Missouri Department of Conservation

What to Notice About Birds

Every bird species exhibits its own identification clues, including all of the following: size and shape, color and field marks, songs and calls, behavior traits and habitats where they are most likely to be found. Some species can be identified from just a few clues. Others require careful observation of every detail and every trait.

How big is a certain bird compared to one you already know, such as . . .

A house sparrow?

A robin?

A crow?

Is it . . .

Slender as a mockingbird?

Chunky as a meadowlark?

Is its bill . . .

Fine, as a warbler's?

Cone-shaped, as a cardinal's?

Thicker, as a vireo's?

Are its wings shaped like those of . . .

A forster's tern?

A northern bobwhite?

A red-tailed hawk?

Is its tail like that of . . .

A barn swallow?

An eastern bluebird?

A blue jay?

Does it catch insects during short flights like a flycatcher, or during long flights like a swift? Does it glean food from the bark of trees like a nuthatch?

Great crested flycatcher

Chimney swift

White-breasted nuthatch

Does it cock its tail like a wren, flip its tail like a phoebe, or bob its whole body like a waterthrush?

House wren

Eastern phoebe

Louisiana waterthrush