I can confidently say that I birded Arizona without much confidence over the last two weeks. I’m proficient in Maine. I have the home court advantage. But drop me into a faraway place, and I’m just a rookie.
OK, I’m an experienced rookie.
I spent a lot of time laughing at myself for the mistakes I knew I was making. I made a lot of them and enjoyed every one. I learn more quickly by making mistakes. The more embarrassing, the better. I remember those awkward errors, and hopefully I won’t make them again.
Maine birders have it easy. We have one hummingbird species — the ruby-throated hummingbird. Arizona has up to 17 hummingbirds. They can be devilishly hard to differentiate.
Maine has one kingbird — the eastern kingbird. Arizona has four. I still can’t reliably identify three of them. Flycatchers were even more diverse with 19 species, including phoebes and pewees. Maine has only eight.
Maine has the brown thrasher. The same thrasher also breeds in Arizona, along with four other species.
Arizona gave me hundreds of chances to misidentify birds. I took full advantage of every opportunity.
After a week of mayhem, a funny thing happened. I started making fewer mistakes. In one week, I went from inept to almost competent, for one simple reason that made me laugh.
I followed my own birding advice, using the same principles I’ve preached for years in this column.
What an amusing relief to learn that my advice actually works. Here are some of those pearls of wisdom.
The most common birds are the most common.
I saw and heard a lot of birds in the canyons near Tucson that do not occur east of the Mississippi. On Day One, they were all equally unfamiliar. But some were so abundant, they quickly became familiar by sight and sound.
Before boarding the flight to Phoenix, I had never seen nor heard a Lucy’s warbler. In the first few days on the ground, I witnessed dozens. Soon, I knew that bird’s song so well, I didn’t have to think about it.
That’s why I always advise beginners to learn the common birds first. Once you know the common birds in your area, the uncommon ones become easier to identify. When you encounter an unfamiliar bird, you’ll know it’s not a familiar one.
Go with what you know.
I don’t know a lot of western birds, but I know eastern birds. During my Arizona vacation, I learned new species by mentally associating them with familiar ones.
For instance, Townsend’s warblers out West physically resemble magnolia warblers, and sing like northern parulas. Arizona’s painted redstarts have a song reminiscent of our yellow-rumped warblers, while black-throated gray warblers sound a bit like Maine’s chestnut-sided warblers.
It works the same way here at home. Many less common birds in Maine look or sound like more familiar birds.
For instance, scarlet tanagers and rose-breasted grosbeaks sound a little like robins. When learning new bird songs, a useful mental shortcut is to recognize their similarity to familiar ones. You don’t even have to think much, once it becomes a habit. Go with what you know.
Focus on field marks.
When trying to identify a bird, color is important. But it’s also deceptive. Many birds share the same colors. Instead, focus on the bird’s field marks.
Some are particularly helpful for identification purposes. Does it have wing bars? Streaked breast or plain? Eye ring, eyeline, eyebrow or nothing? Throat color? People looking to improve their identification skills should practice looking for these visual clues.
This tip definitely saved my bacon in Arizona.
Altogether, I saw nine hummingbird species during my trip. All were similar shades of green, just like our ruby-throated hummingbirds back home.
Field marks were the only identity clues, and I focused on them in desperate confusion. Sometimes, the key feature was just a little white spot above the eye. On others, it was a question of a dark or light breast.
Focusing quickly on field marks became a constant habit — the same one that every budding birder should develop.
In Arizona, my favorite of the nine hummer species we encountered was the broad-billed hummingbird, with its distinctive red bill.
My birding skills are well-developed, because I practice. Anybody can identify birds, both by sight and sound, no matter where they go.
Get to know the common birds around home. Use what you already know. Focus on field marks.
And above all, make mistakes.
