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Birding for the Curious
The Easiest Way for Anyone to Explore the Incredible Word of Birds
By Nate Swick, Robert Brandt Page Street Publishing Co.
Copyright © 2015 Nate Swick
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-62414-127-0
CHAPTER 1
Why Birds?
Talk to any birder or bird-watcher, and the answer to that question might be different for every individual. It can't be as simple as the fact that birds can fly, can it? Or their irrefutable link to dinosaurs? Or the subconscious lure of the cartoon characters adorning the TV shows and breakfast cereal boxes of our childhood? Whatever the draw, there's something to birds that has always fascinated people. It doesn't hurt that birds are truly everywhere present in our lives, in ways that we often take for granted. That is, until we decide to become clued-in to them.
From my own perspective, the most remarkable thing for a person new to bird-watching is the realization that incredible things are occurring all around, all the time. And until you know what to look for, you can be completely unaware of it all. The blackbirds in your yard in the spring are not the same ones in your yard in the winter. The robin at the park in New York might have been in Florida a day ago. The sandpipers chasing the waves at the beach in the summer might spend their winters dodging your vacationing doppelganger in Brazil. And every night in spring and fall, literally millions of birds are moving above your head, their direction depending on the season, and their image more or less invisible unless you were to train binoculars at the moon and watch the tiny specks passing in front of its face.
Bird-watching is a quest for the remarkable, the beautiful, the incredible. It's the closest thing many of us can get to becoming Sherlock Holmes or Indiana Jones for a few hours. Average birders have the ability to make discoveries, to contribute to science, to find meaning in a national park or a local landfill (though you may want to hold off a bit on that second one). You'll meet amazing people whose generosity of spirit and eagerness to spread the gospel of birding will consistently amaze you. Birding can take you to far-flung places, to parts of the world you'd never think of visiting if not for the birds there. Or it can make you more aware of the fascinating world in your own backyard. The birding world is big. There's a place for everybody in it.
At the very basic level, the one thing that makes birders different from non-birders is simply the ability to notice more. Fortunately, this isn't difficult to accomplish; it only requires a minor change of perspective, and this is possible no matter where you might live.
Activity 1: Looking Like a Birder
Every potential hobby has tools of the trade, and birding is no different. A birder will need a field guide or two, binoculars, a notebook, sketchpad, and a camera. But for the time being, none of that is really necessary. I'm not asking you to deck yourself out in a khaki vest and wide-brimmed hat just yet. What I mean by looking like a birder is learning to see like a birder. Use your senses to be aware of the natural activity surrounding you. Think about what motivates birds, and use that to focus your attention.
Like so many humans, birds are primarily motivated by two things, eating and breeding. They are easiest to discover when they're focusing on either of these things. Birds looking to eat go to places where they can find food. Birds looking to breed sing loudly and conspicuously in search of mates. Good places to bird-watch are places where they're doing both, but don't think that these need to be special places; they can be as simple as the bird feeder in your yard or a small pond in your neighborhood.
Here's how to get started:
1. Head outside and start listening for something, anything, that sounds "birdy," and track it down. Birds are most often heard before they're seen, so this is a good way to start. Try to be aware of the different types of sounds that you hear. The different sounds can be broken down into two broadly defined groups: songs and calls, and these sounds mean different things. Songs are often fluid and complex, but calls are short, simple, and inconspicuous.
2. Birds sing to attract mates or to designate a territory. They call to keep in contact with others of their own or other species. A singing bird will likely stay in the same place for an extended period of time, belting out a song. A calling bird may be moving along, out of sight, actively feeding or even flying over. Try to recognize what you are hearing, and use that knowledge to know where to look to see your quarry.
3. Look for places where food might be found. This can be a fruiting berry bush, a patch of mud attracting flies, or a flowering tree with buzzing insects. Birds will often be in these places, but the specific places where birds tend to congregate will change based on the time of year and what kind of birds they are. This will be covered in greater detail in Chapter 8.
