THE JOURNAL / Free Bird Identifier
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Showing 127–144 of 150 guides
THE READING ROOM / 08Rock Pigeon Identification: Plumage, Age, Sex, and Variation
Learn to identify rock pigeons by their shape and plumage, and understand how age, sex, geography, and domestication affect their appearance.
Read the guideRuby-Throated Hummingbird Identification: Key Field Marks
Identify ruby-throated hummingbirds by plumage, bill, size, range, and seasonal differences between adult males, females, and young birds.
Read the guideSmall Birds With Long Beaks: How to Identify Them
Learn how bill shape, plumage, habitat, and location help distinguish small birds with long beaks, from hummingbirds to shorebirds.
Read the guideSmall Brown Birds: How to Identify Common Species
Learn how size, bill shape, streaking, face patterns, habitat, and location can help distinguish small brown birds.
Read the guideSnow Goose vs. Ross’s Goose: How to Tell Them Apart
Compare Snow Geese and Ross’s Geese by size, bill shape, plumage, age, sex, and range, with practical tips for identifying birds in photos.
Read the guideSong Sparrow Identification: Key Field Marks and Regional Variation
Learn how to identify song sparrows by their streaked plumage, central breast spot, face pattern, and the regional variation that complicates comparisons.
Read the guideSong Sparrow vs. Savannah Sparrow: Visual Field Marks and Range
Compare Song and Savannah Sparrows by streaking, facial markings, habitat, range, and seasonal plumage to identify them more confidently from photos.
Read the guideSparrow Head Markings: How to Read the Key Field Marks
Learn how sparrow crown stripes, eye lines, cheeks, and throat patches help with identification—and how age, sex, season, and location affect what you see.
Read the guideSpotted Towhee Identification: Field Marks, Sex, Age, and Range
Learn to identify a Spotted Towhee by its bold plumage, red eyes, white spots, and regional differences—and separate it from similar birds.
Read the guideTree Swallow Identification: Key Field Marks, Age, and Season
Learn to identify Tree Swallows by their iridescent plumage, clean white underparts, shape, habitat, and seasonal differences.
Read the guideTufted Titmouse Identification: Key Field Marks and Look-Alikes
Learn how to identify a tufted titmouse by its crest, face, plumage, range, and differences from similar backyard birds.
Read the guideTurkey Vulture Identification: Field Marks and Look-Alikes
Learn to identify turkey vultures by their soaring shape, two-tone wings, red head, and differences from black vultures and other raptors.
Read the guideTurkey Vulture vs. Black Vulture: How to Tell Them Apart
Compare turkey and black vultures by head color, flight shape, wing patterns, range, and age-related plumage differences.
Read the guideWhat Are Bird Field Marks? A Visual Guide to Identification
Learn how color, shape, patterns, geography, age, sex, and seasonal plumage help identify birds from photographs.
Read the guideWhite Birds with Long Legs: How to Identify Them
Learn to identify white long-legged birds by their shape, bill, plumage, habitat, and the field marks that distinguish similar species.
Read the guideWhite-Breasted Nuthatch Identification: Key Field Marks and Lookalikes
Identify a white-breasted nuthatch by its compact shape, bold head pattern, pale underside, and distinctive behavior, while accounting for regional variation and lookalikes.
Read the guideWhite-Crowned Sparrow Identification: Key Field Marks and Lookalikes
Learn how to identify a White-crowned Sparrow by its head stripes, bill, plumage, habitat, and differences from similar sparrows.
Read the guideWhite-Crowned Sparrow vs. White-Throated Sparrow: How to Tell Them Apart
Compare the bold head stripes, yellow lores, bill color, and seasonal variation that distinguish these two similar sparrows in photos.
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