I just recently put up a bird feeder and I’d like to identify the birds that come, but all of my web searches have yielded sites advertising their book to buy. I’ll probably break down and buy a guide, but in the mean time, It’d be nice to have a good website. I’m in CT, USA, so I would need northeastern sites. Thanks.
eNature is a pretty good stopgap measure, but if you want to get serious about birding, you’ll want to get either the Peterson or the Sibley bird guide before long.
As a bonus, it was the first item listed when I entered “bird field guide” into Google.
While we’re (more or less) on the subject – I’d like to learn to identify some of the common yard birds by song. Is there a CD or something?
Patuxent Bird Identification Center. There are identification tips, breeding and Christmas count maps, life history info and photos.
The Patuxent site is also home to the Bird Banding Lab, where all U.S. banding operations are reported.
I’ve also used Thayer’s cds (for playing songs during mist-netting operations). Thayer’s has a decent amount of information. You can make a “song list” of birds in your area, which is nice for practicing your song id (not that it has helped me any - I am a song moron).
You and I live in more or less the same “bird” area. The definitive tool for learning to identify birds by song around here is
Birding by Ear. It is similar to a field guide in that it puts birds that sound similar together, even if they are not closely related or don’t look much alike. It is amazingly helpful in making you more aware of what birds are around you both in general and at a particular instant, say a summer morning at dawn. It gives you a lot of useful tools and tricks to distinguish various common songs. It will get you started on identifying birds by song, but it doesn’t have every single bird in our area.
I find it works well as background info…I often had it on in the car during my long commute. It is like learning a foreign language.
If you want a CD that has pretty much all the bird songs you might hear in your area then you might want to try this: http://www.withoutbricks.com/estore/product.asp?dept_id=3170&pf_id=007128&mscssid=9HD4W8EA81R99H45H1HDFVTCCVPKF2X1
In this case related birds are grouped together, whether they sound alike or not. There is no attempt to help you learn to distinguish them, it is simply a catalogue.
LL – Birding by Ear* looks like exactly what I want! Thanks!
enature seems to work. It tough when you have no idea where to start. All I had was a description, but I think I found the one that I was looking for.
If you are trying to identify a particular bird right now you could run it by us if you want…we might be able to narrow it down, or confirm your guess.
I can try, but It’s really hard to describe. It has a head like a blue jay. That mohawk type thing. It’s mostly gray. Bigger than a chikadee but less than half the size of a blue jay. I found the Tufted Titmouse in that guide, but the picture is from almost head on, so I can’t be positive. Beyond that, I’m at a loss to describe it.
I’ll see if I can get a quick pic tomorrow and post it. That’d be a heck of a lot easier.
Try prowling through these:
- Tamerlane
For common feeder birds, you can spend just a little time and be able to ID the vast majority of your visitors. If you Google bird names, the USGS site has good info, plus you’ll find more. Names to start with are:
Tufted Titmouse
House Finch
House Sparrow
Downy Woodpecker (likes suet)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (likes suet)
Carolina Chickadee
Mourning Dove (ground feeders mostly)
Carolina Wren (rare at feeders, but hangs out everywhere)
Brown-headed Cowbird (hangs with finches)
Blue Jay (likes suet)
American Goldfinch (a winter-only bird around here)
These are the ones we have in this part of Texas, anyway. Go ahead and splurge on the Stokes field guide - it’s less than $20 and will make you very happy.
I have a copy of the National Geographic Field Guide that was a constant companion of mine on road trips as a child. It came with four squares of black vinyl that you could play on a turntable, which served as a sort of quick guide to songbirds. The audio portion was not necessarily a catalogue of the most common birds as much as the most commonly heard birds.
Aside from my testimonial, though, you might want to look at the Sibley and Peterson guides and find your favorite before making a decision. Each guide has its good and bad points, and the Nat’l Geographic doesn’t appear to include birdsong records anymore.
The Tufted Titmouse it is! Thanks JayJay and Tamerlane for the pics. I’ve been more of a parrot guy for the past few years, but I find feeder birds to be fascinating.
I’m definitely going to check out the guides mentioned here. So far it’s been Mr. Titmouse, a few Black Capped Chickadees and one huge Blue Jay. The Mourning Doves keep there distance.
OK, one more question. Anyone know what bird makes a noise that sounds like a slow rusty wheel? It’s right outside but I can’t see it and it’s got the inside birds all riled up.
It was probably your bluejay. They have a very raucous call and do, indeed, rile up the other birds. Pity they are so pretty!
Yes, the bluejay makes one sound that sounds what has been described as a squeaky wheel. However, its common call is a sound that some say sounds like “Jay!” Hence, it’s name. It doesn’t sound like “Jay” to me, more like “Me!” Good thing I don’t name birds. Imagine calling a bird a “Me.”
Bird books are good, but no matter how well they describe the calls and songs, you cannot appreciate the actual calls and songs unless you hear them. Thayer Birding Software was mentioned, and I own the CD for SC. You can buy the CD for all the states, if you wish, or just for your state. You can visit them on the web at www.thayerbirding.com or at www.birds.cornell.edu. I have no financial interest in those CDS, but I do recommend them. A nice feature is a link to similar birds. The CDs show the habitat, region where found, and any details you wish. You can play the birdcalls in a loop, if you wish.
I don’t believe bluejays would rile up other birds. However, the red-shouldered hawk would, and its call is similar to the Jay’s “Jay!” I believe the birds can tell the difference, but it’s sometimes difficult for people to when the Jay imitates the hawk.
That’s funny, I’ve only ever heard the Blue Jay sound like a hawk. That’s at my parents house. But he wasn’t riling them up like they were scared, just that my Zebra Finches will ‘meh’ back at you if you do it to them. So a consistant high pitch sound like that got them going. My parrot was just making noise with the new sound. So, it was riled in a funny way.
That’s the bluejay’s usual call. The screeching sound, which the books describe as a squeaky door, is not as common. I’ve heard a bluejay make a more mellifluous sound, the one that lives outside my abode, on occasion when he greets me. I cannot describe it, but it almost sounds euphonious. Almost.
“Queedle-dee”?
I’m going to have to look into those Thayer birding CDs.