4. Once you find an area with some bird activity, stop and attempt to get a good look at one or more of the birds you see. Identifying it is less important now. It's better to think about what it's doing, and how it's moving. Is it flitting around in the leaves? Is it creeping up or down a tree trunk? Does it flit its wings or bob its tail? Note its colors and patterns in broad strokes, and don't get too hung up on specifics just yet. Shape, color, and behavior are the important things to think about, once you want to begin identifying the birds you see. That's how you'll be able to tell a woodpecker (tree-trunk creeper, black-and-white pattern) from a kinglet (branch-tips, wing-flitter, small, plain) a sparrow (ground-hugging, streaky, thick bill) or a hawk (large, slow-movements, hooked bill).
5. Most birds in urban or suburban areas are pretty familiar with the actions of humans, so long as those humans are paying them no mind. Once you focus on the birds around you, they'll notice, and start acting a little warier. Slow, sidelong movements are better than walking directly up to them. Obscure your movements with trees and brush. You don't need to stalk or anything, but be conscious of how the birds are perceiving you. If they look alert — stretched out and quiet, stop for a bit and let them get adjusted before you move forward again.
The ability to enjoy and appreciate wild birds is a skill you can apply to any situation, wherever you are in the world. Wherever you go, there will be new birds, new birders, and new places to explore. For many bird-watchers, birding is an excuse to get outdoors, to see new things, or to challenge themselves. Being aware of the birds around you is like knowing a secret, one that will enrich your life in ways you may never have imagined.
Opening your eyes and beginning to pay attention to what is happening around you is the first step. Welcome. Now you're a birder.
CHAPTER 2
YOUR FIELD GUIDE TO FIELD GUIDES
The point at which you cross over from being a person who notices birds to being an "official" birder is the point at which you begin to try to identify the birds you see.
There are nearly a thousand species of birds on the official list for the United States and Canada, and trying to get your head around all those can seem to be a daunting task. But the truth of the matter is that, depending on where you live, ninety percent of the birds you see are going to be from a few dozen common species. Once you expend that little effort it takes to get a handle on those species, you'll have a good foundation on which to build your skill.
Knowing the basics is important for a few other reasons too. Identifying birds is an exercise in comparisons, and it's important to have a baseline so you have something to compare to. Saying a bird is small or red or brown is not as useful for identification as saying it's smaller than an American Robin or brighter red than a Summer Tanager. When birders talk to each other about identifying birds, this is the language they use, so getting familiar with it is a good idea. But how should you begin to learn those starter birds to which everything is compared? Get yourself a field guide.
Field Guides 101
A good field guide is the first piece of birding-specific equipment you'll want to get, and arguably the most important. Most bookstores have entire shelves devoted to field guides to North American birds. And with new titles coming out seemingly every year — every one trying to reinvent the wheel — it can seem overwhelming. Ultimately, though, this book diversity is a good thing for the birder. With so many options covering what is essentially the same information, an interested birder is more likely to find a guide that best speaks to him. Just about every title has its proponents and detractors, and it's a good idea to head to your local bookstore or bird supply store to flip through many of them to find the one you like best.
FIELD GUIDES WORTH CONSIDERING
1. The Sibley Guide to Birds: To many birders, this is the gold standard. Sibley's illustrations are true to life and show birds in a variety of angles and plumages. Sibley doesn't focus on details, putting a premium on patterns rather than individual feathers. The "big Sibley," around $40, features both eastern and western birds. You can get smaller guides limited to East or West for $20.
2. National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America: This is another favorite. Jon Dunn and Jonathan Alderford have managed to fit all the birds of the continental United States and Canada into a smaller package than the big Sibley. Multiple illustrators make for a more uneven style, but that's a minor point. This is the most complete guide out there. $30.
3. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America: Roger Tory Peterson is the father of American birding, and his field guide is still a favorite for many. I'm not as high on it as on the previous two, but many birders still swear by it. $27.
4. Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America: Kenn Kaufman is one of North America's finest field birders, and his guide is excellent for distilling the field marks and behaviors of birds into memorable phrases. This guide uses photos that have been "enhanced" to bring out important field marks, which some like but others find too strange. Definitely one of the better photo guides, however. $20.
