New to birding? Here is some help!
A note from Olivia:
Hello soon-to-be birders!
We are excited to have so much interest from folks who are new to birding! I’ve compiled a short list of resources for you to get started. SCROLL DOWN to check out the list of resources if you don’t want to read my monologue. 🙂
First, a few tips. The best advice I’ve stumbled upon for new birders is to start by just observing birds for a few minutes each day. Take a few moments this afternoon and just watch one or two birds from your window or backyard. Note their size, shape, and color. Are they big or small? Do they look like a bird you’ve read about or seen illustrated in a children’s book? Are they the same color from crown to tail or is there some pattern to their coloration? How are they behaving? Are they in a tree or on the ground? Are they moving up a tree or down a tree? You might never have noticed so much about a bird before, but these are exactly the characteristics you’ll need to start noticing to learn how to identify birds.
Second, be curious. There is a wealth of free, online resources to explore. Google “learn how to identify birds” to find dozens of articles full of advice from those who have made birding a life-long hobby. Search for “common backyard bird species in the Pacific Northwest” and you’ll soon be inundated with pictures and descriptions of the birds you are most likely to see during your surveys. The more you practice observing and the more time you spend looking at pictures of birds, the sooner you’ll start to notice differences between species.
Third, be patient — both with the birds and yourself. Birds have a tendency to move quickly out of sight just when you get excited that you’ve seen something new. The good news is that if you’re quiet and don’t spook them, they might come back and you’ll have another chance to add a lifer to your list! And sometimes you just won’t get an ID. That’s fine. It happens to the best of us.
Finally, while you are certainly not required to do so, consider investing in some gear. If you do not already have a field guide to birds, I would personally recommend The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. There are also many great online resources available for free, such as the Merlin Bird ID app. Binoculars are also useful when birding in order to observe field marks that are difficult to see at a distance. I have a wonderful pair I bought for just $30. They’re perfect for backyard birding. The staff at the Seattle Audubon Nature Shop are absolutely fantastic and will help you find the field guides and optics that work for you if and when you’re ready to buy gear.
Hope that helps! Happy birding! Please reach out if you have any follow-up questions.
Sincerely,
Olivia
Resources for beginner birders:
All About Birds is a fantastic website full of information about birds found in the U.S. and Canada. Here is a great primer on the site on how to start identifying groups of birds using size, shape, color, behavior, and habitat: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/building-skills-the-4-keys-to-bird-identification/
This presentation from the UBC Birding Club includes a great overview of groups of birds. Start at slide 16: https://ubcbirdingclub.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/birding-101.pdf
The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources posted a great guide to the field marks that can be used to identify species within groups. Learning the different marks (e.g. eye ring, wing bar) is useful when discussing the birds you’ve seen with others to determine species: http://www.wvdnr.gov/publications/PDFFiles/birdbrochure2.pdf
Here is a great guide to birds you are likely to see at your feeder during the wintertime or year round. Change the “winter region” to Northwest: https://feederwatch.org/learn/common-feeder-birds/
Here are a couple of fun lesson plans we found with more information about field marks and bird behavior:
http://www.klamathbirdingtrails.com/pdf/craterlake/plan-cl-birdidexperts.pdf
This a reference guide put together by Lane Community College. There’s a lot of great info in here about birds generally if you want to learn more about this group of animals, but there are also pictures and descriptions of common backyard birds in the PNW. That starts on page 8: https://www.lanecc.edu/sites/default/files/sustainability/bird_reference_guide.pdf
If you’re really getting into this and you want to start learning how to identify birds by ear, here is a good guide for getting started: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/how-to-learn-bird-songs-and-calls/?pid=1059
We highly recommend searching for videos of birds you see in your backyard on YouTube to watch clips of them calling and singing. There are also CDs of PNW birds if you can get a copy from your local library to listen to. Learning bird calls is like learning any other song — if you listen to it a lot, you’ll learn the lyrics, and know the artist! You can also learn bird song using the app Larkwire: https://www.larkwire.com/ (Note that this app isn’t free.)
Merlin Bird ID is an amazing, free bird ID app that can help birders identify birds in the field: https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/
Finally, here is a short list of the species that you are likely to see in urban and suburban neighborhoods in the PNW. Focus on learning the ones in bold font. If you search for them in All About Birds (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/) or Bird Web (http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/) you’ll find lots of pictures and videos!
Finches: House Finch, American Goldfinch
Sparrows: House Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow
Kinglets: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet
Warblers: Townsend’s Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler
Wrens: Bewick’s Wren
Thrushes: American Robin
Woodpeckers: Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated
Woodpecker, Northern Flicker
Hummingbirds: Anna’s Hummingbird, Rufous Hummingbird
Chickadees: Black-capped Chickadee, Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Treecreepers: Brown Creeper
Swallows: Violet-green Swallow
Juncos: Dark-eyed Junco
Bushtits: American Bushtit
Towhees: Spotted Towhee
Waxwings: Cedar Waxwing
Starlings: European Starling
Pigeons: Rock Pigeon
Nuthatches: Red-breasted Nuthatch
Corvids: American Crow, Steller’s Jay
Notes on commonly misidentified species, from eBird regional reviewer Dave Slager:
Purple Finch: Relatively rare in urban and suburban habitats, where House Finch is very common. Note that male House Finches have purple coloration. (Olivia adds that male House Finches may have red or purple coloration, which is somewhat dependent on lighting.)
Western Gull: Pure Western Gulls are rare in Seattle. New observers should use Western/Glaucous-winged Gull when reporting the large gulls common in the Puget Sound, or “gull sp.” if they are not able to confidently get it to Western/Glaucous-winged type.
Ring-billed Gull: This species tends to be rare at saltwater locations, and seldom occurs at more than a few at a time in Seattle. A common confusion species is Mew Gull. Also be aware that immature gulls of various species can show a ring around the bill. Gulls are difficult; when in doubt, use “gull sp.” (Olivia adds that she still can’t identify gulls in the PNW to species.)
Sharp-shinned Hawk: This species is quite rare in Seattle. Cooper’s Hawk is common, and male Cooper’s Hawks are much smaller than females and approach the size of Sharp-shinned.
Northern Harrier: Rare in Seattle area. Many observers confuse this with Cooper’s Hawk, which is common and can also show white near the rump in some flight postures.
Greater Scaup: This species is rare at most of the frequently birded locations in Seattle, and Lesser is much more common. When in doubt use Greater/Lesser Scaup.
Canada Goose: Birds in pairs or small groups along ponds and waterways are likely Canada Geese. Large flocks of dozens or more birds flying over in migration are likely Cackling Geese, a recent split. When in doubt, use Cackling/Canada Goose or goose sp.
Golden Eagle: This is very rare in Seattle. Some ages of immature Bald Eagles lack white in the head and tail. (Olivia recommends looking up pictures of juvenile Bald Eagles for reference.)
Hairy Woodpecker: Generally only occurs in our largest forested parks, and even there is much less common than Downy Woodpecker.
Hutton’s Vireo: Greatly outnumbered during April and early May by the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, with which it is often confused. Generally only occurs in forest.
White-breasted Nuthatch: The Seattle metro area is outside of the range of this species.
If you’re a beginner birder, know that you should only report species that you are confident you observed to eBird. While you are building up your birding skills, you can always report groups of birds (i.e. sparrow species, hummingbird species, etc.) instead of specific species.