Glossary of Birding Words

The words highlighted in colour are linked to articles about the words.

Click on the word to read the article.

Please note that this glossary was first posted in October 2006 and the articles will progressively appear on my blog over the following twelve months.

• Aberrant: something that is unusual or abnormal
• Accidental: when a species is observed in an area or region where it is a long way from its normal range or distribution, it is said to be ‘accidental’.
• Adult: a bird mature enough to be able to breed
• Axillaries: feathers that cover the underside of the wing in the region of the ‘armpit’ of the bird, that is, where the wing joins the body. In some species it is distinctly coloured.
• Bar: a band across the breast, tail or wing that is contrasting in colour or shading.
• Belly: the lower underpart of the body of a bird down to where the tail feathers start.
• Bird watcher: a birder, someone who watches birds as a hobby.
• Birder: a bird watcher, a person who enjoys watching and studying birds.
• Birding: the hobby of watching and studying birds
• Breeding plumage: feathers that are usually more brightly coloured than non-breeding feathers and which appear during the breeding season.
• Cap: a patch of colour on the top of the head or the crown of a bird.
• Casual: a bird that has been observed outside its normal range.
• Cere: the bare fleshy part of the upper beak of a bird that contains the nostrils.
• Collar: a contrasting coloured band of feathers on the neck of a bird.
• Colonial: species of birds that roost or nest in communal groups, or colonies, are said to live in colonial groups
• Colour morph: variations of colours of individuals of the same species, either lighter or darker plumage, as in some eagles.
• Corvids: birds that belong to the crow or raven family of birds
• Courting display: a display by either a male or female bird, or both, used to attract a mate with the aim of breeding.
• Coverts: the smaller feathers that cover the bases of the tail feathers or wing feathers.
• Crown: the top of the head of a bird
• Cryptic: something that is hidden. A bird may have cryptic colours or markings that help it to hide from predators in its preferred habitat. A bird’s behaviour may also be cryptic, meaning it acts in ways to prevent it being seen by other species.
• Diagnostic: a feature of a bird that helps to distinguish it from other species being observed. It can refer to plumage colour, size, shape, behaviour or call. For example, the call of a Laughing Kookaburra is diagnostic; no other species of kingfisher sounds like it except perhaps the similar Blue-Winged Kookaburra. The colour of a Blackbird distinguishes it from a Grey Shrike Thrush. The size of a pelican sets it apart from a tern or gull. The beak of a thornbill is slender compared with a finch.
• Dip: to miss out on seeing a bird common in the area, or to miss seeing a species one particularly wanted to see, especially frustrating if everyone else has seen it and it is rather rare. Can be compared to scoring a duck (0 runs) in cricket when the team has scored over 600 runs.
• Distribution: a description of where a bird can normally be found, also called its range. This is sometimes accompanied or replaced by a map with shading or colour indicating where it is found.
• Diurnal: a bird species that is active by day, the opposite of nocturnal.
• Duetting: a male and a female of the same species singing together, usually in response to each other, and with different song patterns. The Magpie Lark and the Pied Butcherbird are good examples of this song pattern.
• Ear-coverts: the small feathers that cover the area of the ear, sometimes distinctively coloured.
• Eclipse Plumage: for some months after breeding some species, for example, some male ducks and male wrens, take on a duller plumage colour before resuming their normal plumage.
• Endangered: a species so few in number it is in danger of becoming rare or even extinct.
• Endemic: a species of bird that is confined to a particular region. The Chestnut-breasted Whiteface is endemic to my home state, South Australia. It is not found anywhere else. It is also our only endemic species.
• Extinct: a species that has died out and is no longer in existence.
• Feral: a domesticated species that has been released or has escaped into the wild and is now living independently.
• Field Guide: a book giving details of all the birds found in a region or country. Field guides usually include colour illustrations of the birds, descriptive notes to help identify the bird and a distribution map.
• Fledge: a bird is said to fledge when it is able to fly.
• Fledgling: a young bird that is partly or wholly covered in feathers. It is also used of a young bird when it first begins to fly.
• Flight feathers: these are the well developed feathers on the wings and tail which are used in flight. The wing feathers consist of primaries, secondaries and tertiaries.
• Gregarious: some birds live in groups and are said to be gregarious. One such species is the White-Winged Chough. They are usually seen in groups of from 5 to 10, though the family group that visits my garden has been up to 12 in size. I have seen larger groups than that in other places.
• Hackles: long feathers on the throat or neck, as in ravens and crows.
• Hybridisation: the cross- breeding between different species
• Immature: this is the stage of a bird’s life from when it fledges, or flies, until it is ready to breed.
• Irruption: when large numbers of a particular species move to an area where they are not commonly found in large numbers, often in response to drought, rainfall or other environmental changes. In Australia, some species of hawks and kites can irrupt into areas experiencing mouse plagues or locusts. Water birds irrupt into areas experiencing sudden flooding.
• Juvenile bird: a young fledged bird that has not yet reached sexual maturity.
• Life list: a list of birds a birder has seen in their life time. Many also keep year lists, month lists, week lists or day lists. Other lists include place lists, state lists, country lists, lists of birds seen on television, in movies, from their office window – in fact, this listing is limited only by the birder’s imagination, time available and interests.