5. ABA Field Guides: The new series of American Birding Association guides to individual states is a good bet for those overwhelmed by the options of a continent-wide guide. These books feature only the birds likely to be seen in a certain state, which is great if you live in one of those states. Currently, guides to New Jersey, Colorado, and Florida have been released, with New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Arizona, California, Texas, North Carolina, and others in production. $25 each.
A field guide is kind of an odd combination of science textbook and practical manual, but for the most part, the layout is pretty standard. Open to any random page and you're likely to see the right side devoted to illustrations or photographs of birds with important field marks noted or labeled and the left side offering relevant information, usually consisting of a map showing where a bird is present in different seasons and a short paragraph about important things to look for when identifying it like behavior or common vocalizations.
With limited space available, authors often use shorthand and jargon. Most guides include an extensive foreword section explaining how to use the book and some of the more confusing aspects, like bird-part terminology or whatever sort of gibberish the author has chosen to illustrate what bird vocalizations sound like. It's easy to overlook this part of a field guide, and most people will skip over it to get to the flashy pictures, but it often contains really useful information. Reading this part of the book often feels like eating your Brussels sprouts or flossing your teeth, but at the risk of sounding too much like your mom, it's good for you. You may not be at the point where you need or want to know the difference between tertials and coverts — heck, it's fine if you never get there — but it's good to know that both of those are parts of the wing. Knowing how to identify birds is about knowing what and where to look for things. Some of those things can be incredibly specific, so the more you know about where to look, the better off you'll be as your skills improve.
Photo vs. Illustration: The Great Debate
Some field guides use photos. Some use illustrations, either by one artist or many. The argument over which is better has been raging ever since cameras became advanced enough and ubiquitous enough to take high-quality photos of birds.
Some birders swear by illustrations because only an artist can capture the ideal representation of a given species or paint it in such a way as to emphasize characteristics that help identification and de-emphasize those that confuse.
Each individual bird is unique in the same way that each human being is, and a photo of one may not look like a photo of another of the same species. Photos are confusing, some say. But a photo can show a bird as it appears in the field, which is an obvious advantage because birds are living things that don't always perch the way they do in illustrated field guides — in perfect profile and with all relevant field marks observable — and a good picture taken by one photographer looks a lot like a good picture by another photographer. Photos also offer a continuity that isn't always available in books with several different illustrators, where one artist's style can make a bird look very different from the same species drawn by another artist.
The argument rages, and likely will never be settled because each point in favor of photos or illustrations has some truth to it. It ultimately comes down to the preference of the birder but, if you become serious at all about birds, you'll probably end up with at least one of each anyway.
As for me, I reach for a guide with illustrations first, because I prefer the standardized positions. But like many birders, I have many field guides to choose from.
The Structure of the Field Guide
Most field guides put birds in phylogenetic order, which is a scientific way of saying that birds closely related to each other evolutionarily are going to be grouped together in the book. Most of the time this makes sense. Gulls and terns, for instance, are both beach birds, are closely related, and are near each other in pretty much every field guide. Piece of cake, right?
But there are some relationships that are counterintuitive. Hawks and falcons are both daytime raptors, and birders often see them in the same places doing similar things. Recent research looking deep into their genes, however, shows they're not very closely related at all. So in most newer field guides, you'll find the hawks grouped with the eagles, and the falcons near the parrots. Parrots, it turns out, are falcons' nearest relatives — think about that next time you square off with a pet cockatiel. Arguments have been made by many field guide authors that the science of birds and the study of birds as a hobby are sort of at odds here. If you want to identify a soaring hawky-falcon raptor thing, it's nice to have all those birds right next to each other in the guide for comparison. So some guides may use a modified order, mostly phylogenetic, but with an eye toward easy usage for novices.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Birding for the Curious by Nate Swick, Robert Brandt. Copyright © 2015 Nate Swick. Excerpted by permission of Page Street Publishing Co..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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