Bird Field Guides - Using Visual Clues For Bird Identification

I am often asked why bird field guides are so hard to use and how to know where to start looking in the field guide when a person finds a bird in the field or yard. Learning how to group birds by visual clues can go a long way toward bird identification and will give you a clue as to where to start looking in your field guide. The information in this article may be utilized with any field guide you might have and I will try to present it without using scientific terms that may confuse the novice birder.

The first group of birds in most field guides would be the "swimmers." These birds are generally found swimming in waterways or lakes, although they may sometimes be observed grazing around lakes or in fields. In the later case webbed feet would be obvious. This group consists of geese, swans and ducks.

The next group of birds would be the "aerialists." These birds are most often observed flying over or around water. Many of them are fish eaters and may be seen diving or skimming over the top of the water and then returning to the air. Visual clues would be the proximity to water and their habit of spending much of their time in the air. These clues would lead you to the gulls, terns, shearwaters, petrels and albatrosses.

If you see a bird wading near the shore look at its legs. Are they long or short? If you can not see the legs look at the neck. Is it long or short? The next grouping of birds in the field guides are the "long legged waders." Visual clues would be the long legs and long necks and proximity to water. This groups consists of herons, egrets, cranes, ibis and the storks.

As long as we are on the shore, the next group would also be waders. These birds are much smaller than the "long legged waders" above. The neck is more in proportion with the bird's body and the legs, while being long for a bird, are not as long as the last group. These waders would include the plovers and sandpipers. This group can be further separated down by visual clues. The plovers have more compact necks and a bill like a pigeon while the sandpipers have slightly elongated necks and a longer pointed bill like a woodpecker.

The next general group in the bird books would be the fowl-like birds. These birds have a chicken-like build, have long or short tails and are most often found in fields or open woodlands. These birds most often freeze, walk or run away from danger. Flight is a last resort for this group which includes turkeys, pheasants, grouse, partridges and quail.

The next group is often observed soaring in the air or perched on telephone poles or fence posts. These are the birds of prey. Look for hooked beaks and strong legs and claws in this group which consists of the hawks, eagles, falcons and vultures.

The nonpasserine birds come next in the field guides. These consist of the kingfishers, pigeons, doves, parrots, cuckoos, roadrunners, nighthawks, swifts, hummingbirds and woodpeckers. Most of these birds are noted for having calls rather than melodious songs. Visual clues for pigeons, doves, nighthawks, swifts and hummingbirds would include short legs and very small feet. Woodpeckers and roadrunners are so specialized in appearance and habitat they are generally some of the easier birds to classify into groups.

The last group covered in the field guides are the passerine or "perching" birds. This group covers almost half of the birds in the world. They all have three toes pointing forward and one toe pointed backwards to allow these birds to perch upon vertical surfaces such as tree branches. For the most part, these birds are songbirds. Visual clues for this group includes the ability to land on narrow surfaces such as tree branches and the audio clue of a melodious song.

Not every group of birds is included in this basic bird classification attempt. However, I hope that it will assist the beginning birder to turn to the correct section of their field guide when they spot a bird in the field or yard. Remember: Not even the best professional ornithologist can identify every bird every time. The joy of bird watching is that you have a chance to learn something every time you go into the field or look into your backyard and that is what makes birding a lifelong activity.

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pileated woodpecker at bird agriculturalist in Muskoka

The pileated woodpecker made us a visit. It parked itself on the railing in the snow, then climbed up the tree. It ended up on the bird feeder, swinging madly. The music is the late Oliver Schroer's "The Colour of Snow".

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Attracting Wild Birds in Your Backyard

Have you ever considered buying a bird feeder to attract wild birds in your backyard? How much are you willing to pay for it? $30? $50? More? Can you imagine that for $50 you could potentially build ten or even more bird feeders? Just think about the number of birds you can actually charm with ten feeders rather than just one.

There are numerous great and impressive yard bird products available today. However to tell the truth, birds basically care about the food or the feeder itself, not the wrapper.

While creating a feeding location, you could invest hundreds of dollars for some bird feeders, birdbaths, and birdhouses. Creating your own bird feeders, birdbaths, birdhouses, as well as bird foods will save you lots of money. You may also build a big bird feeding station that will attract a lot more wild birds.

I have treasured bird watching in my backyard or in the wild for quite some time. My first bird feeder was of an Opus design. This plastic-type lantern molded feeder sat on a hollow, steel pole that stuck in the ground. It was not long before squirrels had chewed on one side, doing deadly damage to my feeder.

Given that I wanted to attract lots of wild birds I would buy cheap feeders. Silly me! Most of them were destroyed by wild animals.

I finally decided to build my own bird feeders. I was not very pleased with my first do-it-yourself beeder project. It was a log type bird feeder and after I completed my project, I was thinking that it did not really appear to be a bird feeder. I was wondering what kind of birds this feeder was going to appeal to. I put it up in my backyard and, I am happy to report that within half an hour I was watching my first visitor feeding, a cardinal. Wow! I was very thrilled.

From that day, I have built many different types of bird feeders from high quality woodworking plans and I have to say that I am very satisfied with my end products as well as my wild bird watching. But I will never forget that first visitor feeding from my not so good looking feeder I had just made. It was just awesome! For great results on any of your woodworking projects remember to always use high quality woodworking plans.

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Railroad Tracks For Railroad Modeling

The joy of collecting trains is incomplete if you just let them collect dust on table tops or display shelves. These models need to be run! That's what makes them so special and nothing brings these trains to life like a well made railroad layout. For that reason, in the world of model railroading, you can never forget about your model railroad tracks.

