Using a Bird Watching Field Guide

Video Transcript

"Field guides are arranged in taxonomical order. Which is a fancy word to say how highly evolved the species is. Those that are least evolved are in the front, such as the looms, the petrels, the cormorants and on back through the most evolved, which would include the small sparrows and warblers, those with the most intelligence. There are simple invesies available in most book stores that carry field guides that you can put in the front of your book that will narrow them down by families, so that you can quickly turn to that family of birds. And, then you can compare the individuals and the bird you're looking at keeping in mind that specific field marks that you need to look for to help you to narrow down each species. The best thing that you can do is to contact a group such as your local Audubon Society and find out what field trips they have available. You do not have to be a member, it doesn't cost anything for most of those field trips. At least in the Brevard County area, there is no fee for those field trips. You're welcome to go along. The more time you spend in the field with someone who knows the birds, the quicker you're going to learn how to identify each of those species. There are probably in the course of a year, with all of the migrants, around three- hundred fifty to four- hundred species of birds that come through our area. So, that's an awful lot of birds to learn."