bird quiz

Bird Quiz #5! It’s almost spring and that means spring training! But instead of baseball, we’re talking about brushing up on our identification skills for spring and summer birdwatching! Soon millions of songbirds will be returning to the United States for breeding season. Are you ready?

Below is another quiz shared with permission from Em’s Garden that will help you test your bird ID skills!

Today’s Bird ID Quiz features some bird species that may look the same at first glance. But look closer for subtle differences.

I never thought I would have to worry about about mistaking these first twin-looking species. Until recently, one of them was rarely seen in Southern Wisconsin. Can you name these two dove species?

The species on the left is found in all of the United States plus Canada, Mexico and Central America. The species on the right (that escaped a pet shop in the Bahamas in the 1970s!) has been increasing its range. It’s now a year-round resident in much of United States except the mid-Atlantic and New England states.

The bird on the left is a Mourning Dove. Its twin on the right is a Eurasian-collared Dove. Both bird species frequent urban and suburban areas and are not particular about the kind of birdseed that you offer at your feeders. They’ll eat just about any seed or nut.

So how can you tell them apart? It’s that little “collar” on the aptly-named Eurasian-collared Dove that is the most helpful difference.

Here are some other ways you can tell them apart:

• Mourning Doves have black spots on their backs but Eurasian-collared Doves don’t
• Mourning Doves are smaller than Eurasian-collared Doves
• Only the wings of Mourning Doves “whistle” when the birds fly

Their calls are also different. The Eurasian-collared Dove call is described as “impatient” compared to the Mourning Dove’s call.

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One species of the next set of “twins” is also new for me as a life-long birder. Both of these sparrow species are non-natives, but only one has established a tiny, year-round range at the intersection of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa.

The other bird can be found in all of the United States, Mexico and Central and South America. You might even find it hopping around in a McDonald’s parking lot looking for a discarded french fry!

The french-fry-loving bird on the right is our common House Sparrow.

The bird on the left is a Eurasian Tree Sparrow. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “In late April 1870, a shipment of European birds from Germany was released in St. Louis, Missouri, in order to provide familiar bird species for newly settled European immigrants. The shipment included 12 hardy Eurasian Tree Sparrows. These chestnut-capped, white-cheeked arrivals prospered in the hedges and woodlots of the region, ultimately spreading through northeastern Missouri, west-central Illinois, and southeastern Iowa.”

Here’s how to tell these twin species apart:

• Eurasian Tree Sparrows have black spot on their cheeks whereas House Sparrows have unmarked gray cheeks
• Eurasian Tree Sparrows have an entirely reddish-brown crown (top of head) whereas House Sparrow males have a gray crown.
• House Sparrows are commonly found in urban areas whereas Eurasian Tree Sparrows have been bullied into more rural areas like fields, meadows and farms.

Despite the fact that Eurasian Tree Sparrows have a very small range in the United States (again where Iowa, Missouri and Illinois intersect), they have been spotted in other states. Last week a pair was seen in a backyard in Arlington, Wisconsin. Previous sightings have taken place in Green, Sheyboygan and La Crosse counties in my state. If this species has made it to Wisconsin, they have no doubt traveled to other states as well, so keep your eye out for them!

The next time you see a Mourning Dove or a House Sparrow, take a closer look. You might be surprised to discover you’re actually looking at a different species!

Bird Quiz #4! It’s almost spring and that means spring training! But instead of baseball, we’re talking about brushing up on our identification skills for spring and summer birdwatching! Soon millions of songbirds will be returning to the United States for breeding season. Are you ready?

Below is another quiz shared with permission from Em’s Garden that will help you test your bird ID skills!

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I’ve been watching birds for decades now, but identifying finches can still trip me up.

Here are three similar-looking finch species that visit backyard feeders in North America.

Can you identify them?

All three species are about the same length (4.5 to 6 inches), and have brown streaks on their bellies.

The easiest way to start ruling out possibilities is to look more closely at their bills. Notice that two have conical bills (1 and 3) and one has a pointy bill (2)?

And if you get a chance to see Bird #2 from the side, you’ll also notice some yellow that will help you distinguish it from the other two species.

The bird with the pointy bill (#2) is a Pine Siskin. That pointy bill is used to glean seeds from trees, shrubs and plants. At backyard feeders, these birds prefer to eat shelled sunflower seeds and Nyger seeds.

That leaves two other finches to ID. Hint: both are females!

