![]() ![]() ![]() Diet, health, age, sex and season can all have an affect on color. A word of warning though, color can be deceptive. What color is it? - Always look for a pattern in the plumage and you will, of course, notice color.Is your bird solitary, coming to your yard by itself or is your bird gregarious, always turning up with other birds who look the same? If it comes with other birds is it a large number of birds, ten to twenty at a time or is it a small family group of two to five? How does it behave? - Is your bird always on the ground with other birds of the same size and appearance? Can it feed from your bird feeder by hanging on or does it have to wait underneath for what other birds drop? Does your bird prefer to fly from place to place or does it hop or walk? Does it prefer to perch on trees and bushes or does it like to investigate the undergrowth.Woodpeckers have beaks shaped like chisels that they can use to get into cacti and trees for food and to make a home. Hummingbirds have long probing beaks that they use to find nectar in tubular shaped flowers but they can also catch insects in flight. Verdins have sharp tweezer-shaped beaks for seizing insects from trees and plants. Finches have beaks made for cracking open seeds. What type of beak does it have? - Beaks are adapted to the type of food the birds prefer.What shape is it? - Does your bird have a fat body and short tail or is it slim with a long tail? Are the legs long or short, are the wings neatly folded against the body or do they project beyond.Field guides generally give the size of a bird from bill tip to tail tip. ![]() Once you know the size of that object you can judge the size of a bird in comparison. How big is it? - Find something in your yard that you can measure a plant plot, rock, maybe even a bird feeder.So here are a few tips to help you get started. Opening a field guide will give you somewhere around 900 birds to choose from and the task may seem daunting. Many people enjoy watching the birds in their back yard but have no idea how to go about identifying them. ![]()
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