canberrabirds

Sorry... and Thornbill identification

To: "Ian Fraser" <>, <>
Subject: Sorry... and Thornbill identification
From: "Overs, Anthony \(REPS\)" <>
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 10:41:38 +1000

Well done Ian. A terrific reply, with some great advice for beginners.

 

I would like to back up Ian on a couple of things.

 

Beginners are more than welcome to join any COG outing (don’t feel as though two outings a year is all that we put on for beginners!). Please let the leader know that you are less experienced or would like some assistance. The leader will either hook you up with a more experienced member or take a bit of extra time to make sure you see and hear what everyone else is seeing and hearing. And please don’t be afraid to ask questions, no matter how silly or simple you feel they might be. Remember, everyone was a beginner once.

 

Another point, and one that I always emphasise with beginners, is to try to learn some calls as you go. Being aware of calls opens up a whole new world to a new birder. Yes, it takes a lot of practice, and is like learning a language, but it’s very rewarding. Your ability to identify what species are in a particular patch will increase immensely. With some practice, and maybe listening to some recorded calls (thanks Geoffrey) the six thornbills (well, five thornbills and the weebill) we get around here should be reasonably easy to identify.

 

I’m more than happy to help people identify birds (in photographs or otherwise). It’s great to see that Julian had a go, narrowed it down, discussed the diagnostic features, but still needed a bit of help, so he asked. Sometimes it’s a bit hard to help someone identify a bird with a general description like “it was small and brown”!

 

Happy birding

Anthony

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Fraser [
Sent: Friday, 18 August 2006 10:00 AM
To:
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Sorry... and Thornbill identification

 

Hello Julian. I'd actually put this one aside to let someone more qualified than I answer, but Janette's timely comment made me realise that perhaps we all do that too often.

By taking the plunge now, I'm not for a moment suggesting that I'm the best one to do this, but as on other occasions perhaps if I start off with a couple of basic suggestions, then others can come in with more useful stuff.

Firstly, don't despair! The first months are the hardest, when everything is new and there are no reference points. But you're already making progress - you've recognised your bird as a thornbill and a while ago you couldn't have done that; give yourself credit. For a while, a flock of birds is just that - a homogeneous mass. But as you persevere with the commoner ones everywhere you go, you'll find that you can automatically 'screen out' the Silvereyes, White-plumed HEs, Yellow-rumped Thornbills etc and focus on the less familiar ones. (Then go back and enjoy the ones you initially screened out!) You'll find yourself knowing if something is 'different'.

There's no quick fix I'm afraid - in fact there's no substitute at all for lots of practice. Get familiar with your field guides (and if I may, I'd suggest both a 'national' guide and the McComas Taylor's "FG to the Birds of the ACT", published by the ACT Nat Parks Assoc - that filters out for you the things that are only in Kakadu or Tassie, so you're not spending time wondering if it's one of them!). Go through them and through them, until you know what to expect and where to look in the book. In particular, try to get a feel for different groups - as you're obviously already doing!

Listen too - and if you don't recognise a call, always follow it up. We remember both call and bird better that way.

Don't try to do it all on your own. COG is full of knowledgeable and generous birdos who are happy to share their knowledge. Go on all the excursions you can and announce yourself as a tyro and people will look out for you. We were all there once!

Thornbills - all the above apply, and I'd challenge any of my colleagues to say that they don't sometimes have to spend a while on one before they're (reasonably!) confident of what they're looking at. Get in the habit initially of a little check list. You've recognised eye colour as important - spot on!; is it alone/a pair, or a flock?; mostly on ground or in foliage?; streaked anywhere? on the forehead? scalloped on forehead? eyebrow? and of course contrasting rump colour? (And I have more than once (or twice!) seen yellow rumps initially which, in different light didn't look so yellow after all... Some Buffies are brighter than others! Or their bums are anyway...)

OK, more than enough from me - over to someone else.

On the behaviour etc; I am very reluctant to say this, being very scrupulous about anything resembling advertising on this list. However this does seem pertinent in the context. I teach a course called 'Understanding Birds' which just may be of use. If anyone's interested, please contact me off line.

And just one final suggestion - don't let anything overwhelm your simple pleasure in the birds themselves.

happy birding

Ian

---
Ian Fraser,  
Environment Tours; Vertego Environmental Wordsmithing
GPO Box 3268, Canberra, ACT 2601
ph: 61 2 6249 1560  fax: 61 2 6247 3227
---

 

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