Tips for identifying backyard birds

Ever noticed a new bird in your yard and wondered what it was? Then by the time you get somewhere to do research you only have a vague recollection of what it looked like.

A positive identification can be quite simple if you can remember a few unique features. The Birds & Blooms Bonus Newsletter offers some key features to make mental notes of when observing an unidentified bird.

* Size: How big or little is the bird compared to other well know birds like a robin, crow, or finch.

* Color: Are the feathers red, yellow, black or white or a combination of several? And note what colors are on different body parts like the head, throat, wings, or belly.

* Field Marks: Does the bird have any striking marks, bars on tail or wings, spots on head or breast?

* Shape: What common bird has the same shape, a duck, woodpecker, or a crow? Its bill and tail resemble what other bird species?

* Location: Was it setting in a tree, on the ground, in timbered areas, in your yard or in a field?

* Season: Is it summer, fall, winter or spring?

* Sound: All birds make sounds. Some make calls, others alarms, and other tapping of their bill or beating of their wings.

Here's an example of details to correctly identify a backyard bird. The mystery bird we will identify is about nine inches long. It has brown and black wings and back, with a yellow chest. A field mark would be the black V on his throat. Its bill is long and pointed. It was seen setting on the fence post and also eating insects in the grass. Its complex song is a series of flute like noises going down the scale.

Now that you have the details, it is time to look through a field guide. Using the size and shape, one should be able to determine the family.

Once the family is established, the color and marking will be used to verify species and sex of the bird seen.

Have you determined what our mystery bird is? Well it is the State Bird of Kansas, the Western Meadowlark.

There are several different field books available for identifying backyard birds. Birds & Blooms listed these as guides that are commonly use in North America.

* American Bird Conservancy's Field Guide to All the Birds of North America, published by HarperCollins.

* A Field Guide to the Birds, by Roger Tory Peterson, Houghton Muffin Co. There are two volumes: Eastern birds and Western birds.

* Field Guide to Birds of North America, Second Edition, National Geographic Society.

* Golden Guide to Field Identification: Birds of North America, Golden Press.

* Stokes Field Guide to Birds, Little, Brown and Co. There are two Volumes: Eastern region and Western region.

Editor's Note: Delta George is a K-State Research and Extension agriculture and 4-H extension agent assigned to Bourbon County. She may be reached at (620) 223-3720.