The RSPB leaflet shows the pictures and gives the names of 15 birds. But you need to be able to identify them instantly before they fly away. There are two problems. One is distinguishing the bird by a colour. A second problem is telling two similar birds apart.
I began with two birds I knew well. The robin redbreast has a red breast. The magpie is black and white.
1 House sparrow. Striped wings like a timber frame house with black beams horizontal on brown.
2 Greenfinch. Green breast. (Green breast, grey wings, yellow on wings and beak.)
3 Robin redbreast. Only the breast is red. (The underbelly is grey-white. The wings are a darker plain colour. No stark black or white.) Looks friendly.
4 Chaffinch. Red - more red than robin redbreast, red tummy too. Looks cross that you confused it with a robin. Little fat beak. Bits of black and white like a magpie. Cross than anybody could confuse it with a magpie when only a tiny bit of the wing looks like a magpie. .
5 Collared dove. Black collar or necklace. Otherwise peaceful, clam, white or off-white. Seen on Xmas cards like snow white.
6 Magpie. Black and white. Like a well dressed man in a dinner suit. White belly shirt. Black (jacket) and black tail(coat).
7 Dunnock. Dull bird. Stripey like a house sparrow but all grey dull front and all grey head.
8 Goldfinch. Yellow gold patch on wing. Red face.
9 Jackdaw. All black - including beak. (Unlike male blackbird which has a yellow beak.)
10 Song thrush. (Has lines of dots like musical notes horizontally along breast.)
11 Coat tit. Black as coal head or titfer. Tits are tiny birds which have tiny beaks.
12 Blue tit. Blue titfer or head. (Blue back and wings, yellow breast.)
13 Wren. Small brown bird. White horizontal line follows beak across head.
14 Starling. Black like a film star in a top hat. High head. Long beak like a loquacious star in talkies.
15 Woodpigeon. Big bird more colourful than the dove. Orange beak and green cravat at back, pinky breast. Think woods and berries and holly, red and green tones.
In the USA Bird-feeding is the most popular hobby after gardening. February is national bird feeding month.
Back to UK:
NB Blackbird male is black with a yellow beak. Blackbird female is smaller and brown.
I picked up a handy guide to birds in this week's Waitrose Weekend magazine in the supermarkets.
The RSPB has more guides.
Wikipedia is also handy.
Bird Song & Sounds
At night you might not see birds but you can hear nocturnal birds such as owls. I bought a toy owl from the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio shop. It is a snowy owl and when you press the wing it makes a squeaky sound. Barn owls have heart shaped flat faces like a disc to reflect sound. Owls have special feathers to help them fly silently and catch their prey, rodents such as mice and rats. Other owls are a browny colour and have what looks like two little sticking up ears.
Bird sounds are on
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/static/content/what-to-look-out-for/
More bird sounds are on IBC Internet Bird Collection
Angela Lansbury is the author of How To Get Out Of The Mess You're In. Also author of 19 other books including Quick Quotations. Buy online from Lulu.com or from the author for a signed copy at a Toastmasters International speakers meeting or from Harrow Writers Circle.
I began with two birds I knew well. The robin redbreast has a red breast. The magpie is black and white.
1 House sparrow. Striped wings like a timber frame house with black beams horizontal on brown.
2 Greenfinch. Green breast. (Green breast, grey wings, yellow on wings and beak.)
3 Robin redbreast. Only the breast is red. (The underbelly is grey-white. The wings are a darker plain colour. No stark black or white.) Looks friendly.
4 Chaffinch. Red - more red than robin redbreast, red tummy too. Looks cross that you confused it with a robin. Little fat beak. Bits of black and white like a magpie. Cross than anybody could confuse it with a magpie when only a tiny bit of the wing looks like a magpie. .
5 Collared dove. Black collar or necklace. Otherwise peaceful, clam, white or off-white. Seen on Xmas cards like snow white.
6 Magpie. Black and white. Like a well dressed man in a dinner suit. White belly shirt. Black (jacket) and black tail(coat).
7 Dunnock. Dull bird. Stripey like a house sparrow but all grey dull front and all grey head.
8 Goldfinch. Yellow gold patch on wing. Red face.
9 Jackdaw. All black - including beak. (Unlike male blackbird which has a yellow beak.)
10 Song thrush. (Has lines of dots like musical notes horizontally along breast.)
11 Coat tit. Black as coal head or titfer. Tits are tiny birds which have tiny beaks.
12 Blue tit. Blue titfer or head. (Blue back and wings, yellow breast.)
13 Wren. Small brown bird. White horizontal line follows beak across head.
14 Starling. Black like a film star in a top hat. High head. Long beak like a loquacious star in talkies.
15 Woodpigeon. Big bird more colourful than the dove. Orange beak and green cravat at back, pinky breast. Think woods and berries and holly, red and green tones.
In the USA Bird-feeding is the most popular hobby after gardening. February is national bird feeding month.
Back to UK:
NB Blackbird male is black with a yellow beak. Blackbird female is smaller and brown.
I picked up a handy guide to birds in this week's Waitrose Weekend magazine in the supermarkets.
The RSPB has more guides.
Wikipedia is also handy.
Bird Song & Sounds
At night you might not see birds but you can hear nocturnal birds such as owls. I bought a toy owl from the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio shop. It is a snowy owl and when you press the wing it makes a squeaky sound. Barn owls have heart shaped flat faces like a disc to reflect sound. Owls have special feathers to help them fly silently and catch their prey, rodents such as mice and rats. Other owls are a browny colour and have what looks like two little sticking up ears.
Bird sounds are on
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/static/content/what-to-look-out-for/
More bird sounds are on IBC Internet Bird Collection
Angela Lansbury is the author of How To Get Out Of The Mess You're In. Also author of 19 other books including Quick Quotations. Buy online from Lulu.com or from the author for a signed copy at a Toastmasters International speakers meeting or from Harrow Writers Circle.
No comments:
Post a Comment