Identify your birds

Correctly identifying the birds at your feeder is critical to the quality of the data you submit and to the success of Project FeederWatch. Since relatively few species of birds visit most feeders, these species can become very familiar to you with a little practice and careful observation. We encourage you to acquaint yourself with the birds in your area by studying the Common Feeder Birds Poster included in your first research kit. You can download a mini version of the poster for free.

If you cannot identify a bird, sketch or photograph the mystery bird and pay attention to its field marks before consulting a field guide. If you see the bird during a FeederWatch count, include notes about when you saw the bird and how many you saw so that you can add the observation to your count if you are able to identify the species later.

To identify a mystery bird, consult a current field guide, such as the Cornell Lab’s All About Birds online guide. For more information about identifying birds, visit Identifying Birds in the Learn section of this web site. For help with similar looking birds, such as finches, woodpeckers or accipiters, visit the Tricky Bird ID page. You can also use the Cornell Lab’s Merlin app for help identifying birds.