A beginner's guide to bird identification

It’s nesting season in Iowa. At this time of year, about 212 species of birds across the state go through their annual mating cycle. Throughout the course of just a few weeks, birds build nests, lay and incubate eggs, take care of their young and then send them on their way into the world.

Take a walk in your neighborhood or local park and you can notice male birds actively singing in the morning hours, accompanied by diverse mix of colorful feathers in the air. Pretty soon, those to-be parents can be spotted gathering materials for their nests and feeding and tending their babies.

“Iowa being kind of situated right in the center of the U.S., we get a really great diversity of species that nest here,” said Tyler Harms, executive director of Young Birders of Iowa.

If you're looking for a hobby that also engages with nature, it’s a great time to get outside and observe all the avian life in your neighborhood.

Harms and Todd Burras, co-owner of Wild Birds Unlimited, shared tips for birding beginners in a conversation with Charity Nebbe on Talk of Iowa.

Eyes like a hawk

When introducing adults — and kids — to bird observation, noticing the colors of birds, especially during the spring, can be a great place to start.

“What colors are you seeing on the bird? Where are those colors? Are they on the head? Or are they on the wing?” Harms said. “But then there are also certain field marks that you can look at.”

Noting features like a line of color over the eye, a patch of color in a specific place, or two stripes on the wing – known as wing bars – can help you narrow down what species you're looking at.

Another helpful piece of information is the habitat the birds are found in, such as if they're near water, on the ground, or in the trees.

When considering the size of a bird, it can be helpful to compare it to the size of a bird you're familiar with.

“The Northern Cardinal in your backyard — that's a bird you might see every day at the feeder. You have a pretty good idea of how big a Northern Cardinal is,” Harms said. “If you see another bird that you're not sure about, you can use the size and shape of that Northern Cardinal as a base for comparison for this other bird.”

You can also compare the size of different features on the same bird to help identify it. For example, comparing the size of a shorebird’s bill to its head.

“You might see a shorebird that has a bill that's two times the length of its head, or one and a half times the length of its head and that comparison can be really helpful and is often used in field guides when we're describing how to identify different shorebird species,” Harms said.

The movements and posture of the birds are other helpful identifiers.

Listen and learn

Another method for identifying birds is by their sound. The Merlin Bird ID app can record bird sounds and identify the bird species from the audio clip. New birders can also listen to bird songs on their computers to learn the sounds associated with different species, although Burras said listening to birds in the wild is ideal.

“There just is no substitution for just spending time outdoors,” said Burras. “It's just like so many things, it's just repetition. It's that visual connection between the bird and its song.”

Through your observations and exploration, you can discover and appreciate the diversity of the natural world around you - particularly in spring, as new life is hatched and nurtured.

To learn more about nesting season in Iowa, listen to the full conversation on the <i>Talk of Iowa</i> podcast .

This episode was produced by <i>Dani Gehr</i> . Talk of Iowa is hosted by <i>Charity Nebbe.</i>