• Lifer: the first ever time that a birder sees a species of bird it is called a ‘lifer’ or a ‘tick’.
• Mallee: this is a word I use often in my blog because I live in the Mallee districts of South Australia. Mallee is a group name for eucalypt trees which form dense scrublands and are usually found in arid or semi-arid parts of Australia. They are usually multi-trunked trees growing from a single underground stump called a lignotuber.
• Mandibles: the two parts of a bird’s beak, namely, the upper mandible and the lower mandible.
• Migration: the regular seasonal or annual movement of a species from one area to another.
• Month list: a list of all the bird species seen in a particular month.
• Nocturnal: active at night, such as owls. (The opposite is diurnal, or active in the day time.)
• Nomadic: some species are able to move erratically between different regions in response to drought, rainfall or lack of food sources. For example, honeyeaters may move from their normal habitat to another area where there is an abundance of flowering trees.
• Oriental:  the region consisting of the Himalayas, India, SE Asia and Indonesia.
• Ornithologist: another name for a birder or bird watcher, but usually someone who takes their interest very seriously. Those who study birds as part of their work are best called ornithologists.
• Ornithology: the serious study of birds, the habits, life cycle, habitats and characteristics of birds, often involving keeping of detailed records and writing articles or books about birdlife.
• Passerine: more than half the birds in the world are in the order called Passeriformes. They are sometimes called perching birds, or, less accurately, songbirds. The name comes from the Latin name for the common House Sparrow Passer domesticus. All Passerines have three toes pointing forward with no webbing, and one toe pointing backward. Non-Passerines have a variety of arrangements of toes.
• Pelagic: a bird that is ocean living. This term is also used to refer to boat trips especially organised to travel out to sea to observe pelagic species such as the Albatross.
• Pellet: a chunk of material consisting of undigested food particles such as feathers, bones and other things regurgitated by some raptors, owls, corvids, and other species.
• Pied: having feathers in a black and white pattern.
• Plumage: all the feathers covering a bird are called its plumage. The colours and condition of the plumage can change with age, sex and the time of the year. Some species have special breeding plumage for a part of the year, for example.
• Plume: a long feather or group of feathers often used by males when displaying to females before mating.
• Range: the normal distribution of a species of bird, where it is normally found.
• Raptors: birds of prey such as eagles, hawks and owls.
• Ratites: birds that have a flat breastbone, such as ostriches, emus, cassowaries, rheas and kiwis. All ratites are flightless.
• Resident: a bird that remains in the same place all year round is said to be resident, as opposed a species that is migratory. The New Holland Honeyeater, for example, is resident in my garden because it is found here all year round.
• Roost: the act of sleeping by birds; the word can also be used of the perch, such as a branch, where the bird sleeps.
• Rump: this is the part of the bird below the back and above the tail feathers.
• Scrape: a shallow depression on the ground made by some birds for a nest.
• Species: a group of birds (or animals, insects, plants, etc) that breed among themselves and not normally with other species and which usually look very similar. All species have been given a two part scientific name (in a Latin form), the first name being capitalised and refers to the genus, the second name is not capitalised and refers to the species. For example, the common House Sparrow is called Passer domesticus. The genus name Passer is used for many different kinds of sparrows, and the species name domesticus refers to ‘house’ because this bird is usually found around human habitation. The Spanish Sparrow is known as Passer hispaniolensis and the Italian Sparrow is known as Passer italiae. See also Sub-species.
• Status: the relative current standing or condition of a species. For example, a species could be common, widespread and increasing its range. Another species may be uncommon, rare in some areas and vagrant in other regions. Some species are endangered, meaning their status could become rare, or even extinct.
• Sub-species: some species of birds are split into recognisable sub-species because there are significant regional or geographic differences between them. Each sub-species is given a third scientific name. For example, all magpies in Australia are known as Australian Magpies or Gymnorhina tibicen tibicen. The widespread sub-species White-Backed Magpie is quite easily distinguished in the field and is known as Gymnorhina tibicen leuconota.
• Talons: these are strong, sharp, curved claws used by birds like eagles, kawks and owls.
• Terrestrial: living on the ground, or spending a great deal of time on the ground.
• Territory, territorial [details coming soon]
  
• Tick: the first time a birder sees a bird they are said to “tick” it on their “life list”. It is also called a “lifer”.
• Twitcher: someone who is prepared to travel great distances or go to great effort or expense in order to see birds, often just a single bird, that they have never seen before so that it can be marked on their list of birds seen (called a “tick” or “lifer”). The word ‘twitcher’ might have originated from their propensity to develop a nervous twitch until the rare or desired bird has been ticked off their list.
• Twitching: the habit or behaviour of some very keen or compulsive birders, ‘twitchers,’ who must travel great distances or go to great effort in order to see a rare or unusual bird, or a species they have never seen before.
• Vagrant: a bird is a vagrant if it is present in an area or habitat where it normally would not be found. Birds sometimes get wind swept by storms or individuals may become lost of disoriented.
• Vent: the area of a bird’s body around the cloaca.
• Wattle: In plants: members of the acacia genus. In birds: a long, brightly coloured, fleshy lobe hanging from the face or neck, such as in the Red Wattlebird.
• Year list: a list of all the bird species seen in a calendar year.