How do people recognize so many birds when they travel? (1 Viewer)

Debbie1905 said:

As a "beginner" birder, I am struggling to learn about the birds I might expect to see in my own part of my county, let alone country

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At home, there is perhaps 200 regular bird species. However, before I raise my binoculars, I usually know it is one of 1-5 species.

It is very important to learn habitat and behavior, especially where and how the bird feeds. And also posture and shape, which the first thing you see in the field.

Colorful illustrations in field guides somewhat distract you here.

When a small bird is sitting on a very top of a tree in the forest in Europe, it is one of the large finches, for example. I know that tits, nuthatches, chats, warblers, siskins forage between branches and would not sit so still.

When I was in New Guinea, I was similarly shocked that our guide, whom I know arrived in New Guinea few months before, could lean out of the window and pronounce that the bird 100 meters away was 'manucode' or 'king parrot'. After two weeks I learned that birds there also break down into few choices like birds at home.

I usually get a book before hand and read through the book several times from start to finish and whenever I have free time. Eventually I'll know most if not all the birds in there.

Knowing all the species helps narrow down birds you see in the field quite a lot, but perhaps easier said than done when you visit areas with several hundreds of species at once.

Great thread! Good question, Debbie...I've often wondered the same.

I'm still getting to grips with what I see in the UK, but the only other significant experience I have outside this country is our two trips to Spain each year.... and what I realise now (after 5 years or so of visiting the same sites) is how much I missed (or mis-identified) the first couple of years I went out birding in Spain. I know I still probably miss a lot that proper birders would pick up, but I've learnt slowly about what to expect where and when, how certain species behave, and even a good number of calls. I'd never even heard of a collared pratincole 5 years ago, now I'd probably recognise one flying past.

I think this process of learning has helped me determine what I need to know when I visit a completely new region. My only significant trip outside Europe since I started birding was to the British Virgin Islands - what I'd learnt from my experiences in Spain definitely helped, as did the fact that there is a seriously limited number of species to actually remember! But a combination of a local field-guide, downloading some photos from the internet of all the species onto my ipad, and listening to a lot of the calls and songs on xeno-canto before I left meant I was much better prepared.

Like just about everyone else, I buy and study the field guides well in advance, until I'm confident about recognising at least a few of the more obvious species (not Pipits though ;-) I also carry a camera with a 70-300mm zoom attached on a quick release clamp attached to my rucksack strap. I like getting ID shots so I can see just how wrong my initial guess was...

An interesting question Debbie :gh:

I have loved birds all of my life. I think going out, and observing birds is the best way to get to know them as a species, and to get a knowledge of their calls, movements, and the habitats that they reside in. :king:

Simply a walk about on your own in a reserve drinking up the noises, and the movements of birds as they go about their daily business is a good way of connecting with bird life, and a way to help you ID birds.

Like humans beings, each bird species has its own mannerisms, movements, calls, flight pattern, moving about its territory to watch and observe. The mannersims of any bird will end up etched in your mind. It gets to the point that you know by a simple movement, and a call... what bird you are looking at (with lots of practice)

Being well equiped with binoculars, and a camera is a must too to get the best out of your experiences. Only yesterday, I wished I had my camera when I saw 3 Male House Sparrows sitting huddled together on a branch - it would have made a super photo as they are rather cute little things.

I do carry about a bird book on my travels, and other books depending on the time of the year. The birds book for ID is a great tool to help you ID your birds by colouration of the body parts. I have found through time that it is a last resort to check up when I am out and about :gh:

Tips: The best way to learn is to buy yourself some good binoculars, walk about your area, and get to know your species. Talk to other people about their experiences (they are plenty of people around in the bird world who love to talk birds).
Go for a bird tour with a guide in your area. Another great way of learning your species,
If you are not sure about a species you could draw a rough sketch to help you with remembering a species and keep notes for yourself to refer to.

Looking at other peoples photos for ID's on this Forum, and test yourself if you know a species or not...is another way to find out your skills.

There are a few ways you can enhance your experiences, and you will find your own 'special' way of ID-ing birds before you know it.

Enjoy yourself

Regards
Kathy
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As others say: preparation. If you cannot remember down to individual birds, at least try to get down to group. On my first visit to the US, I could not remember the individual warblers, but I could remember that for some of them it would be important to look at not only presence of eye-ring but also whether the eye-ring was broken or not. That meant I could write a few words as description of the bird and afterwards go to the field guide to get the actual name.

Niels

I started birding comparatively late, mostly because I didn't realize it existed. Sure, I was interested in a general way, and able to recognize all the birds one commonly encounters when going for a walk. Since that's a lot more than most of the population can do I thought I was doing rather well.

This changed when I discovered holidays specifically aimed at wildlife watching (what an eye-opener in other ways too), and I met more people with a deep interest in wildlife. I realized that my abilities made me a rank beginniner, but I also got a glimpse of what is achievable. That certainly made me want to become much more accomplished, if only because clearly other people were seeing more than I saw.

I don't entirely agree that going out with binoculars and just observing is the best way of improving. That's what I'd done previously, and while it had taught me that a glimpse at a bird with a pale rump flying off could be identified, there were so many signs I was missing because I wasn't aware of them.

I started making much bigger strides when I was able to learn from other people. I did a couple of courses (because I didn't know anybody locally who shared my interest), and they made me change how I looked at birds. The first one was on raptors and concentrated on discerning the shape of (a potentially tiny) silhouette, and working from there. That was another eye-opener, and when I realized after returning from that course that I could tell that the bird that I'd only just caught a glimpse of was a sparrowhawk rather than a kestrel because I'd seen enough of its shape to be sure of that I was hooked.

