My husband and I have been birding seriously for almost 10 years now. By seriously, I mean: travel, sometimes to foreign countries, specifically for birding; maintaining and caring about various lists; birding every day — my husband, if not me, has birdied every single day for the last 3 years; etc.
However, my husband still has a hard time ID’ing birds. Up until yesterday, I just kept biting my tongue and reminding him (more or less patiently) about fieldmarks and what species are expected for the place, season, time of day etc. But last night, he asked me point blank why I am “so good at ID’s” (I don’t think I am, I think I am merely normally competent) and how he could get better at it. I told him that actually studying the expected birds ahead of time would help him. I also suggested always trying to make an ID in the field, instead of relying on me, or taking a photo and attempting to ID it later, or relying on some bird ID app. So, instead of saying: “I see a bird. It’s there ...,” he actually make a stab at the ID. However, I don’t think this last piece of advice is going to help that much, because he does indeed often try to call a bird in the field, but doesn’t always have a lot of success with it. I also suggested studying bird anatomy (more than he already has) and when he doesn’t know what a bird is, write down the description of what he sees and then try to look it up in the guide book. I think writing it down might help him form more of a memory of the bird.
He does get our common, easily identifiable birds (like Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Northern Parula, etc., etc.), but he has a horrible time with sparrows, with warblers when they are only partially seen, any drab songbirds, shorebirds, uncommon & unexpected birds, etc.) and sometimes he makes huge mistakes that I just cannot fathom. The last biggie was mistaking a American Black Duck for an American Flamingo. Yeah, the bird was pretty distant, but still, how does one do that? My husband, scanning the horizon (at a local wildlife refuge where a flamingo has been reported): “I see it!!! I have it!!! It’s over there!!! (long description as to where the flamingo supposedly is). I don’t see it. He keeps insisting, then qualifies: “It’s really dark!” Me: “You mean really dark pink!” Him: “No, dark dark. Just really dark.” I am still scanning an not seeing the flamingo and he says: “And it’s really, really tucked in and it’s like really small.... oh, wait ... I think it’s a Black Duck. Sorry.” I mean, WTF?
The most recent ID fail was less outrageous and perhaps more indicative of where the problem lies. We were looking for sparrows this past weekend and seeing a lot of Swamp Sparrows (a common sparrow here). I was hoping for something a little more interesting when I heard my husband say that he had a White-throated Sparrow. I was skeptical since the habitat wasn’t great for WTSP and they are rare where we were looking (we had been looking for them the previous weekend a couple of hours North of us where they are not rare). He got me on his bird and I told him it was another Swamp Sparrow. Then a few minutes later, he came back to where I was and said that he had gotten a shot of what he thought was a real White-throated Sparrow. I looked at the phot and told him he just had another Swamp Sparrow again. Him: “But it has a white throat!” So, I explained the difference between SWSP and WTSP, emphasizing that the WTSP is a much larger, chunkier sparrow than the SWSP, discussing the different field marks, distribution, etc.
He also has a hard time describing a mystery bird he has just seen. My favorite, I think, was: “It was a really interesting-looking blue, green and yellow-striped bird.” I had no clue, but it turned out to be Blue-headed Vireo. (To my husband’s credit, he can ID Blue-headed Vireos now.)
I could go on, but I think you get the picture. I am really at a loss. My husband loves birding, has been birding seriously for 10 years, is incredibly intelligent (has an international reputation in theoretical computer science, got his doctorate at the best program in the US, etc., etc.)
I think the problem is actually partly motivation. He says he loves birding, but I think he mainly loves photography, listing and being out in the field with me and other friends. I just don’t think he has a natural interest in ID’s but won’t admit he doesn’t really care. Well, he cares somewhat because he doesn’t like feeling embarrassed when he doesn’t know what he’s seeing. Also, I know that when I first started out, I wanted to learn how to ID everything because that was the only way I’d even get the bird. I didn’t go out with a camera and frequently went by myself, so I didnt really know the difference between a Swamp Sparrow and a Lincoln’s Sparrow, say, I would never get a Lincoln‘s (not saying that I never made mistakes, but I tried really hard not to). And he doesn’t have this motivation, because he has me to tell him what everything is, plus if I’m not there, he can just get a shot and look the ID up later (or ask me later).
And finally, I have to admit that I would like him to get better at ID’s in the field. There is little more frustrating than chasing a rarity onl to waste time having him try to get me on mystery birds that he thinks are interesting and promising, but quite often turn out not to be ....
