Field guides can be misleading, can be inaccurate, can be confusing (especially when comparing field guides). If you have trouble identifying birds, you should peruse at least 3 field guides or better yet, 6 field guides. Also, you should dig a little more deeply that what a field guide will present.
Here is an example, non birding, of the latter subject. My neighbor says, “ Go to this local nursery for your roses. They have been in roses for many years. They have hundreds of different roses. Some of the roses are hundreds of years old. The signs say so.”
Okay- the roses are from out of state. They are shipped in bare rooted. Then they are potted. The sign “ one hundred years” means— the species were developed (hybridized) one hundred years ago. Those individual roses were all probably 3 years old.
You are in the field with me. I point out a raptor in the sky and say, “call it.” You say— Accipiter. I say— probably Cooper’s hawk, right? You say — Right. I say because of range maps and habitat, right? You say “right.” I say emphatically “ wrong.”
Explanation: Birders are too “habitat conscious” and are too “ range map dependent.” The first thing to take into account is the season. Then next should be the bird at hand. Then the habitat and the range maps. This is what I mean by the pitfalls of field guides.
You are in the field with me. I point out a raptor in the sky and say “name it.” You say — Accipiter. I say probably a Cooper’s, right. You say— Right. I say “ Why are you leaving Goshawk out of the equation, you should never leave Goshawk out of the equation.”
The real take- away from this story is that there was zero discussion on what was actually observed! NB.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Friday, October 11, 2019
More on size
I recently read — Size lies. And for the first time. I like that statement. It goes along with my profound statement- Tails do not nail. If tails don’t nail, then certainly tail tip structure and design do not nail. We are talking about accipiters here.
What does it mean when you take the length of the bird as a number? What does it mean when you take the measurement of the wing span? Mainly it means that you are working in two dimensions. You are not working with the contours of the bird! Therefore, you do not get a feel for the chest and belly of the hawk. You may not think this is important, and as a birder, I assure you, you are only interested in the “coating” of the bird- that is the general color, or the distinct color and pattern— in other words — only the coating of the bird. You are not at all interested in the various structures and movement of the bird. You are not interested in the silhouette of the bird... only the field marks. And the silhouette is the easiest way to identify raptors.
So the wingspan is a line which has no thickness or width, so you are working in only one dimension.
Wing span has very little meaning, until we compare it with the length of the hawk. So now what we are dealing with is shape and proportions, not the actual size of the hawk. Therefore, within this blog— size of the raptor does not matter, as we are talking of the raptors of Puget Sound and the North Eastern states. But of course size will come into play, but that is when you have 6-7 years of field work with raptors, perched and in flight, at distances of 1 mile and more. And we can only use size in conjunction with many other factors and relating to a very few species. Size is always there. It is a part of our thoughts and mentality. You just have to have the concept to keep size “ under control.”
In the field: A raptor is first observed very near the bright sun, then disappears in the sun.
A raptor is circling over head in a thick fog.
A raptor is heading toward your position, at about 50 feet altitude, and is now overhead and behind your position. However, the sky is dark, such as when the sun is below the horizon.
In all 3 cases, general and specific color is absent. Therefore, field marks are absent. However, if the area is Puget Sound, probably every raptor can be identified by: wing beats, wing holding, shape and proportions, especially the structure of the wing. In all cases—size is not important— if size is used it will be misleading.
I have a made-up story concerning size... however not now, as I want to get into the meaty part of this web site.NB.
What does it mean when you take the length of the bird as a number? What does it mean when you take the measurement of the wing span? Mainly it means that you are working in two dimensions. You are not working with the contours of the bird! Therefore, you do not get a feel for the chest and belly of the hawk. You may not think this is important, and as a birder, I assure you, you are only interested in the “coating” of the bird- that is the general color, or the distinct color and pattern— in other words — only the coating of the bird. You are not at all interested in the various structures and movement of the bird. You are not interested in the silhouette of the bird... only the field marks. And the silhouette is the easiest way to identify raptors.
So the wingspan is a line which has no thickness or width, so you are working in only one dimension.
Wing span has very little meaning, until we compare it with the length of the hawk. So now what we are dealing with is shape and proportions, not the actual size of the hawk. Therefore, within this blog— size of the raptor does not matter, as we are talking of the raptors of Puget Sound and the North Eastern states. But of course size will come into play, but that is when you have 6-7 years of field work with raptors, perched and in flight, at distances of 1 mile and more. And we can only use size in conjunction with many other factors and relating to a very few species. Size is always there. It is a part of our thoughts and mentality. You just have to have the concept to keep size “ under control.”
In the field: A raptor is first observed very near the bright sun, then disappears in the sun.
A raptor is circling over head in a thick fog.
A raptor is heading toward your position, at about 50 feet altitude, and is now overhead and behind your position. However, the sky is dark, such as when the sun is below the horizon.
In all 3 cases, general and specific color is absent. Therefore, field marks are absent. However, if the area is Puget Sound, probably every raptor can be identified by: wing beats, wing holding, shape and proportions, especially the structure of the wing. In all cases—size is not important— if size is used it will be misleading.
I have a made-up story concerning size... however not now, as I want to get into the meaty part of this web site.NB.
Birding Hayton Farms - Fir Island - WA
Went to Hayton Preserve today. The first time. The dirt road to the many Snow Geese was wet, slimy, dirty, and very uneven. And a large dump truck was coming through. Possibly I was to park and walk out to the prime spot. My take- away — Been there done that. You will notice when entering near the farm house, there is a large copse of Japanese Knot Weed. To make myself clear — first time there, last time there.NB.
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