The Cornell Lab Bird Academy › Discussion Groups › Joy of Birdwatching › Activities: Bird ID Practice
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Bird AcademyBird AcademyShare your experience participating in this lesson's activities. Comment on as many or as few activities as you'd like.You must be enrolled in the course to reply to this topic.
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On the BirdCams I was able to identify a Northern Cardinal and Black Capped Chickadee using their shape. I also identified 2 Northern Cardinals in my backyard. It is snowing and they stand out very brightly on the white snow.
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I was able to hike at the RBG and see a Hairy woodpecker and a Downy Woodpecker. I could identify them by the difference in size of the head/beak ratio. I was able to use the Merlin app to identify a Chickadee, Junco, and American tree sparrow. All have similar colour but on different parts of their body. The Woodpecker was on the tree boring holes into the tree; the Cardinal was hopping and the Junco was riding. The Veery is my favourite, and it can be described as Warm-colored thrush, with bright reddish-brown tones above, and white belly. Spots are concentrating on the upper breast. They have a beautiful song which is a cascading spiral of flute-like notes. They are found in a variety of wooded habitats, often liking wetter areas.
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Activity 1: Two birds in my neighborhood here in my south central Minnesota that look similar except for the shape of some of their body parts are the American Robin and Northern Cardinal. They are both the same size and both have red on them. The top of the Northern Cardinal’s head has a rather tall tuft of feathers. The feathers on the top of the American Robin’s head lie flat. The Northern Cardinal has a beak shaped like a rather short cone. The American Robin has a narrow, medium-length beak.
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Activity 4: I really enjoy birds, so it is hard to pick a favorite. But I think for the purpose of the topic, I will go with towhees. Where I live I have two species that live in the many different kinds of habitats that are near me. When it comes to shape and size, the two towhee species are the same. Although, one could argue that one of the towhee species could be described as a little taller than the other at times, but in general shape and size are similar. The same can also be said for their behavior of scratching in leaf litter to find food. So, when I am on a hike and I hear leaf litter being moved, I try to follow the sound to see which towhee it is, but most of the time they are hidden so I don't always know which species I am listening to unless they sing their respective songs. As for coloration and sound, the two towhees are very different. The colorations are very different and make them easy to tell apart. Since the two towhees in my area are very common, I have been able to know their songs so much so that I can identify them when I cannot see where they are. Both birds have a general song or "cheep" when they are going about their daily lives and a song when they are defending territory or looking for a female. However, the general cheeps and the longer songs are so different between the species that I can tell which one is near by when birding.
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I saw this pair of Canada Geese on the lake behind my house last July. I was wondering if you could give me your thoughts the female Mutant variant or a cross between a different species eg Snow goose?
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I have been doing a lot of birding along the sea shores of the Aleutian Chain in Alaska recently. As a relatively new birder I have encountered many challenges positively identifying birds in this environment for several reasons. One is obviously inexperience but the other is simply that many of the birds found here are so darned similar! After trying to dip my toes into gull identification I've learned that a much more extensive study of them in particular is needed. With plumage variations through the first three years of life and variation between summer and winter schemes I have decided to just account for the majority of gulls as "gull sp." in eBird until I am more confident. A struggle I feel I have been able to overcome has been with Cormorants. During winter the Red Breasted and Pelagic Cormorants look very similar (both in nearly all dark black or deep blue green coloring) and their habitats are essentially the same. The field mark I have keyed in on which has helped me most is that the Pelagic has a thinner, straight, more uniformly dark colored bill. I have had other difficulties, there are a lot of duck species here at the moment but thankfully the plumage in male birds in particular has greatly aided me in differentiating them. Once I am able to positively identify the male I find that they are most often in the company of a female allowing me to observe both at the same time and provide mental notes on their identification independent of one another. It is a work in progress and I'm learning more every day.
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Very good
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I’m going to tell the tufted titmouse apart from the red breasted nuthatch. Both are common where I live in wooded suburbia in Upstate NY. Both are predominantly pale gray. The tufted titmouse is a little larger. The titmouse has white breast and underside with orange in the flanks. The red breasted nuthatch has more orange color on the breast as well as the flanks. Both have black on the crown but the titmouse has a characteristic crest on its head. Apart from their different markings, I think the shape could be helpful in distinguishing these two birds near my home.
