How to Identify Southwestern Birds

Whether you live along the southeast coast of California, deep in the desert of Arizona, on a ranch in rural west Texas or in the big city of any Southwestern state, you live with Southwestern birds. To some, they’re part of the landscape fading into the background of our busy world. To others, Southwestern birds are more like companions, feathered friends we watch with wonder and want to know better.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Full-color field guide on Southwest birds
• Binoculars
• Camera
• Three-ring notebook
• Unlined paper, hole-punched
• Pens and pencils
• Colored pencils or crayons

1. Observe. Whether it’s in your own backyard or on a field trip deep into the desert, take the time to simply watch and enjoy the birds without the pressure of identification. You’re going to miss the magic of the bird community if you’re constantly looking up and down from a field guide or a sketch pad. It’s ideal if you can immerse yourself in their world for several hours at a time, to get a feel for their spirits, personalities, habits and rituals, and their comings and goings of the day.

2. Get a full-color field guide of Southwest birds. Read it cover to cover, or just flip through. It's a great way to familiarize yourself with Southwest birds before you go back out into the field to start recording your research. Divided into categories, your field guide should allow you to easily concentrate on the type of birds in your area. For instance, the type of birds that live by the water will vary greatly from those that live in the desert. Chances are, you’ll recognize immediately some of the birds you already saw during your initial observation.

3. Assemble all of your bird-watching materials (field guide, binoculars, notebook, paper, pens, pencils and colored pencils or crayons) and head out into the field. Since your interest in bird identification could last a lifetime, it’s advisable to use a three-ring notebook so that you can always incorporate new pages into each bird’s specific section to keep all of its notes together.

4. Go back into the field and take notes, drawings and photographs, reserving every page (front and back) for just one bird. What is the shape of its silhouette in flight, in a tree or on the ground? Look for distinctive traits such as the colors and shape of its head, eye markings, throat, wings, tail and feet. What is its body shape: plump or more narrow and thin? What is the shape and length of its beak? How does it feed? How does it walk? How does it move around in trees? How does it interact with other birds? What is its habitat? What does it sound like when it sings, calls or cries out?

5. Go through your field guide, page by page, looking for the birds in question. Don’t be surprised if you have two or three possibilities that you cannot rule out. If that is the case, make a note of it. List each possibility, including all of its details, which you can use to narrow it down next time you’re out in the field.

Tips & Warnings

• You can never have too many field guides, as each one differs in its presentation of information. For instance, that bird you’ve been trying to identify for weeks through one field may pop right out at you in another. And don’t limit yourself to field guides only about Southwest birds. Field guides on North American birds can be equally helpful.