Join the Great Backyard Bird Count

Calling All Florida Bird Watchers

Free Homeschooler's Guide to Project FeederWatch

Have "Golden Age" Pass, Will Tour National Parks

Why Support Efficiency and Renewable Energy Legislation in Florida?

Need a New Field Guide?

Back to SCAS Home...

Birding Brevard: What the Field Guides Don't Tell Us

By Dave Freeland

All birders, but especially new birders, use their field guides to help zero in on identifications. Sibley, Kaufman, Peterson, Nat Geo -- theirs are the books that focus birders' decisions. But what don't the field guides tell us? Lots if you are or know an expert birder who has learned from first-hand experience the finer points of bird ID. Here are just three examples of lesser-known facts of bird identification that can help you in the field, though none of them, to my knowledge, is spelled out in any field guide.

Large Terns: Is that flying tern a Royal or a Caspian? They are both large terns, and we have eliminated Forster's, Gull-billed, Least and all the other terns seen regularly or occasionally in Florida. It's either a Caspian or a Royal, and they look so darned similar! Seasoned observers will tell you that a Royal Tern, in flight, flies with its bill pointed straight forward, in the direction of its movement. But a Caspian Tern, especially when scouting for food, flies with its bill pointed down toward the water. You can use this distinction and be right nine times out of 10, whether or not you see any of the species' other field marks. What field guide tells you of this distinguishing ID feature? Not one of them. You just have to know.

Waterthrushes: The two North American waterthrushes (they're warblers, not thrushes) confuse many observers. But there's one distinguishing characteristic that separates Northern Waterthrush from Louisiana Waterthrush even though the field guides won't tell you about it. Both species bob their heads, or teeter, when perched. When a Northern begins to teeter, its first movement is to raise its head and drop its tail. The Louisiana first drops its head and raises its tail -- just the opposite of a Northern Waterthrush. If you can't see the color of the eyestripe well, watch the head and see which way it begins to bob (remember it as a Northern looking up, "toward the North," and the Louisiana looking down, "toward New Orleans").

Nighthawks: Florida is a state where both Common and Antillean Nighthawks can be seen annually, the Antillean in the Keys only. They are very difficult, at times impossible, to distinguish in the field. But a little known ID fact that doesn't appear in the field guides can help you tell one from another. The Antillean Nighthawk flies with continuing wingbeats, almost never pausing for a gliding period. The Common Nighthawk glides for short distances between intervals of regular wingbeats. So watch that nighthawk fly for a moment or two and see if it glides (Common) or does not (Antillean). You can't look this up in your field guide because it isn't covered there.

Do you have other favorite identification characteristics that don't appear in field guides that you'd like to share? E-mail them to me at freela148@aol.com and I'll check them out for you.

Bird of the Month: There were so many goodies seen in the Brevard County area in November and early December, it's hard to figure out where to start. My vote goes to the Fork-tailed Flycatcher, a beautiful specimen of which delighted observers along Jungle Trail at Pelican Island NWR for days. That wins out over such other great finds as Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Ross' Goose, Ash-throated Flycatcher and Pacific Loon.

Where to Go: Winter is the time for seeking the specialties of the season. Port Canaveral's jetties are good spots to watch for visitors like Purple Sandpiper and some of the rarer sea ducks and gulls. Go to Jetty Park for best views.