Here are some other differences to notice:

• One bird has distinctive brown and white markings while the other bird’s markings are more fuzzy or blurry
• One has a white eyebrow

The bird with the white eyebrow (#1) is a female Purple Finch. The bird with the blurry streaks (#3) is a female House Finch.

Both of these species eat seeds, buds and fruit and will visit birdfeeders for sunflowers, safflower and Nyjer.

Let’s make things more interesting. Do you recognize these finches?

I included two species we just identified and added two more finch species that visit backyard feeders in North America.

Do finches give you a headache yet?

You’ll notice that three of these birds have pointy bills and one has a conical bill.

We just learned about two species that have conical bills. What else do you notice about Bird B? Its streaks are fuzzy and it has no white eyebrow. That means it’s a……female House Finch!

Now you’re left with 3 pointy-billed finches. Birds C and D are the same size and often visit feeders at the same time. But only one has streaks.

Notice the hint of yellow on Bird C’s wings. That makes it a….Pine Siskin. Bird D is a female American Goldfinch.

Bird A can be hard to ID from a distance—especially the females which can look like a Pine Siskin (or a female Purple Finch— but remember that species has a conical bill).

But with a closer look you’ll see that this female finch has a noticeable patch of red on her forehead:

Bird A is a Redpoll. Up until 2024 it would’ve been called a Common Redpoll, but this species is genetically identical to the the Hoary Redpoll and Lesser Redpoll. All three are now just called “Redpolls.”

Redpolls visit southern Wisconsin during some winters depending on food supplies further north. At feeders they prefer sunflowers, safflower and Nyjer seed.

Here’s a fun fact about Redpolls from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: “During winter, some Redpolls tunnel into the snow to stay warm during the night. Tunnels may be more than a foot long and 4 inches under the insulating snow.”

The next time you see little brown finches in your backyard, take a closer look and use these identification tips to note their differences. You might be surprised to learn how many different finch species are visiting your backyard!

Bird Quiz #3! It’s almost spring and that means spring training! But instead of baseball, we’re talking about brushing up on our identification skills for spring and summer birdwatching! Soon millions of songbirds will be returning to the United States for breeding season. Are you ready?

Below is another quiz shared with permission from Em’s Garden that will help you test your bird ID skills!

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Today’s Bird ID Quiz is about woodpeckers.

Over the years, many friends and family members have excitedly shared with me that they saw a Red-headed Woodpecker at their birdfeeders.

While it’s not unheard of around here, it’s rather uncommon—especially in the city.

There are several large woodpeckers that have “red heads” or red on their heads. It helps to know some of their other identifying characteristics so you can tell them apart.

Do you recognize these woodpeckers?

Two of them are found mostly east of the Mississippi River in the United States. The other one is found throughout the United States and Canada.

Two of them can get as large as 9 inches. The other one is 11 to 12 inches long.

The above graphic includes:

• a Red-bellied Woodpecker
• a Northern Flicker
• a Red-headed Woodpecker

Do you know which is which?

Bird #1 is the true Red-headed Woodpecker.

These birds are a very eye-catching red, white and black. The red on the head is a beautiful blackish-red and glows in the sunshine.

While this woodpecker can be found throughout the United States, it prefers woodlands and will nest in dead or dying trees.

Last summer two Red-headed Woodpeckers spent a morning in the trees surrounding my backyard during migration season. And individual birds have visited my birdfeeders on a handful of occasions over the last couple of decades.

Bird #2 is the species most friends and family have confused with the Red-headed Woodpecker. This is the Red-bellied Woodpecker:

It makes sense that people would mix them up since the Red-bellied also has a red head!

If you look closely on the left side of the graphic, you’ll see that this bird does indeed have some red on its belly. But the red on the head is much more noticeable, so why the name? When birds were first studied and classified, they were often shot in the field and mounted in collections where they could be examined close up. The red belly may be what was noticed first. Or maybe the Red-headed Woodpecker was named first!

Decades ago this was not a common bird in southern Wisconsin and other northern United States, but this bird has been slowly increasing its range northward.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are regular visitors to my backyard feeders. They love peanuts and suet. In the spring they will also nibble the orange halves I put out for the migrating Baltimore Orioles.

That means #3 is the Northern Flicker.

This species is 2 to 4 inches larger than the Red-headed and Red-bellied Woodpeckers.

