Tweet Hobby: Recognizing Birds
While Chuck Yohn, co-director of the Raystown Field Station, is familiar with all aspects of wildlife, his longstanding area of expertise centers on birds. He often leads groups on birdwatching outings at Juniata events, and teaches Juniata students how to catch and band birds. Chuck agreed to sit and answer some questions on how to keep your eye on the sparrow…so to speak.
Question
If you’ve never been birdwatching before, where should you go to see enough birds to make the experience worthwhile?
Answer
Beginning birders should go to wetlands and forest edges to see the greatest diversity of bird species. In March and April you would see migratory waterfowl at wetlands, in August you’d see migratory songbirds, and in autumn you could go up to the mountain ridges to see hawk migration.
Q
We’ve heard that birders don’t have to actually see the bird to add a species to their list because listening to a bird’s call counts as an identification. Is that true?
A
That’s true only if you are a bird counter (a person who counts the number of species they see in a year). You have to learn all the bird calls and be able to identify them by sound.
Q
What’s the best advice you can give folks who don’t regularly use binoculars?
A
First, adjust the lens to your eyesight, then practice focusing on objects at different distances. I usually have people focus on different objects like a rock or a tree before we go off on a birding trip. Also, if you don’t see the bird, lower the binoculars to see if the bird is still there and then raise the binoculars to your eyes again. Don’t scan with the binoculars, that just gives you a headache.
Q
What’s one of the hardest common birds to see?
A
The brown creeper. It’s small, they are well camouflaged and they are found on tree trunks.
Q
What’s the easiest common bird to identify by sound?
A
The cardinal, it sounds like a car alarm going off in the trees.
- John Wall, Director of Media Relations