The National Geographic Guide to Birding in North America | The Great Courses

my nan birding friends often marvel at my ability to identify birds at a distance in flight or hopping in a bush invariably they will say something like how do you know that it just looks like expect to me or your vision is obviously way better than mine I can hardly tell that was a bird now while this all might be flattering to my birding ego I am definitely nobody special in the exciting world of birding identification but I've learned through many hours in the field the subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways to identify Birds we do this all the time and consciously with people we know for example I can pick out my wife walking away from me in the distance in a crowded shopping mall they are both obvious and not so obvious clues that lead me to my conclusion her blonde hair is an obvious piece of the puzzle and her distinctive clothing is another these are basic ID tools like size color and shape that we've already covered in previous lectures but the way she walks might not be so apparent to anybody else trying to identify her and the particular manner in which she flicks her hair is something that is unique to her and helps me separate her from other people in the mall it's only because I have spent so much time with her that I recognize these subtle behaviors and of course there are times when I tap my blonde wife on the shoulder and say hey hot stuff only to be shocked to see her good friend turning around to face me you see even the very best birders get it wrong from time to time so don't get disheartened when you make an incorrect ID it happens frequently and making false IDs is the best way to learn in my example I use a suite of ID tools subconsciously to identify my wife birding is the same way we need to use a combination of basic ID tools and advanced ID tools to really become accomplished birders now we can use a field guide to assist us in basic bird identification in other words the field guide provides us with a good blueprint from which to work but a field guide no matter how good it is struggles to convey the motion behavior or flight of birds in the same way observing bird behavior can so in this lecture we're going to focus on bird behavior and my goal is a simple one I want to demonstrate how a well-rounded knowledge of behavior can help you become a better birder okay so what exactly is bird behavior bird behavior is often referred to as bird habits the habits of birds vary just as much as their color size and shape and can be a very useful aid in bird identification when you're out in the field observing a bird you should ask yourself continually what the bird is doing its behavior will often give telltale clues about its identity now because the range of behavioral differences can be so vast it's helpful to organize bird behavior into six broad categories typical behavior feeding behavior flight behavior flocking behavior mating behavior and lastly nesting behavior let's delve into each one of these categories and explore how these habits might aid you in bird identification first up is typical behavior it includes the individual quirks that a bird has that separated from other birds remember what I said about my wife's distinctive walk well this is what we're talking about here these are the habitual movements that our bird does constantly and not just while engaging in other behavior like feeding or flying once you spend a lot of time in the field these individual quirks and subtleties will become apparent and of course many of these can be learned from other more experienced birders which is why I encourage you to spend as much time as possible in the field with local experts let's look at a few examples of how typical behavior can assist in bird identification shorebirds are a broad group of birds that can present extremely tough ID challenges especially when they are out of breeding plumage but the way that a sandal in runs along the shoreline hugging the waves is totally unique and their legs on nothing but a blur of motion even if it's amongst other similar birds like semi palmated sandpipers the way that it runs is totally distinctive another shore bird the spotted Sandpiper can be identified immediately by its constant tail bobbing an unusual teetering walking style and once you learn this you will never need to look at any other detail of the bird like color or shape tail bobbing as in the spotted Sandpiper is a form of typical behavior that is unique to only a handful of birds like water thrashes Phebe's and a few sparrows and Warblers Warblers like shorebirds can sometimes present a serious ID challenge to new birders but I know that both Prairie and Palm Warblers unlike the majority of other Warbler species Bob their tails incessantly water thrashes of which there are two species in the United States can also be easily identifiable by the fact that they're constantly bobbing their tails but the way that they bob their tails can sometimes be different between two species and herein lies the key to using typical behavior to separate two very similar birds the Northern Water thrush and the Louisiana water thrush at first glance even for experienced birders it's almost impossible to tell the apart but if you watch the way they Bob their tails you'll notice that the northern species Bob's its tail straight up and down in a continuous manner the Louisiana species tends to bob its tail slower and in an almost circular manner instead of straight up and down besides tail bobbing the amount of activity that a bird exhibits can also give away clues very oohs can often be hard to tell apart from Warblers but the former tend to move much slower and don't reflect actively and constantly like the Warblers so that gives you a taste of our first category of behavior typical behavior now let's turn to feeding behavior which can be used on two levels to assist with the identification of birds in the field at the macro level a birds feeding behavior can assist in categorizing a particular species into a particular family or order for example a bird clinging to a tree and drumming