The best thing about birdwatching is that you can do it anywhere and at any time. You can go someplace special to watch birds or just look into your backyard. Even though you can birdwatch any time, there are things to look out for. There are seasonal changes and each will introduce new birds that you will need to learn to identify, and even with my experience, sometimes relearn key field marks and bird songs. Let’s see what these seasonal changes bring to the birdwatching world.
Migration Patterns
We all learned from an early age that birds migrate. It’s probably one of the first thing we learned about animals when we were back in grade school. We saw geese, ducks, robins, finches, sparrows and many other birds “come back” in the spring, and we knew winter was approaching when we didn’t hear birds singing anymore and could see large flocks of birds gathering to “go south for the winter”. It may seem that birds just decide to go when they’re ready and that there is no other pattern to this migration, but there is.
The very familiar V formation of geese during migration
Migration happens in waves, with different types of birds moving at different points in the year. I live in the Northeast in New York. I have become familiar with these waves. No the times may be different for your area, based on whether you are further upstream or downstream from me in the migration river. So, for my area, the order of migration is as follows:
Northward Type Southward
March Waterfowl November
April Raptors (Hawks) October
May Songbirds September
June Shorebirds August
The time span that certain species stay in their summer grounds is very different. Waterfowl will be around for about 8-9 months, while shorebirds are here for only 3 months. Depending where you live, your location may be the destination or just a stop-over on a longer journey. This presents certain challenges in identifying birds. The first is when migration is on, the numbers of birds that you need to look at is much larger which is both a blessing and a curse. It’s great to have all these birds to look at, but if you are looking for a particular species, it can be very difficult to pick it out from the crowd. Another challenge is the fact that you may only have a very short window of time to see certain birds if they are just passing through versus a bird that will be nesting in your area over the whole summer. This is part of what makes birdwatching so exciting - it is the thrill of the chase!
It always seems special to find a nest and know spring has sprung!
Plumage Changes
This is probably where the greatest challenge and source of frustration lies for the birdwatcher. All birds will look different from the time they hatch until they are full adults. For most of us, we see the simple change - a spotted breast on a robin turning to the brick-red breast later in the season. Other birds will take several seasons or even years to morph into the plumage of an adult. This is especially true for the gulls. For all birds, though, the change is a gradual (relatively speaking) one and the plumage can vary from what may be shown in a field guide. Some field guides only show the adult male and female of the species. The better field guides will also show juvenile or immature plumage for that species. It is just one of those challenges to overcome - become familiar with your guide, know what information it has to offer, and review the illustrations periodically to learn what the birds you are not familiar with look like.
Both immature and adult gulls of the same species - can challenge you in identifying.
Quantity and Variety
Depending on the time of the year and what your location is, you will notice a change in the variety of species you see and the quantities of each that you see at that particular place and time. One thing I notice where I am is the drastic change in the variety of birds in winter in New York. You see the typical winter birds here - some sparrows, a few hawks, chickadees, blue jays, woodpeckers, and so on. May migration can bring 40-50 different birds through, some of which will stay and breed, while others move onward to the north to breed. Again this can be a blessing or a curse. Nice to have variety, but for a new birdwatcher it can be overwhelming. All you see is a flurry of color for a few seconds and off it goes. For me, winter can be boring with the lack of bird variety, but you find ways to make it exciting. I try to find as many bird species as I can in winter months - can I find more this week than last? There is also the well-known Christmas Bird Count that takes place across the country in many locations. On this count, many observers go out to the same locale each year and count how many individuals of each species they can see in the day. These counts are used to see if conservation measures are working or if a species is declining. On the other end of the spectrum, during migration usually, some birders will have a Big Day - finding as many species (not individuals) as possible within 24 hours.
Sometimes on a winter day, you are happy just finding an old friend - the tree sparrow.
Behavior Changes
As the seasons change, bird behavior will change, too. We all know the birds sing in spring time, and they nest during the summer. But these are the very obvious things we see. Singing in spring is all about finding a mate for breeding. Males are staking out nesting territories and defending it from other competing males, all the while trying to attract a female. Hence, all the singing going on. You will see the “aggressive” behavior of males trying to shoo another male away from their territorial claim. Once nesting starts, for some species, they will get much quieter. A singing bird gives away their location, and giving away the location of a nest could be disastrous. So at those times, you will need to depend more on sighting a bird than hearing it. Just another challenge in the life of a birdwatcher. During nesting, you may be more likely to see males than females, depending on whether both individuals will stay at the nest while the other gathers food. During breeding times, pairs of birds will be spaced out, while during migration, birds of the same species may gather in distinct flocks or just congregate in areas together for feeding, storing up energy for their long flights onward to their destinations.
A familiar sight among geese during the pre-nesting period - defending territory
Next Steps
To overcome some of the challenges mentioned, the best solution is to take time during days off from birdwatching, and study different plumages of birds. You may also want to consider studying just a few species, but pay particular attention to plumage changes in different seasons - how are they different? How are they similar to other species? How could you distinguish them from anothers species? Don’t be afraid, this is one of the most difficult parts of birdwatching - identifying the not-so-typical individual when it is not the “normal” adult. In this case, practice may not make perfect, but you will get better at identifying more species throughout the year.