A trusty guide

Sparrows blend in to the background pretty well.
Here's a White-throated Sparrow

I get stumped by sparrows. There, I've said it. After years of birding, I still come across these little birds with similar colors and markings, and I often can't tell one species from the other.

               I look - for a key identifying feature.

               I listen - the song can be a dead give-away.

               Then I turn to my trusty bird guide.

   Identifying birds can be tricky. If you are new to the birding scene, it can be downright confounding.  So it is good to have some sort of guide handy. This may be a book, particularly if you are out in the field. If you're simply around the house, a website can be just as good.

               When I first started birding, Roger Tory Peterson was my guide. I say that because I picked up a Peterson's "Field Guide to the Birds." At the time, Peterson's guide was the birder's bible. His first guide was published in the 1930s, when optics had been refined enough to popularize bird-watching. 

               The Peterson guide has detailed illustrations with pointers to key markings, and notes on identification and songs. It also has maps with ranges of each species.

               Then David Allen Sibley came along and expounded on Peterson's work. The Sibley guide has even more illustrations, because it points out the differences in plumage in younger birds. It also has the handy notes and migration maps.

               Audubon has a guide with photographs and more extensive details of behavior.

               If you are new to birding or simply want a guide for your back yard or deck, there are plenty of publications that feature the 30 or so species you're most likely to see around the house. There are lots of regional and state guides - "Birds of the Carolinas", "Birds of Texas", etc. And, yes, there is a "Bird-Watching for Dummies" out there. Why not?

Most likely, though, you'll be stumped by sparrows. They are all about the same size and have brown backs and wings. But the slight differences in their more-specific markings will tell you whether you have a House Sparrow, Field Sparrow or Chipping Sparrow.

               If you're near a computer with Internet, here's a good place to start when trying to ID a bird: 

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse        

           Otherwise, just shop around and find a guide such as my old friend Peterson.

Even without a guide, I ID'd these in my yard today:

AM, sunny, 66 degrees, 10 minutes

Northern Cardinal

Tufted Titmouse

House Finch

Brown Thrasher

Brown-headed Nuthatch