Bird Identification

This page covers identification of the parts of a bird body and tips to make identifying birds easier.

• For detailed information about some common US birds, see Top North American Bird Fact Sheets
• For photo reference indeces to help you identify a bird you saw, see Bird Photos
• For bird species information, see Bird Species and Ornithology

Parts of a Bird Body

Learning to identify birds is fun and frustrating. A field guide can help you attach a name to most of the birds you see. Field guides are books with pictures and descriptions of the birds. A field guide typically shows birds of just one country or even one region of a country. You will soon learn that many of the birds you see just can't be identified with 100% certainty. But with practice, you should at least be able to narrow your ID down to the correct family -- was it a Sparrow or a Thrush?

You are about to discover that birders seem to have given a name to every inch on a bird's body. Do you know where to find a bird's wing bars, primaries, superciliary and malar stripe? These diagrams will help:

Detailed Diagrams of the Parts of the Bird Body

• Head—Identify the supercilium, orbital ring, and crown...
• Body—Identify the nape, flank, and vent...
• Wing—Identify the different feathers: primaries, secondaries, and greater coverts...

Glossary—This Glossary explains words that describe parts of a bird and other bird terms.