There are two types of Northern Flickers and you can tell the difference when you see the flight feather shafts. Like the names indicate, the “Red-shafted” have red shafts and the “Yellow-shafted” have yellow shafts. You can see that color on the underside of spread wings and under the bird’s tail.

Yellow-shafted Flickers are more common in the Eastern U.S., and Red-shafted are more common in the west.

Behavior is another way to tell this species apart from the other two. Most woodpeckers spend most of their time on branches and trunks of trees. But the Northern Flicker loves ants, so you’ll often see this species on the ground.

If you flush a woodpecker from the ground, you can bet it’s a Northern Flicker.

Bird Quiz #2! It’s almost spring and that means spring training! But instead of baseball, we’re talking about brushing up on our identification skills for spring and summer birdwatching! Soon millions of songbirds will be returning to the United States for breeding season. Are you ready?

Below is another quiz shared with permission from Em’s Garden that will help you test your bird ID skills!

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Today’s Bird ID quiz features two small songbird species.

If this was all you saw in your binoculars before they flew away, could you identify these 2 birds by their backsides?

Here are some hints:

One species has rusty-red flanks and a rusty-red belly (in the females that rust color is more pale).

The other has buffy-colored flanks and a white belly.

Both species are acrobatic and don’t sit still for very long.

One is 4.5- to 6 inches long and the other is a little more than 4″ long from beak to tail.

If you guessed Red-breasted Nuthatch for the first bird, you got it right!

You can see that the rust-red color runs from their throat all the way to the tail.

Bird #2 is the Black-capped Chickadee!

Red-breasted Nuthatches are found in 49 U.S. states and Canada. They are irruptive meaning that from year to year they move to where they can find the best food sources.

Conifer seeds are their favorites in fall and winter. If pests, drought or fires disturb the trees in the boreal forests of Canada, they’ll move further south for the winter. The trees must be doing okay because I haven’t seen a Red-breasted Nuthatch in my yard for 3 years now!

Black-capped Chickadees can be found in all of the northern United States from coast to coast year-round. Their range also dips into Missouri, Kansas, Utah and Colorado.

Both birds are described as having little to no neck.

Once you see the whole bird they are quite easy to tell apart, but because they are so active you may not always get a good look in your binoculars.

One helpful identifier is that chickadees have long tails while Red-Breasted Nuthatches have stubby tails. And chickadees are black and white (with those buffy flanks) while the nuthatches are bluish gray with those cinnamon undersides.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch has a longer beak that it uses to extract seeds from pine cones.

While you can find both species in the woods, both are also very comfortable coming to bird feeders. You can attract them with sunflower seeds, shelled peanuts and suet.

It’s almost spring and that means spring training! But instead of baseball, we’re talking about brushing up on our identification skills for spring and summer birdwatching! Soon millions of songbirds will be returning to the United States for breeding season. Are you ready?

Below is a quiz shared with permission from Em’s Garden that will help you test your bird ID skills!

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Birds move pretty fast. If you want to be able to identify them in your backyard or while taking a walk or hike, it helps to know some of their identifying characteristics.

If you only saw this flash of an image in a shrub, could you identify this bird?

Its undertail coverts (the underside feathers at the base of a bird’s tail) are white with a little gray. And it looks like the belly might be rust-colored.

But wait? Is this the same bird? The undertail coverts are also rust-colored, but the color is a little darker. And the tail is a darker gray.

Here are some hints. These are two different species, but they are similar in size. They both like to eat fruit, and you might find either one in your backyard in the spring.

Where you locate a bird can also give you hints about what species it might be.

The first photo is of an American Robin. These birds like to hop and walk around backyards and parks searching for worms.

The bird in the second photo is a Gray Catbird.

They are gray all over except for those cinnamon-colored undertail coverts and that little black cap.

While robins don’t mind open spaces, catbirds prefer hanging out in dense shrubs and thickets. However when males sing, they often pick a spot out in the open, so they can be pretty easy to find. If you have fruiting trees or bushes in your yard (like serviceberries, crabapples or blueberries) you might see either of these birds.

Gray Catbirds and American Robins will also come to birdfeeders. In the spring when I put out orange halves and grape jelly to entice the migrating Baltimore Orioles, catbirds and robins will often visit to sneak a bite of the tasty treats. And robins like shelled peanuts as well.

The next time you see a Gray Catbird or an American Robin up close or through your binoculars, take a moment examine some of the other identifying characteristics that could help you tell them apart from other bird species.