Let's see that ID, please

Almost at the deadline for another SMAP contest! But with this theme, I definitely had to join in: "Show me a picture of a bird you have identified"!

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And why? Well, for the ones reading my #featheredfriends posts, you've probably sorted out already that bird identification is one of my passions! Well, mammals too; and reptiles; and fishes... well, you get the idea! 😁 But since this is a bird community, I'll stick with them.

For the ones starting with birdwatching, identification might seem a daunting task at first. There are over 10000 recognized bird species, spreaded by a huge number of orders and families, and between some species the differences are so subtle that only with very close observation can they be distinguished. But fortunately, as you start gaining practice, it gets easier and easier.

Besides, some birds have similar characteristics, and although you may not know the exact species when you encounter a new bird, its common that you can have a very good idea of what family or even genus it belongs!

For example, I spotted this little guy during a trip in Sri Lanka:

^{Indian roller - Coracias benghalensis}

It was the first time in my life that I've seen an Indian roller, but as soon as I layed eyes on him, I thought "Hey, this looks like a roller"! We have a similar species in Portugal, Coracias garrulus, and the colours, shape and size are very similar. And so it was easy to reach an identification.

Same approach with this next one. We have one kingfisher species in the country, and it's not similar to this one. But looking at this bird, with a bulky body, a huge long beak, and the fact that he was near water, it clearly looked like a kingfisher.

^{White-throated kingfisher - Halcyon smyrnensis}

Knowing that it's probably a kingfisher, research is much easier: looking for kingfisher species in Sri Lanka, we quickly discover they're not that many (7, in total).

Watching the bird from different positions, paying attention to the colours, comparing with the different species in the country, and there you go: easy identification!

Size of the bird, shape of the beak, colours of the plummage, everything helps to discover which species are you looking at. And since I'm going through the Sri Lanka species, here's another one I've identified, that also made it easy. The first time I spotted them, was from a huge distance.

In this case, the size of the bird alone was enough for a very good idea of what was I looking at. Add it the size and shape of that beak, and you know that you're looking at a hornbill!

^{Malabar pied hornbill - Anthracocerus coronatus}

Hornbills are amazing animals, and this is one of the two species you can find in the country; the colours of this one make it unmistakable.

And no, you don't have to go far far away to see different species. Even in an urban lake you can find some pearls. During my visit to Reykjavil, Iceland, I was able to see a ton of different species in a semi-frozen lake, in the middle of the town; and this was my favourite sighting:

^{Tufted duck - Aythya fuligula}

In some ducks, identification is difficult; as is differentiating males from females in some times of the year, where both sexes have very similar plummage. Fortunately for me, tufted ducks are very easy to identify, since you don't have any other species with this black and white contrast. But what I like most about tufted ducks are their amazing golden eyes!

Being able to see different species is actually one of my reasons to travel. And although it makes identification harder, especially outside Europe (since I'm not used to seeing those species) its a very fun and rewarding activity. Plus, it makes me study other species and learn even more about these fascinating creatures; as an example, I had no idea about the number of hornbill or kingfisher species in Sri Lanka before going to the country and doing some reading after seeing the species.

Doing a post about identification basics is something I've been wanting to do for a few months already; as usually... Im procrastinating! Maybe this week's theme will give me a morale boost! 😉

Happy birding everyone!

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