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I've come to my love of birds through disability. I've used a power wheelchair for the past 5 years because of progressive MS. I no longer work or walk but I can observe and appreciate. Perfect for birding. My favourite bird is the female cardinal. She is understated, beautiful but muted. Though considered 'drab' underneath her wings she is deep red. She likes to indulge. I put out grape jelly in the spring for the migrating orioles and she is the only other bird who partakes. And her bright orange lipstick, always on, never smudged even after kissing her partner. I have a birdhouse with a camera in it and there has been female woodpecker roosting in it for the past couple of months. She spends a good 15 minutes preening at night and in the morning. A Downey, I think? I'm using colour (a lack of it) to know that she is female. Any thoughts?
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How cool to have a woodpecker in your backyard! You must live in the east. I agree that it looks like a Downy. I moved here to California 25 years ago and was so disappointed that I lost the diversity of the birds that visited my previous feeders. Now I’m enjoying hummingbirds.
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Activity 4: My favorite bird that I see at my feeder every day is a cardinal. I have always grown up seeing them and have two mated pairs who have also brought their many fledglings to feast on the sunflower seeds I leave out. The distinctive features I use to identify them are the males bright red plumage and black crown around the face and the females brownish red color. For size and shape, they are bigger than a sparrow but smaller than a robin. I live in the Eastern part of the United States in an urban environment, however, my neighborhood has a small woodland that I believe helps to foster the bird population.
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Activity 1: A Mourning Dove and a Cardinal are easy to distinguish based on several features, such as their bill (Cardinals have a conical shaped bill, where Mourning Doves have a longer, thinner bill), head shape (Mourning Doves have a round head with a large "forehead" and Cardinals have a shorter "forehead"), size, and body shape (Mourning Doves tend to be rounder when sitting). Activity 2: A Common Grackle, a Red-winged Blackbird, and a European Starling are all mainly black birds. It's fairly easy to tell them apart because the Red-winged Blackbird has a reddish-orange spot on each wing, the European Starling has white spots on its beautifully iridescent feathers and their bill turns yellow in summer, and the Common Grackle appears to be solid black until you see it just right in the sunlight when the iridescence of its feathers appear and they have a white ring around their eyes. Activity 4: The Blue Jay is my favorite bird. The various blue colors of their feathers are stunning. They have such unique calls and it's fun to hear them chatter at the feeder. They swoop down to grab in-shell peanuts when I put them out.
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(1) Merlin is my go-to. I have a difficult time with the female grosbeak and the purple finch; only way I can identify them is by size. The indigo bunting and the bluebird are only similar in color but not in size or shape. (2) The hairy and the downy woodpeckers can be identified by size of beak and tail feathers but if seen separately they can be difficult, side by side is much easier. The red-headed and the red-bellied are beautiful woodpeckers. Both have red heads but the red head has an entire red head and the red bellied has a red head and a redish belly. (3) Too hot for feeders. Most of my feeders are empty due to it being summer-time. Natural food is better for the birds. But water is essential. The bird baths contain various sparrows; field sparrow, white-throated sparrow, song sparrow and, of course, the house sparrow, goldfinches, one female grosbeak, one male cardinal, carolina wren, and a mockingbird for today's visitors. (4) I have many favorites in the bird world. Birds of Prey overall are at the top of the list: Barred owls, Great Horned owls, Barn owls, and the little screech owl and kestrel. But the wood thrush, the woodpeckers, the great crested flycatcher (nesting on my daughter's porch on her farm) the bobwhite quail, and of course, all the warblers are also favorites. If I need to describe one, I'll pick the Barn Owl. Rehabilitating hawks and owls through college I had the privilege to care for and finally release six Barn owls. Due to an old barn being torn down, I was brought six eyases (from one day old to a week or more old). Cutting up mice, hand feeding, and then eventually using falconry techniques to teach how to hunt was an amazing opportunity. Our breezeway became a flight area. Each barn owl was unique. Their gentleness directed at me with their needle-point white talons and beak as they accepted first cut-up mice and then whole mice was humbling. It is hard not to anthropomorphize for the owls all had distinct personalities. We so underrate our wildlife. Barn owls are golden feathered white-faced silent hunters. Their patient ability to hear a mouse hidden in the leaves and strike silently is perfect for survival.
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1. A Tufted Titmouse looks something like a White-Breasted Nuthatch, but the titmouse has a crest. (Also, the nuthatch tends to move with its head downward.) 2. I realized I only have two birds on my (very short) life list that are partly blue: Blue Jay (blue on top, white underneath) and Indigo Bunting (blue all over except for wings). Both males, of course; the females are duller-colored. I have also seen Great Blue Herons, but they always seem more gray than blue. I would love to see an Eastern Bluebird, and Merlin said I may have heard one this morning, but I think you have to provide a nesting box for them. I don’t think they come to the feeders. 3. Robin: eats worms and insects from the ground Goldfinch: eats thistle seed from feeder Hummingbird: drinks nectar from flowers or feeder. 4. Red-winged Blackbird: size: crow; colors: black with orange-red and yellow stripes on its wings; behavior: nests early in Spring; seems bossy; sound: raucous cry.