So, advice?
However, my husband still has a hard time ID’ing birds. Up until yesterday, I just kept biting my tongue and reminding him (more or less patiently) about fieldmarks and what species are expected for the place, season, time of day etc. But last night, he asked me point blank why I am “so good at ID’s” (I don’t think I am, I think I am merely normally competent) and how he could get better at it. I told him that actually studying the expected birds ahead of time would help him. I also suggested always trying to make an ID in the field, instead of relying on me, or taking a photo and attempting to ID it later, or relying on some bird ID app. So, instead of saying: “I see a bird. It’s there ...,” he actually make a stab at the ID. However, I don’t think this last piece of advice is going to help that much, because he does indeed often try to call a bird in the field, but doesn’t always have a lot of success with it. I also suggested studying bird anatomy (more than he already has) and when he doesn’t know what a bird is, write down the description of what he sees and then try to look it up in the guide book. I think writing it down might help him form more of a memory of the bird.
He does get our common, easily identifiable birds (like Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Northern Parula, etc., etc.), but he has a horrible time with sparrows, with warblers when they are only partially seen, any drab songbirds, shorebirds, uncommon & unexpected birds, etc.) and sometimes he makes huge mistakes that I just cannot fathom. The last biggie was mistaking a American Black Duck for an American Flamingo. Yeah, the bird was pretty distant, but still, how does one do that? My husband, scanning the horizon (at a local wildlife refuge where a flamingo has been reported): “I see it!!! I have it!!! It’s over there!!! (long description as to where the flamingo supposedly is). I don’t see it. He keeps insisting, then qualifies: “It’s really dark!” Me: “You mean really dark pink!” Him: “No, dark dark. Just really dark.” I am still scanning an not seeing the flamingo and he says: “And it’s really, really tucked in and it’s like really small.... oh, wait ... I think it’s a Black Duck. Sorry.” I mean, WTF?
The most recent ID fail was less outrageous and perhaps more indicative of where the problem lies. We were looking for sparrows this past weekend and seeing a lot of Swamp Sparrows (a common sparrow here). I was hoping for something a little more interesting when I heard my husband say that he had a White-throated Sparrow. I was skeptical since the habitat wasn’t great for WTSP and they are rare where we were looking (we had been looking for them the previous weekend a couple of hours North of us where they are not rare). He got me on his bird and I told him it was another Swamp Sparrow. Then a few minutes later, he came back to where I was and said that he had gotten a shot of what he thought was a real White-throated Sparrow. I looked at the phot and told him he just had another Swamp Sparrow again. Him: “But it has a white throat!” So, I explained the difference between SWSP and WTSP, emphasizing that the WTSP is a much larger, chunkier sparrow than the SWSP, discussing the different field marks, distribution, etc.
He also has a hard time describing a mystery bird he has just seen. My favorite, I think, was: “It was a really interesting-looking blue, green and yellow-striped bird.” I had no clue, but it turned out to be Blue-headed Vireo. (To my husband’s credit, he can ID Blue-headed Vireos now.)
I could go on, but I think you get the picture. I am really at a loss. My husband loves birding, has been birding seriously for 10 years, is incredibly intelligent (has an international reputation in theoretical computer science, got his doctorate at the best program in the US, etc., etc.)
I think the problem is actually partly motivation. He says he loves birding, but I think he mainly loves photography, listing and being out in the field with me and other friends. I just don’t think he has a natural interest in ID’s but won’t admit he doesn’t really care. Well, he cares somewhat because he doesn’t like feeling embarrassed when he doesn’t know what he’s seeing. Also, I know that when I first started out, I wanted to learn how to ID everything because that was the only way I’d even get the bird. I didn’t go out with a camera and frequently went by myself, so I didnt really know the difference between a Swamp Sparrow and a Lincoln’s Sparrow, say, I would never get a Lincoln‘s (not saying that I never made mistakes, but I tried really hard not to). And he doesn’t have this motivation, because he has me to tell him what everything is, plus if I’m not there, he can just get a shot and look the ID up later (or ask me later).
And finally, I have to admit that I would like him to get better at ID’s in the field. There is little more frustrating than chasing a rarity onl to waste time having him try to get me on mystery birds that he thinks are interesting and promising, but quite often turn out not to be ....
So, advice?