Have you heard of eBird?
Well, you should have. Because it's the best thing ever. Seriously. (Read the New York Times article about it)
eBird is a citizen-science intiative from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to get birders across North America, (and now, the world!) to report their bird sightings and build a huge, detailed dataset of where and when birds are seen. Along with the many brilliant uses for this data for science, it's also a great help for wannabe birders like myself to identify and learn more about birds.
Well, you should have. Because it's the best thing ever. Seriously. (Read the New York Times article about it)
eBird is a citizen-science intiative from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to get birders across North America, (and now, the world!) to report their bird sightings and build a huge, detailed dataset of where and when birds are seen. Along with the many brilliant uses for this data for science, it's also a great help for wannabe birders like myself to identify and learn more about birds.
As a newcomer to North American birding (I previously worked in Scotland and New Zealand)- the sheer number of species to learn how to identify here is pretty daunting!
Luckily, there are a lot of great sources online for helping develop birding skills. Having only really started watching birds when I moved overseas, learning how to take advantage of broad categories to narrow down what an unknown bird might be, was a huge breakthrough for helping me improve my ability to recognize new species. Visually categorizing a bird based on relative size and shape, color patterns, behavior, and habitat are all steps in narrowing down what a streak of color flying past or foliage-obscured bird might be.
Luckily, there are a lot of great sources online for helping develop birding skills. Having only really started watching birds when I moved overseas, learning how to take advantage of broad categories to narrow down what an unknown bird might be, was a huge breakthrough for helping me improve my ability to recognize new species. Visually categorizing a bird based on relative size and shape, color patterns, behavior, and habitat are all steps in narrowing down what a streak of color flying past or foliage-obscured bird might be.
Knowing what birds to expect in an area at a given time is also big help in identifying a bird you don't know. Guidebooks have range maps for all species and online sources such as eBird can give you detailed information on where and when certain birds have been spotted in a certain area. I also use an app called 'BirdsEye' on my phone when I'm out and about- it has all of the eBird information including species information and audio clips of bird calls.
Just this morning, I was distracted from my work by a fast-moving raptor that flashed past my parent's apartment as it was mobbed by about 8 American crows. With only about 3 seconds of blurry viewing time, a glimpse of a barred-tail, somewhat pale underside and brownish streaky back, I quickly jumped online to determine what I'd seen.
First stop, a look at the eBird bar charts for NYC to see which species of hawk are spotted in the area at this time of the year. In November, the options were Sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper's hawk, Red-shouldered hawk and Red-tailed hawk. I knew it wasn't a Northern harrier already because I've seen them in California and it didn't have the characteristic white rump.
Just this morning, I was distracted from my work by a fast-moving raptor that flashed past my parent's apartment as it was mobbed by about 8 American crows. With only about 3 seconds of blurry viewing time, a glimpse of a barred-tail, somewhat pale underside and brownish streaky back, I quickly jumped online to determine what I'd seen.
First stop, a look at the eBird bar charts for NYC to see which species of hawk are spotted in the area at this time of the year. In November, the options were Sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper's hawk, Red-shouldered hawk and Red-tailed hawk. I knew it wasn't a Northern harrier already because I've seen them in California and it didn't have the characteristic white rump.
In my quick glimpse, the colors and tail barring weren't enough to tell me whether it was likely to be a Cooper's or Sharp-shinned hawk, two species that are notoriously difficult to tell apart. Luckily for me, I'd seen the bird flying amongst crows and based on it's relative size (about the same size as the crows) could safely say it's was a Cooper's hawk (220-410g). Crows weigh in at 320-620g and Sharp-shinned hawks are at a tiny 87-218g, which is roughly the size of a kestrel- and even smaller than the NZ falcons that I worked with previously.
Take a look at the 'life-history' tab for the Cooper's hawk, Sharp-shinned hawk and American Crow on the All About Birds website from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Here's a great image by Chuck Roberts- a juxtaposition of Sharp-shinned (left) and Cooper's hawk (right) on same fence (two separate images of immature birds on the same fence).
Take a look at the 'life-history' tab for the Cooper's hawk, Sharp-shinned hawk and American Crow on the All About Birds website from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Here's a great image by Chuck Roberts- a juxtaposition of Sharp-shinned (left) and Cooper's hawk (right) on same fence (two separate images of immature birds on the same fence).
Someday I aspire to be able to easily call out the names of birds as I wander down the street or go out birding with friends, but for now, I consider myself lucky to have a great guidebook and constant access to e-resources that make modern birding great.
This video, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Inside Birding series, has Jessie Barry and Chris Wood explaining how to use size and shape to determine which bird you're looking at. All of the videos in this series are great for learning birding basics.
[Side bar: I was lucky enough to meet these two awesome birders last week- they are incredibly nice people, have an amazing knowledge of birds, ecology and technology, and Chris is even good at imitating people's accents. Good storytelling and birding!]
This video, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Inside Birding series, has Jessie Barry and Chris Wood explaining how to use size and shape to determine which bird you're looking at. All of the videos in this series are great for learning birding basics.
[Side bar: I was lucky enough to meet these two awesome birders last week- they are incredibly nice people, have an amazing knowledge of birds, ecology and technology, and Chris is even good at imitating people's accents. Good storytelling and birding!]
Watch this space for a glimpse at a new and very exciting bird-ID app that Jessie Barry and the Lab of Ornithology are about to release!