I think one needs to acquire this level of looking at birds before one has any chance of sorting out (possibly hundreds) of new birds abroad. I was fortunate with my early nature-related trips since they were to comparatively species-poor countries, and so my lack of experience didn't stop me from picking up most of what there was to be seen, but a subsequent trip made me feel ill-prepared (although I had studied the field guide, compiled my own potential trip list, including locations), because I wasn't a good enough bird watcher, and because I hadn't tried to learn any of the vocalizations.

I did those courses and learned more and when I travelled to Namibia having been to South Africa before it was immensely satisfying to be able to identify birds to family based on the ones I'd seen on the previous trip. It certainly helps a lot with identifying birds if one knows where to look in the field guide. Meanwhile I've met more people who've been willing to share their experience, and they have helped me improve.

A lot of the trips I've taken were for general wildlife, and the guides were not necessarily well-versed in birds, so despite the fact that I've been mostly on escorted trips (I lack a network of people to go on self-organized ones with), I've done a fair amount of trying to identify my own birds. I'm now fairly good at this, but the trip to Kenya last summer made me realize that, for example, cisticolas were beyond me at that stage (they weren't vocalizing, in the field guide there are lots of possible species that look very similar, and what is written there about habitat wasn't enough for me to be able to narrow the choices down). It would probably take help from somebody to get me situated with some of these birds for me to learn what to look for.

So my advice would be to try and go bird watching with more experienced people occasionally, and to ask them about what they are looking for, and how they can tell at this distance that the bird they've just called is an X (and not a Y or a Z). This can help a lot with speeding up one's learning because it gives us an idea for what to look for. It can open up a completely new perspective.

Andrea

njlarsen said:

As others say: preparation. If you cannot remember down to individual birds, at least try to get down to group. On my first visit to the US, I could not remember the individual warblers, but I could remember that for some of them it would be important to look at not only presence of eye-ring but also whether the eye-ring was broken or not. That meant I could write a few words as description of the bird and afterwards go to the field guide to get the actual name.

Niels

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Nicely put Niels along with all the other posts on here - it is interesting about all of the different views on this thread.

A variety of ways to learn about birds is needed for a new birding experience.

Writing a bit of a description does put ones mind to rest, if you cannot get the species first time around (otherwise it haunts you in your sleep LOL) :cat:

Regards
Kathy
x

I went on a guided birding weekend in the Dungeness area around 18 months ago, when I was still pretty new to this birding lark. And I was amazed at how our guide was picking out different species based on a quick fly-past but also on sound. I asked how he did it and it basically boiled down to experience. He knew his patch inside out but had also been birding for a long time.

Since that trip I have noticed my own birding come on a lot. I have made a great effort to get out around my patch regularly, taking in different environments too to become more familiar with waders, gulls, passerines etc. Even then I carry a small field guide, just to have as a reference if I need it. I back that up with bins and camera, always looking to get an ID shot if I am not sure what a bird is so I can take a more detailed look at home.

I also uploaded a couple of CDs of birdsong/calls to my laptop and mixed that into my music library so that when I am listening to "music" at work I get regular birdsong in there too and often bring up the player app to check what the bird is. But that's happening less and less often these days as I start to learn more calls & songs.

I'm not one for reading field guides per se. If I see something unexpected - a Black Headed Gull in breeding plumage deep into winter, for example - I will check with the field guide to learn why it's a Black Headed Gull and not a Mediterranean Gull, for example. The distinguishing features may not all sink at that point but I hope enough sticks so that next time I can build on what I have remembered.

I also find other birders to be a fantastic source of info. I don't actively go birding with others (except the missus) but at London WWT I often chat to others in the hides - see what they are on and what they have found. Most will quite happily share scopes (although I have my own) and point out birds as well as explaining why they are X and not Y or Z, as Andrea said above.

I view this as my homework, in some ways. Building up my experience so that when I go abroad and see new birds I can at least describe them in terms of something I am familiar with. It sounded like a <common bird> or looked like a <....> only bigger - that sort of thing. I try to get a local field guide or search the internet for what I can expect to see in a given location and use that as a basis for my foreign birding. I like to note cases where I might see several similar but non-identical birds (maybe Northern Wheater and Desert Wheatear, for example) and look for information on relative abundancy as well as distinguishing features. I can't do that for every family but I always try and build on what I know and learn a little more each time I go out.

I saw Marsh Harriers, Storks, Eagles before Warblers. They were easy to see - it surprised me when people said they had seen or heard Chiffchaff, Whitethroat etc - I could not see a thing in the bushes however, I became more patient, listened more and it became easier.

Sometimes it is just behaviour - a bird climbed up a rock face slowly flash of crimson and I knew it was a Wallcreeper from a fast moving bus.

A good field guide is essential, I ask on here before going somewhere because there are lots of not so good ones around. Also trawl the internet for your destination and get info on the best places to go. (See also information wanted and local patch sections). I use the bird identification forum as a good resource to practice before I go somewhere. If I feel confident enough I give it a go. I try to say why I think its A and not B and any corrections or points to note that are not in my field guides, I scribble into the relevant section. Some people are excellent in this respect and you can learn a lot just by reading threads.
When in a new environment, I take a lot of photos and carry a field guide in the car, so between locations, I can quickly look up what I've photographed, if I'm not sure. GPS on the camera helps when I'm sorting later on. I try to go through my daily photos before falling asleep, so my lists are fairly up to date for the next leg.

The identification forum here is another good resource to learn/refresh id skills, and I regularly read these threads to learn some of the finer points of id-ing some birds.
Some are notoriously difficult and only experience can get you to the highest levels.
You will see the folk on the id threads who are excellent identifiers are those with wide and deep experience often in one particular part of the world - SE Asia, or Africa or South America eg.