Regardless of whether you are a serious bird enthusiast or someone who just likes to watch birds from time to time, you probably have a greater variety of birds in your backyard than you realize.
We make that false assumption that the birds we observe directly are the only ones that frequent our yards, but the reality is that the humble backyard garden is a constantly changing and fluid environment where different birds come and go at different times of day and night, or even with the seasons if you take migratory birds as an example.
Becoming more serious about backyard birds
If you want to take your backyard birding to the next level then it can definitely be intimidating considering the wealth of information that is out there on the internet and in book stores regarding bird watching and how to entice particular birds into your yard.
Perhaps the best bit of advice that anyone can give you is to keep it simple and start off small. If you have little to no idea as to what the exact species of birds that come into your backyard are, then there are a few things that you can in order to get the ball rolling.
It is important to do this step first because once you know what birds you are dealing with, you can then think about making your yard more attractive to them by planting certain types of trees and plants and putting seed out for them according to their particular feeding patterns and locations.
Following are some tips to identify backyard birds in your area
Before you do anything, buy yourself a good bird identification book and make sure you constantly refer to it so that you can recognize certain species and be able to spot them easily. One particular recommendation is the The National Geographic Society Field Guide to the Birds of North America.
If you have large or particulary treed backyard with lots of smaller bird species you should definitely invest in a pair of binoculars also. You may already have a pair of binoculars lying around but specialized bird binoculars and scopes are the most ideal in this case.
Identifying backyard birds
When you are actually observing the birds, you may have to choose from as many as 800 different bird species if you live on the North American continent. It can be a daunting task but by mentally or physically taking note of the individual characteristics of the bird it can help you a great deal.
Take note of the following traits:
- Is it a large or small bird? While there is no standard definition of a large bird, comparing it to birds that you know the size of will help you form a relative scale. This might be different for everyone!
- What about colors or unique features? Many birds share a common defining color so sometimes classification based on this factor alone is difficult. Look for distinguising markings or features which may give you a clue as to the actual name of the bird by jogging your memory.
- Pay close attention to the shape of the beak. Is it long and slender like a honey eater or is the beak more adept at breaking into nuts or eating seed?
- Closely observe the behavior of the bird overall. It is social or does it prefer to be alone? Does it feed on the ground, in bird feeders or maybe it has no preference?
- Lastly you should consider the call. We often hear birds before we see them and it may let us know that particular birds are in the area that we recognize, even if we have never observed them with our eyes before. Consider jumping online and listening to recorded bird calls as this is obviously beyond the scope of a paperback bird guide!
- After that, go outside and use your ears! You might be astounded at how many different birds you can identify with hearing alone.
Once you have a better idea of the birds that you can’t see you can then take steps to encourage them into your yard and add them to your backyard birds list.