Bird Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North American Species
A sighting in the field is just one way birders can identify bird species. Observant nature-lovers can discover what birds are where by examining tracks, trails, and a variety of bird sign: discarded feathers, feeding leftovers and caches, pellets, nests, droppings, and skulls and bones. This fully illustrated guide--the first of its kind for North American birds--presents thorough and straightforward instruction for identifying bird families or individual species by careful examination of the unique sign they leave behind. It also offers keys to the birds' behavior in the wild. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 13 | |
Pellets | 159 |
Droppings | 179 |
Signs of Feeding and Other Behaviors | 203 |
Nests and Roosts | 291 |
Feathers | 315 |
Skulls | 409 |
Other editions - View all
Bird Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North American Species Mark Elbroch,Eleanor Marks Limited preview - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
absent altogether acorns American American crow Anisodactyl bark beak bird species Black-billed Magpie breast contour cache Canada goose cavities chickadees Clark's nutcracker Classic bird track cm Bill Common Raven cone contour clump Cranium crows downy woodpeckers droppings dust baths ecological eggs Egret feathers feeding flight Game bird track grackles Greater Roadrunner ground habitat hairy woodpecker hallux hawk heron holes Hop TW horned owl identification Incumbent foot structure inner insects junco mammals Medium Metatarsal weakly registers nest northern flicker Notes nutcrackers nuthatches outer Palmate partial wing pellets pileated woodpeckers pine nuts pinyon jay plover predators present between toes prey quill roost ruffed grouse Run Strides sand Sandpipers sapsuckers scat seeds Similar species skull length snow Snow bunting sparrows substrate swallows tail tern Tert Towhee track length tracker tracks are larger trail tree turkey Walk Strides walking in mud Webbed track Webbing is present wildlife Zygodactyl
Popular passages
Page 1 - A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.
Page 11 - Learn and inform the group of any special circumstances applicable to the areas being visited (eg no tape recorders allowed). 4(g) Acknowledge that professional tour companies bear a special responsibility to place the welfare of birds and the benefits of public knowledge ahead of the company's commercial interests. Ideally, leaders should keep track of tour sightings, document unusual occurrences, and submit records to appropriate organizations.
Page 9 - ... caution during observation, photography, sound recording, or filming. Limit the use of recordings and other methods of attracting birds, and never use such methods in heavily birded areas, or for attracting any species that is Threatened, Endangered, or of Special Concern, or is rare in your local area. Keep well back from nests and nesting colonies, roosts, display areas, and important feeding sites. In such sensitive areas, if there is a need for extended observation, photography, filming or...
Page 10 - Stay on roads, trails, and paths where they exist; otherwise keep habitat disturbance to a minimum. 2. Respect the law, and the rights of others. 2(a) Do not enter private property without the owner's explicit permission. 2(b) Follow all laws, rules, and regulations governing use of roads and public areas, both at home and abroad. 2(c) Practice common courtesy in contacts with other people.
Page 10 - ... or disease. It is important to feed birds continually during harsh weather. 3(b) Maintain and clean nest structures regularly. 3(c) If you are attracting birds to an area, ensure the birds are not exposed to predation from cats and other domestic animals, or dangers posed by artificial hazards. 4 Group birding, whether organized or impromptu, requires special care. Each individual in the group, in addition to the obligations spelled out in Items #1 and #2, has responsibilities as a Group Member.
Page 10 - Be especially helpful to beginning birders. 4(b) If you witness unethical birding behavior, assess the situation, and intervene if you think it prudent. When interceding, inform the person(s) of the inappropriate action, and attempt, within reason, to have it stopped. If the behavior...
Page 10 - Practice common courtesy in contacts with other people. Your exemplary behavior will generate goodwill with birders and nonbirders alike. 3 Ensure that feeders, nest structures, and other artificial bird environments are safe.
Page 9 - Ethics Everyone who enjoys birds and birding must always respect wildlife, its environment, and the rights of others. In any conflict of interest between birds and birders, the welfare of the birds and their environment comes first.
Page 9 - To avoid stressing birds or exposing them to danger, exercise restraint and caution during observation, photography, sound recording, or filming. Limit the use of recordings and other methods of attracting birds, and never use such methods in heavily birded areas, or for attracting any species that is Threatened, Endangered, or of Special Concern, or is rare in your local area. Keep well back from nests and nesting colonies, roosts, display areas, and important feeding sites. In such sensitive areas,...
Page 10 - ... attempt, within reason, to have it stopped. If the behavior continues, document it, and notify appropriate individuals or organizations. Group leader responsibilities (amateur and professional trips and tours).