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Learning ID and calls (1 Viewer)

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Scholesy86

Member
Hi everybody,

This is obviously something all new birders, and some older ones, have trouble with, so I figured I would throw it out there.

While my ID skills tend to be quite good with the regular/common birds, my ID skills of species I hardly ever see are poor at best. The chances to see things like waders and seabirds are few and far between, due to living in the West Midlands and being extremely busy (which means when they do drop in I rarely get to go see them). However, I want to get my ID skills up to scratch so that when something uncommon does drop in, or if I manage to get to the coast (or wetland), I can readily ID the things I see.

The main question is, with the possibility of learning in the field out of the question, what is the best way to learn to ID birds and learn their songs?

Is it a case of sitting with the Collins guide for hours on end? Going through pics and video online? Using the birdguides app to learn songs?

What have you used to learn to ID things you might not see on a regular basis?

Scholesy
 
I think it would be very hard to quickly learn all the bird calls that might encounter (I imagine it takes a lifetime)
I was told to learn the calls for the birds that are common in my area, then anything you don't recognise must be a new/interesting bird.
Possibly not what you wanted to hear but I can't think of a better way to learn than out in the field as you are less likely to be distracted.
Second to that learning the calls via a CD/App/Web download might work for some people but whenever I am inside I get pestered like mad with the phone/wife/kids etc


Good luck

Mike
 
As far as it works for me, the secret, is no secret. Get a good book, look at the common species, and I mean really look. Try and sex/age everything and then when you see something out of the ordinary you can rule out loads of things. You should also by this point have a rough idea of what family or group the mystery bird belongs to, so id shouldn't be too hard. (it will be though!) Learn the basic topography of birds, so that when the description says 'pale lores' for example, you know what your looking for. Go out with more experienced birders, you can learn a lot from them, but don't be afraid to question their ids, even if it's only to ask why? I remember asking why the bird everyone was watching wasn't a Reed Warbler at a Blyths Reed twitch once, and it turned out everyone was watching the wrong bird! I'd done my homework and wasn't just going to blindly accept that the bird was what I'd been told it was.

With regards birdsong, try to locate every bird you hear calling and id it. If possible try to record the song and I found that using a sonogram program on my PC really helped me so I could see what I was hearing.

It worked for me, but I'm sure everyone has different opinions.

Jim

PS Remember we're all still learning, don't trust over confidence. You only have to look at the collared fly thread in the rare birds forum to see that it never gets easy!
 
I can recognise the common birds, all the common summer warblers and woodland migrants, so I know when something isn't something I already know. It's just the birds where I cant rule anything out straight away due to lack of experience seeing any of the family. So for example, if I went to Cornwall next August, what would be the best way to prepare for some seawatching? Or if I went to Norfolk over winter, how would I learn to ID the waders there?
 
Seawatching is a toughy. Getting onto the same bird others are watching, or vice versa, is notoriously difficult, and I'm yet to find an easy way. The great book 'Flight identification of european sea birds' helped me no end, I can't recommed it enough. Most seawatchers will tell you of how many 'probable's they've had. It can be really hard to say for certain what a bird a mile out to sea is, but when you get good views of good seabird passage you'll remember it for ever.

Jim

PS The Sound Approach to Birding is the best book for understanding bird vocalisiaton. I forgot to mention it in my last post.
 
Scholesy86 said:
I can recognise the common birds, all the common summer warblers and woodland migrants, so I know when something isn't something I already know. It's just the birds where I cant rule anything out straight away due to lack of experience seeing any of the family. So for example, if I went to Cornwall next August, what would be the best way to prepare for some seawatching? Or if I went to Norfolk over winter, how would I learn to ID the waders there?
Click to expand...

In my opinion it is just a case of putting yourself in these circumstances, and learning slowly each time. Talk to people you meet, ask them questions and pick their brains every time you get the chance.There is no fast track to birding, experience is everything. I also live in the midlands, so Skuas, Terns etc are few and far between, but slowly you will get there...enjoy the process.
 
Looking in field guides and trawling the web for images will help. If you are looking for particular groups of birds (e.g. sea watching and waders) you can gen up quite adequately. Getting a decent CD of bird sounds is also good. Nothing though will replace time spent in the field with the Collins guide.