its bull against it's almost certainly going to be a woodpecker at the macro level feeding behavior can also be used to narrow a larger group into a smaller grouping that can aid further in identification imagine you see some birds on a lake that had flattened Bulls by their size and shape and the fact that they're sitting on water you know them to be ducks but then you notice that the birds are diving and that they disappear for quite long periods of time between surfacing just by noticing this feeding behavior you know that the Ducks you are looking at belong to the diving ducks rather than the dabbling ducks you know this because dabbling ducks forage in shallow water appending themselves sure but never totally submerging themselves the way that diving ducks do at the micro level a birds feeding behavior can be entirely distinct from any other bird in its family or order take for example the obvious case of the amazing American Dipper the only songbird in North America that completely submerges itself when hunting for its food with its habitats along the streams of the American West this bird quickly ducks into the water to feed on aquatic insects and other invertebrates feeding behavior can also be useful when you're observing shorebirds which ever as I've noted are a real identification challenge for all birders new and experienced to particular species that can often be found feeding together our stilts and Piper's and long-billed archers at first glance these two species superficially resemble each other they're both similar in size and they both have long black balls and they also have very similar color for the most part but if you watch the way that they feed you will notice that the stilts and Piper's because they're bulls are shorter than the dowager's and their legs longer have to tilt down further to probe in the mud their tails therefore are more elevated than that of the dowager's the stilt sandpipers resembles speeded up land oil rigs plumbing for oil with their tails sticking up in the air the dowager's on the other hand feed in a more parallel fashion and work their Bulls much like a sewing machine probing the mud in quick short bursts still working at the micro level the wading birds otherwise known as the egrets and herons provide us with another great example the feeding behavior of these birds can easily be used to aid in identification without the need for additional characteristics this is particularly relevant because many different species of these egrets and herons can be entirely white and color Snowy Egrets cattle egrets and great egrets are always white little blue herons are white as juveniles and reddish Egret can quite commonly be seen as morphs morph is just another word for a different variety or color even great blue herons have a very rare white form otherwise known as word amongst heron now it's true that size and certain other physical features can readily be used to distinguish between these different species but behavior can be even more useful especially when the birds are at a distance for example cattle egrets unlike all the other wading bird species seldom feed in water and are most often seen in field feeding on insects disturbed by large animals or tractors hence their name reddish Egret are the most active of all the wading birds their constant dashing around with wings and legs splayed when feeding has spawned the analogy of an NFL linebacker and then there's the snowy egret which takes this activity level down a notch although it still actively walks and jumps around while chasing small minnows and the shallows the little blue heron is far less active in fact it seems to do everything in slow motion it walks slowly and deliberately towards a group of fish takes aim and then quickly stabs then we have the Great Egret and the great blue herons which are typical of what we call stand and wait predators they will often stand against all four up to several hours in one place just waiting for something to come their way it's almost as though they become part of the scenery until an unlucky customer comes in reach of that stabbing bull these unique examples show how all the white herons and white morphs can be separated based on behavior alone feeding behavior at a distance or in bad light can be very revealing in order to distinguish between two closely related or similar species if I see Pelican spiraling and then crashing into the water headfirst I know that this plunge driving behavior can only belong to the brown pelican species however if I see a large flock of pelicans corralling fish on a lake in a coordinated fishing for a then I know even if the light is terrible and they are far away that these birds are white pelicans some species of raptors use specific feeding techniques that are seldom if ever used by other species if you happen to be in South Florida for example in winter you might see a Raptor soaring high amongst a large kettle of vultures this will more than likely be the rare short tailed hawk especially if it's in winter a raptor which uses vulture kettles as a form of concealment whilst hunting birds and if you happen to be in Texas and you come across a strange Raptor with the crest walking through a field or patrolling the edge of a lagoon on foot this might well turn out to be the unique crested Caracara okay so far we've covered two of our behavioural categories typical behavior and feeding behavior now let's turn to our third flight behavior flight behavior is the single most useful ID tool when trying to identify birds in the air all birds have distinct flight patterns and learning these can make you look like an absolute pro ask yourself these questions what does the flight look like is the flight pattern straight is it Angela ting or bouncy are the wing beats fast or are they slow and deliberate does the bird hover like a helicopter let's now consider a few flight patterns that might be useful for identification purposes woodpeckers and some other birds appear to bounce in flight as they alternate flapping with gliding in woodpeckers this leads to a swooping or Angela ting bounce but in smaller birds like finches the