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Understanding Bird Watching Terminology

By: Spence Talbots

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.

Orientation refers to the navigation ability of birds. Some can orient to a particular direction during migration while others seem to be effected by the length of the day. Surprisingly, little is understood about how this happens.

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.

The act of mobbing is very interesting amongst birds. It refers to the little guys standing up to a big predator. Many smaller birds will unite to attack and drive away a larger predator. This act is particularly prevalent during nesting periods.

The act of probing refers to bird conduct during feeding sessions. Birds will probe areas such as dead bark, mud and what have you to find food. The type of probing is dependent upon the particular bird and is a crude method for identification.

Dabbling is the act of a bird sitting on the water and feeding by moving its head below the water line to access plants, bugs, animals and whatever it happens to eat.

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.

As you know, the legs of birds are odd. The tarsas is the element of the leg that is just below the leg and above the ankle. It is considered part of the ankle anatomy.

As with humans, bird drumming refers to a noise made by birds. It is typically done by males to attract females. The drums are often trees or other structure that produce a particular noise when knocked.

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!

Nidifugous refers to a certain type of bird and the hatching process. Many chicks are born unable to take care of themselves. Nidifugous chicks are self-sufficient for the most part immediately after hatching.

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.

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