Sea watching is a difficult one to learn. You just have to give it a go and accept that on the first few tries you will not get onto everything and not be able to identify every bird that flies past. Finding someone to go with who can point out and identify birds to help will be invaluable. The good thing is there are not that many species to choose between and once you can eg identify gannets in various plumages as well as fulmars and manxies it will get easier.
 
With waders (and even some seabirds) you can trawl through the threads through on this id subforum, and see if you can identify the birds before reading the answer(s) given. Kind of like a quiz. If you're really lucky, there may even be some id pointers in the threads ( ;) ).

Jizz, structure, comparitive sizes etc can all be seen in pics (sometimes useful if there is a series of them), although of course not a substitute for the real thing. Try using the search function, but I think I've done it here already (waders) ;

http://www.birdforum.net/search.php?searchid=9434975
 
My best tip would be to listen to bird calls and find their source. Thus you learn with experience. It makes it more interesting as you don't know what something is until you see it.
 
A friend of mine has lent my a copy (a copy copy, not a proper copy) of a bird song cd. It says the name is All the bird Songs of Britain and Europe, although whether that is correct or something he just called it I don't know. But it has 400 tracks on 4 cds and best of all doesn't have some bloke introducing each one, which would kind of ruin them for ID practice. It is just a case now of putting them on my Ipod and listening to them at home a few times with the tracklist in front of me. Then pressing shuffle, turning the screen away from me, having a guess at what it might be, then checking to see if I was right.

NNNNNOOOOOO!!!! Just put in the second CD to find it doesn't have the tracklist!!! Might be getting some practice in sooner than I thought.

Scholesy
 
Silverwolf said:
My best tip would be to listen to bird calls and find their source. Thus you learn with experience. It makes it more interesting as you don't know what something is until you see it.
Click to expand...

That's how I learn calls.

I first came to Cairns in 2007 from the UK and have learnt most of the calls of the local birds simply by spending time in the field, hearing a call, locating the bird making it, and it just seems to stick in my head. A few trickier similar sounding ones were sorted for me by experienced local birders, who pointed out the subtle differences. Going out with someone experienced who is keen and patient to help is a big plus.

I know some people have real problems with calls, but I think it really is about applying yourself, just as with learning other ID features.
 
chowchilla said:
That's how I learn calls.

I first came to Cairns in 2007 from the UK and have learnt most of the calls of the local birds simply by spending time in the field, hearing a call, locating the bird making it, and it just seems to stick in my head. A few trickier similar sounding ones were sorted for me by experienced local birders, who pointed out the subtle differences. Going out with someone experienced who is keen and patient to help is a big plus.

I know some people have real problems with calls, but I think it really is about applying yourself, just as with learning other ID features.
Click to expand...

Like I said, I can id the local common things and I learnt to do so in the way you said. I just wanted tips on how to be able to id things I dont usually see. Think I have it sorted now though with the CDs and the Collins guide. Might get a trip to the continent sorted as well in the near future.
 
I'm still struggling trying to tell our local species apart by their calls/songs, so I haven't even tried listening to rarer species. Think I would just get confused.
Seeing them is another thing entirely (for me). I was able to id my very first Sanderling (not very common here) just because I'd studied the Collins guide so much... not really actively trying to learn anything, just paging through it so many times I think I know it by heart. ;) So when I first laid eyes on the little thing amongst all the Dunlin my first thought wasn't "hey, what's that?" but "hey, that looks just like the Sanderling in the Collins guide!". And it was! Very nice feeling.
I also like to look at the ID forum here and try to ID the birds in the pictures, and then see what other people say. Overall looking at pictures of birds and trying to ID it before you look at the text explaining what it is is a great way of learning, especially if the pictures show birds in different moult, angles, age, light and so on.
 
Scholesy86 said:
Like I said, I can id the local common things and I learnt to do so in the way you said. I just wanted tips on how to be able to id things I dont usually see. Think I have it sorted now though with the CDs and the Collins guide. Might get a trip to the continent sorted as well in the near future.
Click to expand...
If you have something more unusual then your knowledge of the commoner stuff will rule out a lot of birds straight away. It may still simply be a case of trying to see what's calling. I guess what I was trying to say before is that I usually only have to hear a bird once and I remember it. I'm aware this doesn't happen for everyone.
 
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