bouncing is quicker and even jerky this is caused by the bird actually holding its wings closed for a brief instant and then quickly splitting the wings again Raptors can pose serious identification challenges the reason for this are twofold many species have several color morphs and aged images Raptors also spend much of their time in the air making a close ID almost impossible so being able to identify raptors and flight is often the best and often the only way to know what you're looking at knowing the flight patterns of different types of raptors can narrow down the ID challenge to just a few species so that size shape and color can be supplemented to nail down an ID some birds of prey like Falcons and ghazals fly in a dead straight line using speed and the element of surprise to catch their prey others like red-tailed Hawks and bald eagles circle and saw white tailed kites kestrels raffling hawks and white tail Hawks will often hover in the air remaining in one place with their heads and bodies still while their rapid wing beats keep them totally stationary Ospreys plunge dye for fish sometimes completely submerging themselves in the process Harriers are well known for coursing lower over fields and marshes in a feeding technique known as quartering and then there are the hummingbirds which have the ability to hover dip and fly backwards like a helicopter interesting to note that no other bird can fly backwards so if you see a small bird backing up in flight and you're sober you can be a hand a percent sure that it is a hummingbird of sorts and then there are other bird species that have entirely unique flight patterns these cannot be confused with any other bird remember the spotted Sandpiper we described earlier as having a distinctive walk well this bird also has a very peculiar wearing flight with extremely rapid wing beats that is dissimilar to any of the other Shore bird species so as with the feeding techniques you can use flight patterns and behavior to narrow down your ID at the macro level and sometimes even nil an ID straight away at the micro level whether bird loves singly or in a flock is a very underestimated but nevertheless important tool especially for a beginning birder and this leads me to my next type of behavior flocking behavior this is a tendency of certain species of birds to form part of a closely knit group of other birds mostly but not always of the same species think for a moment how likely you are to see a cedar waxwing on its own unless it's sick injured breeding or very lost this is highly unlikely conversely how likely are you to encounter a closely knit flock of Cardinals unless you're watching Arizona play football this too is very unlikely then let's look at a chattering group of small yellow birds at the top of a tree this is more likely to be a flock of gold finches than common yellow throats which live singly or in pairs in small shrubby bushes these examples show how the tendency of a bird to flock can be quite useful to beginners and as you become more experienced knowledge of flocking behavior becomes almost second nature and serves as an excellent aid in making quick and reliable IDs just remember that some birds tend to flock more at the end of summer when they gather for migration three swallows are the perfect example since these wonderful aerialists stay together in closed flocks during the winter during summer however they tend to be found much more loosely so that gives us an overview of four of our categories typical feeding flight and flocking behaviors our final two categories are mating and nesting behaviors mating behaviors are not readily used as a tool for identifying birds but these fascinating displays differ widely from species to species and can make for really interesting birding birds tend to use day length and weather changes to tell what season it is when the number of daylight hours increases above a particular level certain physiological changes occur in a bird that dictate its time to breed most types of birds will make sure that they time their breeding with the seasons when food will be most abundant for feeding their rapidly growing babies but well before they contemplate building a nest and raising young they need to choose a suitable mate and then select a breeding site some non migratory birds will maintain a territory throughout the year and then choose a mate either that they've been with all year or a new one depending on the species let's take the mute swan for example a species introduced from Europe these birds aggressively defend their territory all year and actually mate for life other non migratory birds will actively select and defend a new territory in the spring and then set about finding a mate an example is the blue jay which will wonder more widely during non breeding season and then defend a particular territory starting in the spring but migrate early birds like many species of Warblers said about maintaining a territory as quickly as possible after their arrival from their wintering grounds once the territory has been established these birds then turn to finding a mate or displaying to an existing one the females of most species will choose a male based on the prowess of his mating display his nest building ability his breeding plumage and various other display behaviors like dancing or drumming males will often bring food to the female to cement the pair bond some birds such as albatrosses and swans mate for life but many male birds choose a mate for only one season still others choose several mates in a season in a system known as polygamy and then there are even a precious few bird species in which it is the female that mates with several males in a system called polyandry a great example of this is the northern jacana a bird which is common in Mexico and which occasionally makes an appearance in the southern US and is even bred in Texas so let's look briefly at some of the more interesting mating displays watching an understanding mating displays can be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of birding Western greed couples engage in a high-energy tandem rushing ceremony where they