Identifying Birds in Your Yard

No more blanks on birds

It can be frustrating when you look out of your window and see a bird that you don't recognize. The feeling can bother you for the rest of the day and send you flying to books and the Internet, trying to find out what the bird is. There are ways to easily identify common backyard birds without breaking your brain. It can also be a fun way to spend an afternoon with children.

There are five ways to identify a bird in your backyard. They include:

• Field guides - a good field guide won't only give you tips on what the bird looks like; it will also provide information on its nesting, feeding and migratory habits. Field guides include maps so that you can track what birds will be in your region at what time.
• Physical characteristics of the bird - color, size, bill shape and its legs and feet will tell you a lot about what kind of bird you're looking at. A bird with red on it could be a robin or cardinal. A bird with flat feet could be a duck. A curved bill could mean a hawk. Your field guide can tell you the characteristics of the common birds that you're looking at.
• Song - what does the bird sound like? Many Internet sites include wav files of common birdsongs that you might hear. Often, you can hear a bird long before you can see it.
• Food that the bird is eating - if it's at your feeder, what kind of food does it prefer? Finches will eat smaller seeds like Nyjer or thistle. Cardinals love sunflower seeds.
• Silhouette - every bird perches differently and when you can't see the characteristics of the bird, often you can tell what kind it might be by the way it perches. For example, members of the thrush family (robins and thrushes) perch horizontally, with their bodies parallel to the ground. Blue jays cling to feeders. Mourning doves ground-feed.

Remember, it helps to check your field guide for which birds live in your region at what time of year. If you find a bird that typically winters in Mexico at your feeder in December, then you might want to try another species. You can always call your local Audubon society for more information if you're confused.