Live Life Team
Watching birds is fascinating, but it is even more fascinating if you can identity their names. However, learning to identify a bird can also be frustrating.
A bird can be identified by its colour, habitat, size, location and behaviour. A bird’s song can also help you a lot with bird identification. Good bird spotters can identify birds that live deep in the swamp by hearing their song or their call.
Behaviour is not often the best way to identify a bird, but it can help confirm what you already suspect or narrow your choices. Raptorial birds at a distance of 2 to 3 miles can frequently be identified by behaviour alone. Raptors such as falcons, eagles and hawks each have their own pattern of gliding and flapping. Birders can frequently identify a bird long before they get close enough to see the colour or any features that can help them identify a bird. Examining a bird’s general shape and particular behaviour, such as the way it searches for food or pattern of flying would also be of big help.
Computer programmes are great tools for identifying birds. All you need to do is to enter a bird’s colour, size, sound and habitat. You will then see pictures of all the birds matching your description. Another tool that will help you with bird identification is a field guide. Field guides are books that have photos and descriptions of the birds. There are also many great books that can help you a lot in identifying birds, such as ‘How to identify Birds’ and ‘The Birder’s Handbook’.