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I quite enjoyed this lesson. I teach birds to my 5th grade class in SC so I am taking this course to help myself better understand birds. I especially liked the part about size using the 4 benchmark birds as a guide...sparrow, robin, crow, and goose. The color markings are very interesting to me as well.
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Just wrote this but somehow I lost the connection. this was a great chapter! I have been able to study and know instantly now the difference between my summer tanager and the cardinals in my yard. Also I have all 3 woodpeckers this summer - Downy, Red bellied and Red headed. mostly I see the red bellied but all 3 visit me regularly!! Thank heavens for Merlin because the song always verifies my visual identifications. Thank you!!
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Wow - I love this program, and this corse was awesome for its detailed info., the activities helped deepen the experience & aid the in remembering. Thank you 🙏🏼
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Activity 4: A bird I have been intrigued by recently is the Barn Swallow. Size and shape: The barn swallow is a small bird a bit larger than a sparrow. It can be identified in flight by its forked tail. Color pattern and markings: The barn swallows head and back is a dark blue color. It has an orange check with some white on it. Behavior: I often see the barn swallow swooping over the water to eat bugs on the surface. It is a fast bird that often dives toward the water. Habitat and range: I have seen the barn swallow in wetlands, flying over water, and flying near barns where it sometimes nests. Sounds: I have not found its sounds to be particularly distinctive. It appear to make a series of rather chaotic chirps.
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Activity 3: Three food gathering behaviors that I have seen recently are: 1. The Canada Goose tips sideways in the water to eat water plants and fish under the water. 2. The Downy Woodpecker stands on the side of dead trees to forage for insects in the dead tree trunk. 3. The American Robin hops around on the grass to pull up worms an insects from the dirt.
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Activity 2: Three birds that have the same colors but different markings include the Common Yellowthroat, the Yellow Warbler, and the American Goldfinch. The Common Yellowthroat has a yellow breast and black mask, the Yellow Warbler is yellow all over with the exception some black on the wing feathers below, and the American Goldfinch also has a yellow breast, and black cap and wings.
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Activity 1: Two birds that I can tell apart are the Sandhill Crane and the Great Blue Heron. Both birds are large, have long necks and legs, and wade in the water. It can be difficult to tell them apart when flying. I have realized, however, that the Sandhill Crane above has a straighter neck while the Great Blue Heron's neck is more of an S-shape. While the Sandhill Crane's neck has some curvature while wade it is less pronounced than the Great Blue Heron.
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Activity 2 Find 3 birds that have the same color on different parts of their body. I chose to use red. 1. The Red-bellied Woodpecker, despite its name does not have a red belly. It has a bright red stripe on the top and back of its head. 2. The Red Winged Blackbird has a bright red bar across the top of each of its wings, with a yellow bar directly below it. The rest of the body is black. 3. The House Finch has a red head. The rest of its body is predominately brown. 4. I have to add the male Northern Cardinal which is almost all red with black accents mainly around the eyes and beak. Activity 1 Identify 2 birds you can tell apart just by shape. The female cardinal and the House Finch are both birds that are predominately brown with red markings. However, the cardinal is a bit bigger and has a crest and a bit longer tail. The House Finch has no crest and is a rounder bird.
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We come to Belgium for a vacation and I have been using food gathering and habitat to help with identification. When arriving I saw the common cuckoo hovering over a grassing area in the airport. It then dove into the grass for food. I watched many Eurasian Jackdaws foraging on the ground, and I saw an Eurasian blackbird doing the same. The Jackdaws and Blackbirds looked very similar except for the color of the beak.
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Activity 2: This morning I found 3 birds with the color red. A Robin with a red breast, a House Sparrow with red on his head, and a House Finch with red on his head & chest.
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Activity 1: Cormorants & Gulls together on a rock on a foggy day. It is easy to distinguish the cormorants from the gulls by shape. The cormorant is slim with longer neck & beak. The gulls are more compact with larger head & rounder body. It's not as easy to distinguish one type of gull from another. According to Merlin there are Herring Gulls, Great Black-Backed Gulls & nearby were some Laughing Gulls.
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