Appendix: How to ID birds

This info can possibly apply to the US as well as the UK.

I'm going to arrange the birds into eight different groups, according to Roger Tory Peterson :


 * (1) Swimmers - Ducks and and ducklike birds.
 * (2) Aerialists - Gulls and gull-like birds.
 * (3) Long-legged Waders - Herons, cranes, etc.
 * (4) Smaller Waders - Plovers, sandpipers, etc.
 * (5) Fowl-like Birds - Grouse, quail, etc.
 * (6) Birds of Prey - Hawks, eagles, owls.
 * (7) Nonpasserine Land Birds
 * (8) Passerine (Perching) Birds

Or, according to the Audubon Society :


 * (1) Long-legged Waders
 * (2) Gull-like Birds
 * (3) Upright-perching Wader Birds
 * (4) Duck-like Birds
 * (5) Sandpiper-like Birds
 * (6) Chicken-like Marsh Birds
 * (7) Upland Ground Birds
 * (8) Owls
 * (9) Hawk-like Birds
 * (10) Pigeon-like Birds
 * (11) Swallow-like Birds
 * (12) Tree-clinging Birds
 * (13) Perching Birds

Within time, it will be seen that ducks do not resemble loons; gulls are readily distinguishable from terns. The needlelike bills of warblers immediately differentiate them from the seed-cracking bills of sparrows.

What is the bird's size?
Acquiring the habit of comparing a new bird with some familiar "yardstick" -- a House Sparrow, a Robin, a Pigeon, etc., so that you can say to yourself, "smaller than Robin; a little larger than a House Sparrow." .

What is its shape?
Is it plump like a starling or slender like a cuckoo?