Trains are designed to be run so they need tracks. Since the trains come in different scales, the tracks to accommodate them do as well. Usually the scale letter (O, HO, and N) is also the corresponding track gauge (example: an O scale train will need an O gauge track to run on). This gauge is actually the distance between the two metal rails that the train's wheels go into. Only trains designed to go on the specific gauge can run on that specific gauge track. The N scale, for example, is actually named after the gauge. N in N scale stands for nine millimeter, which is the approximate gauge of the tracks N scale models run on. Scales and track gauges are not the same thing though. Some trains are said to be in a semi-scale. These models are in the same size as other trains but have wider or narrower wheels to accommodate a different gauge.

Once you're certain of your gauges, you can start getting the tracks you need. Make sure you get the right number of rails though! Some tracks have three rails, the extra rail in the middle. This is because manufacturers found that using three rails gave better electrical grounding, reducing short circuits. They also found that wiring three rails into the other accessories on the train set was easier. This gave three rail trains the ability to activate certain accessories as they passed. Despite their advantages, the third rail is unrealistic for many hobbyists and many still prefer the two rail tracks. It's up to you though. Just be sure your trains and tracks go together as trains designed for three rail tracks will not operate on two rail tracks without being modified.

Tracks are usually bought in segments. These smaller tracks are then pieced together to make an entire railroad layout. The basic building blocks for these segmented track layouts are the straight segments and the curved segments. With just these two types of track segments, you can already create a basic circular track that ensures your train keeps running. It is rare that you would just want a circular track though. Fortunately, the hobby has grown to cater even the most particular of tastes. There are crossings and switches readily available to make the rail road of your dreams a reality. There are even folding bridges and special tracks that animate some of your train's functions, like automatically decoupling cars, available on the market today.

There are also flexible tracks now available. These flex tracks come in long track ways that can be bent into any curve or shape you want. Although segmented tracks are very easy to use, they can be limiting because they come in preset shapes. However, before you go crazy bending your tracks; you have to know more about the maximum turn radius of your train. Curved segments are preset because they cater to the maximum safe curve radius their corresponding trains can handle. If you go beyond that radius, your trains might derail when they try to traverse your curve.

The last piece of track you have to have is the feeder track. This segment may be the most important since it connects the track to the power source.

Once you have all of your tracks, you can start building your own layout. If you're just starting out, simple is probably best. But don't let potential derailments and minor accidents stop you from taking risks. One way to make sure your layout works is to test it before you glue it on to a miniature set. Work out the kinks and once everything is running smooth, then glue it. This way, you won't have to be overly cautious when designing the layout of your dreams.

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The Cardinal Bird Feeder - What Works Best?

The intention of a cardinal bird feeder, of course, would be to attract the cardinal. This bird, of course, is probably the single most popular bird for backyard bird watchers. However, to the dismay of many, there really is no cardinal feeder per se. But, the bird certainly has both feeder and seed preferences. Let's take a look!

First, what doesn't work that well.

The tube feeder is quite popular. However, don't make the mistake of thinking it a favorite of the cardinal. I've been watching birds for years and years and I can tell you with complete certainty that this is not your best choice for the cardinal. He has virtually no neck and is forced to turn his whole body sideways to eat from a tube. In addition, he's just a smidgen too big for most perches.

Some people will advise you to add a tray to the bottom. Granted, you will see the bird more often if you do this. Just keep in mind that Droll Yankees trays fit Droll Yankees tube feeders; Aspects trays fit Aspects tube feeders; Bird Quest trays fit Bird Quest tube feeders.

Do you know which brand you have?

Also, keep in mind that trays attract lots of other birds like grackles and starlings. If these birds visit your tube feeder, you won't see many cardinals (or any other birds for that matter). Keep in mind the purpose of a tube feeder is to provide for small birds like the tufted titmouse and Carolina chickadee.

Add a tray, in come the medium and large birds, away go the small birds-just like that, you've defeated the purpose of the tube.

So what does work?

A proper cardinal bird feeder is any feeder whose design accommodates the cardinal's preference to "bend at the hip" or not at all when feeding. You want a feeder that doesn't force the bird to turn its body. A basic hopper feeder is a great choice as a cardinal bird feeder. So is any fly-thru bird feeder (a fly-thru feeder is open on all sides and has ample space). Also, platform feeders on the ground are ideal cardinal feeders.

There are manufacturers of feeders who describe their product as "cardinal feeder." The no-no is one such example. Though this feeder does accommodate the cardinal, be careful! Many bird feeders do not do what the manufacturer claims.

The Droll Yankees squirrel proof feeder called the whipper is designed to be a cardinal feeder. The curved perch is a fantastic innovation that accommodates the bird perfectly. The Brome Care "squirrel buster" squirrel proof feeder, with its detachable ring, also serves the bird, though the bird does not appear as comfortable on this feeder as he does on the whipper (make no mistake, though, the Brome Care Product is equal and even superior to the Droll Yankees product in many ways).

Seed

What seed should you feed the cardinal? Hands down, safflower. This is a bitter tasting seed that squirrels, grackles and starlings tend not to eat.

If you don't have these pests floating around, any quality bird seed will do. Black oil sunflower seed and sunflower hearts (chips) are favorites of the cardinal. He'll eat most blends, too but don't use big box blends--they're full of filler that birds don't eat.

I've seen cardinals eat fruit--you'll need a fruit feeder for this.

So, what is my favorite cardinal bird feeder?

You know, my advise to bird watchers desiring to attract cardinals to "get back to basics." I recommend either a wooden hopper feeder or a fly-thru platform feeder serve as their cardinal bird feeder.

If you follow this advise and are patient, I promise that you'll be visited by this beautiful bird year round!

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