope for: mixed species flocks...
How to write field notes
WebsiteWhen Lewis & Clark were sent off to explore the interior of the United States, they were given specific and detailed instructions by Thomas Jefferson as to the records they were expected to keep. Most of us are not called upon to explore a continent, but occasionally we might come across a detail about the world around us that others may find of interest. The quality of the details written affects how seriously the record is taken. Practicing with field notes every day prepares the amateur naturalist for the unexpected event.
ID Frontier
WebsitePresented here is a photographic guide to many of the birds of the South-eastern U.S. The geographic area covered by this guide includes the following states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and the south-eastern part of Texas.
ID Literature - North America
WebsiteThis list provides pointers to particular journal issues, not full citations. It was originally intended for personal use but we thought it might prove useful to a wider audience.
Identification of Caspian Gull
WebsiteThis article describes the identification of Caspian Gull, a bird that occurs regularly at inland rubbish tips and gull roosts, but is perhaps under-recorded due to limited awareness of identification criteria...
Inventory Methods for Raptors
WebsitePdf file
Ocean Wanderers - Angus Wilson’s Bird Identification Resource
WebsiteWelcome! This site is dedicated to spreading information about bird identification, migration, systematics and conservation. There is likely to be heavy emphasis on the seabirds (shearwaters, petrels, albatrosses etc.); gulls and shorebirds (waders) of the world, however a few passerines might squeak in!
Ornithological Worldwide Literature
WebsiteOWL is a compilation of citations and abstracts from the worldwide scientific literature that pertain to the science of ornithology. A major attraction is its coverage of the grey literature, which are not abstracted by commercial databases such as Zoological Record or the Science Citation Index...
Ornithology
Website.Most useful for N Americans
Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter [North America]
WebsiteHere we present photographs, songs, identification tips, maps, and life history information for North American birds, and provide a forum for commentary and discussion on bird identification. For each species, a comment form is provided, and we encourage you to comment on any component of the identification tips, life history or other information. Your comments will be reviewed for content and edited for style, and placed in the forum for each species. Note that the forums are species-specific, and will only appear in the species accounts after someone has made some comments on the species.
Peterson On Line
WebsiteThese days mostly just a catalogue of the fieldguides...
Seabird Osteology
WebsiteThe Seabirds Skull Gallery, existing since 2002, has only been changed a bit and was given a new name that covers the subject more properly. After two years working on this site it is not only skulls anymore that are shown. Regular visitors have already noticed that since December 2004 the scope has widened. It now includes also other parts of the seabird skeleton. In the Seabird Osteology section general aspects of seabird osteology are treated and in the species section you willl find a listing of families and groups with links to pages on skeletons of particular species or groups. There is always work in progress, which means that there will be additions and improvements from time to time...
Smithsonian Institution
WebsiteOrnithological database - Search the Division of Birds Collections...
Species, Age and Sex Identification of Ducks Using Wing Plumage
WebsiteProcedures have been developed over the past 30 years for managing the take of waterfowl by hunters. Experts examine wings of ducks contributed voluntarily to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by hunters each year. This procedure involves the determination of species, sex, and age of ducks through an examination of these detached wings.
Stokes Birds at Home
WebsiteSo you're enjoying a cup of coffee at your kitchen table when an unknown bird lands at your brand new feeder, and you ask yourself, What kind of bird is that? Or you're an experienced birder, determined to learn the sparrows, out in the field with an unfamiliar bird in focus. Now what? Like any skill, you need to practice to get good. Using the clues below, try to improve your identification skill set!
SurfBirds ID Articles
WebsiteAdvanced articles as well as basics...
Synergene - Bird Sexing
WebsiteBird sexing is at times very difficult. In some species the colour of plumage or difference in size helps to differentiate between the male and female (dimorphic species) but other species of birds are monomorphic and the males and females look identical. Also even with dimorphic birds, most have to be adults before you can detect differences between the two sexes. Synergene offers fast, reliable and cost effective bird sexing services. Our test is non-surgical and non-invasive and hence guarantees the peace of mind for the health of the bird. Our testing procedure carries accuracy greater than 99.9%+ and all tests are handled at Synergene's state-of-the-art molecular laboratory...
The Birds of North America
WebsiteIn two centuries of American ornithology, The Birds of North America (BNA) is only the fourth comprehensive reference covering the life histories of North America’s breeding birds...
Upland Game Identification
WebsiteID of North American Game Birds
VIREO - Visual Resources for Ornithology - The Academy of Natural Sciences
WebsiteBird photographs from around the world. Images of all North American birds and half of the world's bird species. Pictures from some of the best bird photographers worldwide...
Waterfowl ID
WebsiteThis guide demonstrates a sincere effort on the part of the Central Flyway Waterfowl Council to aid the sportsman in waterfowl identification. Paintings of ducks in various stages of plumage, photos of wings, and descriptions of distinguishing characteristics have been included as an aid to identification of birds in hand and in flight.
What Bird
WebsiteMy name is Mitchell Waite and I have developed a radical search engine to identify birds of North America that differs from anything on the web. Whatbird.com lets you find your bird with just a few clicks...
Wild Waterfowl of the World
WebsiteList of websites etc...
Wildlife Helpline National Service
WebsiteRoger Goy created the Wildlife Information Service (now the Wildlife Helpline National Service) in 1990. This voluntary service which also operates evenings, weekends & bank holidays provides telephone/e-mail information on all things to do with UK and Southern Ireland Wildlife, from identification of flora and fauna, i.e. flowers, birds, butterflies, and animals through to contact information for specialist charities, organisations and welfare groups...
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This site was last updated on Wednesday, 16th May 2012.
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