Every Bird is Considered Part of the Family. Yes, Even the Pipits.

I’ve been discussing the importance of specific color and body patterns in the previous posts.

I also mentioned that color isn’t everything. Most beginners and uneducated birdwatchers aim for color. For an example, Some of my classmates may approach me with a question such as:

“Hey, I saw a brightly colored yellow bird in my yard. What is it?”

"Oh yeah?" :)

Well. There are several brightly colored yellow birds in North America. I tend to try and narrow down the options with questions like, “What did it's body look like? Did you pay any attention to what the beak looked like?”

Usually I get some “I don’t know” answers, which doesn’t help me be able to identify it any better.

There’s More Than Just One Yellow Bird?!

A good thing to watch out for when trying to learn your bird species is to know general characteristics of that species in comparison to other species.

Let’s take two brightly colored yellow birds, the Yellow Warbler and the American Goldfinch.

Both of these birds are relatively small, but are in two different families. One is a Parulid (warbler), while the other is a Fringillid (finch). A good rule of thumb when trying to identify a specific bird against another species is the body type.

Compare the two similar looking birds.

The Yellow Warbler (bottom) and the American Goldfinch. Note the similar, yet different body shapes.

Both are relatively small, perching birds. Minus the extremely obvious color differences, the two birds are shaped relatively the same.

Look closely at the differences in the bill. Finches and warblers have different dietary needs and as such have different shaped bills. The finch has a blunt, hefty bill and the warbler has a narrow, pointed flat bill.

That is a good indicator of family differences in bird species; as such, educating yourself in the diet of certain birds can help you recognize bill shapes.

Another obvious way of separating bird species is watching their bodies in flight. In this next image, we see the very dramatic fork in the finch’s tail. This is very common in most finch species, as well as the longish “finger” feathers of the wing known as primaries. In the warbler, the tail is shaped like a fan and the primaries are generally short and not very spaced apart.

The same two birds as above, this time shown in flight.

Characteristics such as tail and bill appearance sets trends in most bird families. By looking at a Northern Mockingbird and a Brown Thrasher, it’s pretty apparent that they belong in the same family.

Not all birds are as simple, however. For example, roadrunners and cuckoos share the same family and the Yellow-breasted chat is a member of the warbler family. Not to mention that ravens and crows are in the jay family, not the blackbird family!

Birds of a Feather…Don’t Exactly Flock Together, Now Do They?

I distinctly remember the first time I came across a bird known as the American Pipit. Upon seeing it, I recognized the evident thrush body shape.

Think of the American Robin’s tall body posture and long legs for quick bouts of speed in your front lawn. The thing that confused me was that this bird was not in a lawn; it was hopping along the rocky shore of a lake.

What also confused me is how similar it looked to a Hermit Thrush, a woodland bird that hardly ever is seen with feet on the ground. So how is it that an American Robin, a Hermit Thrush and an American Pipit are all in the same family?

At least the warblers are mostly found in branches at various heights (minus the Ovenbird that is hardly ever seen off the ground…).

The American Pipit (bottom) and the Hermit Thrush. Both are in the same family, yet exhibit some different behaviors.

This makes family identifications tricky.

Most members of a family will behave the same way: most sparrows will forage on the ground for grains and grasses in small little clusters, and all jays will loudly announce themselves upon entering a tree with multiple other species, and all chickadees will hang from tree nuts up-side-down.

But the pipit?

What gave it away (besides the body shape) was the way it maneuvered itself. Again, picture the American Robin in your front lawn. It’ll pause and look. Then run, run, run. Then pause and look. Then run, run, run. It’s a pattern.

Guess what the pipit was doing?

Yes, an Education Does Help

Carefully watching different members of bird families may help you in the act of seeing a new species. If the body shape and some aspect of the bird’s behavior is familiar to you, you may be able to correctly identify its family and make the search in the field guide that much easier.

If you see a Green Jay for the first time, you should be able to see that it behaves and looks kind of similar to a Stellar’s Jay or a Blue Jay. As such, it must be some sort of jay!

 The best way of going about it is just to educate yourself on the families. A good start would be to pick up a copy of The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. This book lays out very specific behaviors of the bird behavior such as nesting, mating and feeding. It also gives great detail on body characteristics and song.

I'm a very big supporter of David Allen Sibley. 

-s.g martinez