Bird Watching Jargon For Enthusiasts

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.

Abmigration is the movement of a bird from one breeding area to another by pairing in a flock with a bird from the new area. They then travel during the next season.

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.

The brood is somewhat of a catch all term meaning either the young birds hatched from a clutch of eggs or the act of incubating eggs in the nest. It can also refer as a verb to the act of keeping chick warm.

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.

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.

The speculum is a marketing area found on a duck. Many ducks have a patch of color on their wings. The color distinction and shape can be used for identification purposes.

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

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!

The act of gleaning refers to birds that pick their food off of upright structures such as trees. Some do it while hovering, but many may just land on the structure and whip their head back and forth to find food.

Being able to speak Birdinese is important, but hardly the key to enjoying your time on sighting trips. If you feel overwhelmed by the terms, forget them and just enjoy yourself.

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