Wild bird identification is increasingly becoming a popular past time because it gets the bird watcher out in nature and is a fantastic learning experience.
Using your senses
Humans have several built in components that can help with wild bird identification. We have ears and eyes, which are two senses that are innate at figuring out which bird is which. You can use your ears to listen to the sounds the birds in your backyard make. Every species of bird makes a noise that is unique to that species. To help you identify the wild bird after you hear its song or cackle, get on the Internet and download bird sounds. Many different Web sites allow users to download bird sounds. If you listen to these sounds over and over again, you'll be able to train your ear to pick out the sounds your backyard birds make.
From a sight standpoint, you can get into wild bird identification by sitting in your backyard and checking out the birds that come whizzing by or you can get a pair of fancy binoculars. Either way, this method of wild bird identification will probably require you to get a bird identification book or guide.
Using books and binoculars
If you're serious about wild bird identification, you should get a bird book. Book stores have bird books that are unique to every region. For example, if you live in the western part of North Carolina, you can probably find a small pocket book about the birds that live in your area. Many times these books are color coded so it's easy to pick out the birds you're trying to identify.
Wild bird identification also requires binoculars, which give you an up close look at the birds you're trying to identify. You should get a decent pair of binoculars, but if you're a beginning bird watcher, you should get binoculars that have a power of seven or less.
Some obvious birds
Wild bird identification doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, there are some wild birds that are incredibly easy to pick out. Keep in mind that even though these wild birds are easy to identify, there's no guarantee that they'll be living in your neighborhood, but if they do, you'll be able to pick them out.
The robin is a bird that's easy to pick out. Wild bird identification for this bird includes looking at its prominent rosy red breast and rusty brown body.
You can also identify the cardinal, which is bright red bird that has black markings on its face that look like a mask. These are just a few easy to identify birds that will get you started with wild bird identification.
