How do you go about identifying birds that you have no idea what they are without a picture? I was sort of hoping there would be some sort of tool on the internet or that was available to buy that asked questions and narrowed it down to a few possible birds, of which you could then look up, rather than looking it up in a big bird book everytime.
I'm sure you all think I'm very lazy now!
Not lazy at all. This is the way we all go. Whether internet or good old guide book. Its the guide to identify the bird plant or what ever, thats the tool we all use. Most guides will group birds by resemblance, find one similiar to the one being observed then use a process of elimination until the right species is found. Most birds are divided into perching birds game birds predators and water birds, and within each of these groups the species is usually shown in order of size (dealing with the smallest first within each group). Most books have a guide in the front which will explain how to use the book. I myself in the past have not read the "How This Guide Works" part and just turned pages to identify. Cornwall Birder we need you on this one. Glad to see the Choughs doing well just read Blog on your website. Great website Cornwall Birding.
Those are very useful tools. I personally use the RSPB one, but for rarer birds as Nicola says it only has the most common, so you can give the other one a try.
As most people on here have already said, its a case of narrowing it down. As a novice i would start by first identifying the family, ie Duck, Wader, Thrush, Warbler etc. That will narrow the search down straight away! It then a matter of making records and drawings (or mental notes) of what you see. Remember this = Record, Shape or Size, Pattern and Behavior. It easy to remember, R.S.P.B! Once you have these basics it should be quite easy to narrow down. The RSPB do a book called Birds by Colours, whereby all the 'Green' birds are paged together, 'Blue' birds etc etc. I will have a look what it is called. Also, learn the common birds first, then when something turn up that you dont recognise you can eliminate all the common ones from your search.
Alternatively, make plenty of notes and publish them on here so that we can help you out!
As Cornwall Birder mentioned, if you know what family it is you will have little trouble finding the type in a book. It is definitely a waste of time to go through each bird everytime you want to identify one, so the first thing I would learn is the different families. Once you know them, it is just a case of variations.
Thanks for that advice Paul.
Found the Book at last "Birds By Colour". Find out more
HERE.
That book looks good. Thanks Paul
That book looks great, especially for that price! I like the idea of all the birds being grouped by colour, that would really narrow things down straight away. And then if you knew the type of bird, the species should come naturally.
Well if you are going to buy it, please consider getting it from my website store!
Once you start looking up birds, you won't believe how quickly you start to recognise them and how much easier it becomes with a bit of practice. Once you know the type of bird (or colour, depending on which book you're using) it's easy to look up the bird (in most cases), and then once you've had a bit of experience doing it you will be able to narrow it down further quicker. Then before you know it most of the local birds you will be able to tell without looking them up!
Thank you very much for all the responses!
Remember this = Record, Shape or Size, Pattern and Behavior. It easy to remember, R.S.P.B!
Alternatively, make plenty of notes and publish them on here so that we can help you out!
Those are two things I will definitely remember! I will start taking more notes when I go out so if my other attempts of identifying fail, I can come on here.
buying a good fieldguide is a very useful tool - getting to know it is even better.
depending on where you live, check out the events at your nearest RSPB reserve - they often have guided walks, most geared for beginners. The same applies to your local wildlife trust or the WWT. Your local RSPB group often do trips to reserves, you can learn a lot from excursions like these.
you can also check out my website for general advice for beginners