run at high speed on the water with their necks elongated in perfect synchrony like you waiting ice skaters it truly is one of the most amazing birding spectacles to witness and then there's the male greater sage-grouse which inflates its air sac puffs out its neck and erect such tail feathers and produces a weird popping sound that can be heard by females from miles away male prairie chickens gather in large numbers at communal licks or staging grounds yeah they attempt to lure in females by produce an eerie booming sound while strumming their feet energetically on the ground sandhill cranes engage in a delightful dance and present each other with gift and then we can't forget the white colored and red capped mannequins from Mexico that perform elaborate dances and wing snapping displays these are just a few of the incredible mating displays of the birds of North America but related to mating behavior is our final category nesting behavior nesting can offer fascinating insight into the private lives of birds but knowing what birds build what nest can assist in locating and identifying a particular species - approximately 700 species of birds breed in North America and the variances in their behaviors are awe-inspiring and complex at the same time birds go about finding mates building nests and raising young in surprisingly different ways nests are perfectly designed to provide a safe place for birds to raise their young they are as diverse as the different mating strategies of birds some nests are a simple scrape in the ground some are elaborate structures composed of lichen grasses and other materials others are massive stick structures that are heavy enough to break the bow of a large tree nests can be found just about anywhere from beaches to buildings to cavities and trees to bridges to caves and many more so let's explore some of the most common types of nesting behavior and see how nests themselves can give away useful clues as to the presence of a certain bird species when most people think of a bird's nest I bet they would describe a simple cup shaped structure both of some kind of vegetation and other material this is pretty accurate as it is the most common type of nest cap structures made out of grass reeds or other delicate materials are commonly used by many species of passerines with some variation this is the typical nest of sparrows Warblers videos robins thrashes cardinals and more in order to successfully identify a nest observe it from a distance first and see if there is any activity and remember that many female birds look very different from males and can often be harder to identify take notes so that you can try and identify the bird later in your field guide also take note of what time of year it is resident birds tend to breed in late winter and early spring migrator of species tend to nest in early summer this is because it takes them a little time to settle into their new home after their exhausting migration for example a pygmy nuthatch in California will nest in March whereas many of the returning Warbler species will nest in May or June and remember that migratory birds tend to nest earlier in the south than in the northern states due to the warmer climate and of course you'll want to take notes on the nest itself is it on the ground or is it high up in a tree what materials are used is there a lining in the nest have spider web or mad been used to bind it together is there any like enormous attached to the side of the nest for concealment purposes what is the shape of the nest is it simple or is it more complex if there are eggs inside take careful note of the color size and shape of the eggs the size of an egg is proportionate to the size of the bird pointy eggs tend to belong to birds that nest in shallow scrapes in the ground or on the edges of cliffs birds like turns and shorebirds for example the reason for this is that the eggs are harder for them to roll out of the scrape when they pointy but remember always be as quick as possible around an active nest and never touch or move the nest once you have taken notes on the nest you're observing you can turn to field guides and other resources for help in reaching a positive identification but here are a few examples of nests to get you started most pigeons and doug's both very rudimentary nests of sticks in the forks of trees large Raptors like Eagles build massive stick platforms most often right at the top of trees Orioles actually weaver nest it is like an elongated pouch with an opening on the top very O's usually build a nest between two sticks of a branch and the nest hangs down below the fork some species like chickadees wrens bluebirds and nap hatches will build a nest inside a cavity of a tree Phoebe's and swallows both complicated nests out of mud and feathers that hang under a bridge Rockledge or under the eaves of a house this just scratches the surface of the many types of nests you'll find in North America the variety is truly remarkable which presents as birders with a lifetime of opportunities to compare contrast and discover something new and with that we've reached the end of our lecture on using bird behavior as an advanced birding tool in covering the six core types of bird behavior we've developed some tools that will help you navigate the rich diversity of America's bird species now it's up to you to put these tools to use so get out there and train your eyes who knows maybe soon your friends like mine will be marveling at your ability to turn subtle quirks of behavior into a confident identification you

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Length: 31min 19sec (1879 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 05 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/Dolleste]

Thank you for this. I'm watching this right now. I feel I have questions though. He said cardinals aren't a flocking breed. Why do I genuinely see them in pairs?

[u/kmoonster]

A good watch regardless of your experience, don't worry :)

[u/[deleted]]

Nice! You should post this to other subs as well so that people get more familiar with this hobby! r/hobbies and r/documentaries come to mind.