Birds fall into certain groupings, such as the sparrows, the warblers, the ducks, the hawks, the flycatchers, the woodpeckers (one is shown at the right) etc. Sometimes these groupings coincide with the family category, as with the turkey family, the swift family, and the vireo family. Other times, large families themselves are broken into recognizable and established groupings. For example, the crow family includes not only crows but also groupings of species known collectively as the jays and magpies. The chickadee family includes different species of  chickadees as well as numerous species of titmice and bushtits. The important thing to know is that most birds belong to some kind of group and, usually, when we're identifying birds, the big question isn't whether it's a falcon or a hawk, but rather which falcon or which hawk is it?

You might guess that sometimes answering this is easy, but other times it's hard. If you're anyplace in eastern North America other than Florida and you see a hummingbird, you instantly know you've spotted a Ruby-throated Hummingbird because in eastern North America north of Florida, Ruby-throats are the only hummingbirds. However, if you live in southern California and see a hummer, you'll need to figure out whether you're seeing a Calliope, an Anna's, a Black-chinned, a Costa's, a Rufous, or an Allen's, because they're all present. Similarly, Florida is home to about 17 species of sparrow; Texas has about two dozen duck species, and; in Michigan, you can see about 36 species of warbler.

On a recent trip to Mexico I sketched the following look-alike wrens.  Can you figure out the distinguishing characters?  The top two are especially hard.   Notice that the Plain Wren has a pale lower back area (referred to as the rump among birders) while the Bar-vented Wren's rump area is dark.

If you want to be a good birder, you should develop general notions of what the various groups of birds in your area look like. You should learn to tell at a glance whether what you have is a falcon or a hawk, a duck or a goose, a warbler or a vireo. Only when you master the groups should you tackle the species. Your field guide will help you learn these groups. The Robbins field guide, Birds of North America, for instance, begins the Sparrows section with a reminder that "Sparrows are small, brown-bodied birds with streaked backs and short conical beaks," and then information about food and other matters follows.

When you're learning to distinguish bird groups, you must pay attention to gross anatomical and behavioral features. For example, one of the first birding groups most of us learn to identify is that of the woodpeckers.  As the watercolor of the Green Woodpecker at the head of this section shows (watercolor by Japanese painter Yurie Ball), we know a bird is a woodpecker when we see that it has these three features::

1. it possesses a thick, chisel-like beak
2. its stiff tail helps hold it steady as it works its bill, searching for insects in the tree trunk
3. its feet have four toes, two in front and two in the rear (a condition known as having zygodactyl   feet -- parrots also have them)

To separate similar kinds of birds often we must use more subtle distinctions. Falcons, compared to hawks, for example, are generally smaller, more streamlined, and with more slender wings. At first glance, warblers and vireos are similar, but after a while you'll see that vireos move a bit slower and have thicker beaks than warblers.

Once you know your area's common groups of birds, now you must notice more subtle details, which among birders are referred to as fieldmarks. Does the thrush have a rusty rump (Hermit Thrush), or a rusty back and crown (Wood Thrush)? Is the cuckoo's beak yellowish (Yellow-billed Cuckoo) or black (Black-billed Cuckoo)?

When identifying species belonging to larger groups, instead of remembering just one important distinction, such as whether the bill is black or yellowish, you must remember clusters of fieldmarks. For example, when identifying swallows you should focus first on how deeply the tail is notched, and whether the throat area is banded, dingy, reddish brown, or pure white. Let's say your swallow has a reddish-brown throat. North America is home to seven swallow species, but only two possess reddish brown throats. Of these two, the Barn Swallow's tail is very deeply forked, while the Cliff Swallow's tail is hardly forked at all.

Field guides always point out each species' most important field marks. For example, in Robbins's Birds of North America, the Orchard Oriole is described as " ...the only oriole east of the Mississippi River with a solid black tail." Therefore, if you live east of the Mississippi, just remember that a black tail, if you have an oriole, signifies the Orchard Oriole .