Understanding Bird Watching Terminology

HOME 1.

Review Guidelines | 2.

Review TOS | 3.

Signup FREE | 4.

Submit Articles

Free Articles on Hobbies and many other topics
Another free Hobbies article for you

Home | Home & Family | Hobbies

Understanding Bird Watching Terminology - By: Spence Talbots, Posted on: 2007-04-04

Bird watching is like an addiction. Once you are hooked, there is no getting away from it. Since doing so is hopeless, you need to understand the terminology you will here.

Hawking is a form of food gathering. As the name suggest, the bird will wait at a high point and inspect below for food. When it sights said food, it swoops down and snatches it.

The act of bill sweeping is often associated with nesting. Both parents will sweep their bills over the nest as part of a feeding ritual for chicks. The bills usually contain food for the chicks.

A Field mark refers to distinctive characteristics used by a birder to identify particular birds in the wild. Field marks can be coloring, shapes, size and so on.

Birds are often cleaning themselves. This act is referred to as preening. Each species handles it differently, but a common characteristic is the use of the beak to clean wings and such. Not to be confused with anting.

When a female lays eggs, the resulting eggs are known as a clutch. It has no relation to vehicles. The number of eggs in the clutch depends on the bird.

Photoperiodism refers to the reaction of birds as well as other animals and plants to the changing amounts of sunlight in a day during the year. Breeding periods and migration are believed to be triggered by it.

Bird designated as dabblers are ones that sit on the water and tip down to eat food, whether plants or animals, below the surface. Ducks are classic dabblers.

Shearing is a flight specific activity to certain birds. It is the graceful act of dipping the edge of one wing into water and then slowly rotating to dipping the other tip while flying across the water.

Not all nesting is the same. Cavity nesting refers to birds that make their nests in the cavities of trees and other structures. The placement of the nest high or near the grown can be a field marker of sorts.

A diurnal species refers to a bird that feeds and is active primarily during the day, the opposite of how most birds customarily act.

Nalospi is a measurement that helps in the classification of sighted birds. The Nalospi is the distance between the tip of the bill and the forward edge of the nostril. It is not always easy to see and calculate.

Twitchers do not refer to birds, but those of us that watch them. If you get head over heals about it, you can get very excited and even nervous about a new sighting. This is known as twitching and you are a twitcher!

The wattle is one of the easier markers on bird. It is the structure on the top of the head. It can be a comb, gathering of feathers or bone structure. Identify the wattle, and you are on your way to identifying the bird.

The most important thing about bird watching terms is to understand their place. They can help you understand what you are seeing, but should not divert you from the pure beauty of the sighting.

=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=

VISIT NOW
Your search engine on any topic

Build A Niche Store. -- Click Here!

Article Source: http://higradesearch.com

Keep bird watching journals to enhance your sightings.
This and other unique content bird articles are available with free reprint rights.

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated