This is the WORST way to identify a BIRD.
This is the WORST way to identify a BIRD.
The best way to identify a bird is to look at the bird. The worst way is to look at the book. It’s a mistake that most people make as they work to improve their identification skills
I enjoyed the clarity and structure.
Thanks a lot. As a beginner, I felt overwhelmed by looking at the birds but thanks for your great tip of the field mark, I think I probably I still fell overwhelmed😅 when I couldn’t recognize them. But I will look less at my Merlin app for guidelines. That is again for sharing.
I do what you recommend doing, I look at the bird intently thru my binoculars for as long as it stays in view. But even though I give the bird 100% of my attention, I don’t really know what to look for. I mean the obvious things, yeah, I know them. But the real super subtle things that even expert birders struggle with, those are the things I do not even think of when I am watching the bird. I think to make the most of the time you’ve looking at the bird, you would actually have to have studied a little bit beforehand. But the problem with that is that, study as I may, I do not retain anything that I learn when I study. I get online and learn all this stuff and then when I go out into the field a few hours later, everything I learned that morning is GONE – wiped completely from my brain.
I always wondered how to go about this… Thank you so much, this was incredibly helpful!!
Excellent advice. And some great tips for the field marks to look for. I recently picked up a copy of Sibley Birds, Second Edition. And right in the book it urges you not to bring the book into the field, mirroring your advice.
You’re a genius, this is incredibly helpful.
Hey you have to start somewhere. I birded by myself using that National Audubon photo book. Talk about taking a long time to learn a little bit but truth be told I had a lot of fun. I still recall the thrill of IDing my first bird , Tufted Titmouse. After 20 + years I took the plunge and started going out with the local bird club in the county I live in. Walking & listening to people who knew their stuff was such a pleasure and my I D skills grew in leaps and bounds. If I knew now what I didn`t know then would I change the way I did it….hard to say. I love being out in the forest by myself but I do also love being a better birder. As long as you are outdoors and learning from nature it`s all good…thanks
Wonderful and clear instruction on learning to "see" identifying field marks! Thank you Bob.
Great video 🎉
thats a great and yet almost obvious tip especially for beginners. currently im brand new to bird watching, havent even gotten my first guide in physical print yet but i think this tip will help me out a lot, it was very helpful to be told what kind of field marks are useful to focus on :))
Awesome video, subscribed immediately❤
Awesome! Enjoying all the migrants and have been noticing some of these in the field!
You do a great job at simplifying birding. Thanks.
What guidebook would you recommend for a beginner?
Bob you are amazing!! Please keep posting your awesome informative and hilarious videos!
Best few minutes on bird ID I have experienced
This was INCREDIBLY helpful!
I love your channel, i love your personality and u seem like someone with real experience and u seem very trustworthy. Im glad the community of birders online is so wholesome, thank you!
Excellent! The flip side of this approach is focusing too much on one field mark vs. all marks. As you know, a bird is the sum of its parts – not just one obvious mark. For all birds in general, it’s best to learn and apply the "hollistic" approach. Virtually, all experienced birders apply this method. That is, refine a birds identity using ALL the evidence: habitat, season, molt, behavior, size, shape, silouette, flight profile, calls, etc. As you do here, via elimination of one factor after another the observer can elliminate entire groups of birds to arrive at the most likely candidates. Per RTP’s old (inside cover) silouettes, one discovers how many species can be identified just by shape and posture alone. The Shorebird Guide also provides end pages of silouettes for size and shape comparisons of NA shorebirds. Today’s birder enjoys a multitude of identification aids! And there are some very good website bird ID games to play to hone and refine one’s skills. Posting photos to bird-birding sites on social media and asking: "What’s this bird" teaches nothing and should be discouraged.
thank you for sharing 👍
Thank you, mister! Really very good explanation
Field marks may be faint OR bold in a given individual, not all common yellowthroats have strongly yellow throats , breast streaks on yellow warblers might be present … And so on . Take a photo , decide what YOU ,think the ID is , then get a second opinion.
It might be a real rarity in your area , and youll want a pic anyway. 👍
Bob’s videos are the best
Have you seen the AI that tells you exactly what it is from a picture?
Very useful. Thanks!!
Amen brother, repeat, leave the book in the car. Well done, thank you.
Bah! Take a picture and then look at the field marks in the picture.
super helpful
The most amazing and important information about bird identification ever. After a lifetime of not knowing any of this, all of a sudden I’m interested in bird identification. THANK YOU, BOB!!!
Really, really helpful video!!
Great presentation! Wouldn’t it be easier if they just came out with a point and shoot app to identify birds? Just kidding. What you say does make a lot of sense. Damn birds won’t stay still.
you can tell when you’re listening to someone who has studied a subject for quite a long time – Bob you’re it! You have transformed my birding – thank you
Great, practical advice, and well put together video.
The idea of taking the book outdoors with me never even occurred to me because it feels cumbersome. I do rely a bit too much on Merlin to ID by sound, though, and as I’m learning calls better, I’m trying to use it less as an intermediate level birder.
Well, this was incredibly helpful
0:16 😂
Whoa!!! this was amazing!!!
Excellent advice for a novice like me! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😎
Love the advice Bob! As someone who struggles with sparrow identification I am going to employ these tips to try and improve
Wow – great tips. Thanks!
Great method thanks for sharing
Hate to quibble but first you need to narrow down the type. A sparrow is not a thrush. A vireo is not a warbler. A tern is not a gull. Then, you think about field marks.
I used the wing bar, yellow throat, and breast streak trick to get my lifer palm warbler today! (Yes to all 3 options) Thanks Bob!
Also if you’re in a new area and hope to see new life list birds, study them in the book before you go into the field so you know what to look for.
For people wanting to learn some more helpful warbler field marks, I’d recommend the Warbler Guide. 10/10 book, includes super helpful pictures and guides to their songs, field marks, and even has a whole section on identifying them by undertail coverts.
I’m not quite sure if this’ll bridge the generational gap (I’m 19), but if anyone is familiar I’d strategically approach this similarly to the game of “Guess Who?” (kid’s board game that was popular when I was growing up), in which you try to narrow the target down by identifying the commonly shared characteristics that only they specifically possess. Whether or not you get that reference this video is very helpful! I’ve been struggling trying to get into the hobby and this really clarified a few things for me, and so far is the probably the best entry video I’ve seen on the subject. Much appreciated
I’m just starting birding but I have always been interested but this video has given me a good start. Thank you
He’s got a pair of $2500 Swarovski binoculars. I’d say he has the best already, why the Zeiss?
I just recently started taking birding seriously and going out specifically to bird. When I started trying to ID Thraupids (neotropical “tanagers”) in Peru, I made this mistake a lot. I managed to ID a honeycreeper (genus Cyanerpes) with this strategy, but unfortunately we have two species near the research station and I didn’t notice any of the features that would distinguish the two.
This is such wonderful advice! I’ve been able to ID the birds i commonly see and hear in my area, but I will absolutely have to keep this in mind and keep my eyes on the bird when I expand my birding exploration.
throat color
wing bars
breast streaks
eye ring