Sitting at a desk all day with feeders and feathered friends for company has done much for my ability to identify birds in other ways than by physical appearance. Of late I have noticed how quickly I can spot a new visitor or concur the identity of frequent visitors simply by a quick glance at their motions when feeding. None of this is probably new to any birders but I thought sharing my realization would help anchor it in my understanding of how I ID birds. So here goes.
I have noticed a breakdown if feeding behavior of ground feeding birds, most notably a variety of sparrows, juncos, chickadees (when they must lower themselves to ground feeding), thrushes, jays, cardinals, and others - most of whom I will not discuss here and leave it for later study. But I have noticed that the ground-feeders can be broken down into varying degrees of head-scratchers and feet-scratchers. I first noticed this when I was trying to stop House Sparrows from emptying my feeders. House Sparrows, juncos, jays, and cardinals, I have found are head-scratchers. They search for ground food using there heads and bills to move litter and debris out of the way and use their feet, for the most part, simply to move about. And there is much variety among the head scratching techniques. House Sparrows simply stand in one spot and turn their heads and look at the ground and potential food and then snatch it up or use their head and bills in wide sweeps to expose it. (Explains why they are so good at emptying the contents of my feeders so quickly onto the ground.) Juncos are similar except they hunt and peck with less standing and ogling of their food items, choosing instead to move quickly and cover much more ground than the HSs. Plus the juncos use their feet in a jumping, sideways motion to help uncover potential food. They use their heads and bills but don't expend as much energy in one spot making sure they got every morsel as do the HSs. Jays, Mourning Doves and cardinals also seem to be head-scratchers who use the focus of one eye and a turned head to identify food and snatch it up but with little uncovering energy - visually hunting and pecking their way to a full crop. They seem to take what they can quickly see and use their feet only to more clearly expose the food items they see. Also the doves and jays seem to swallow their food for later shelling and digestion as compared to cardinals who shell on the spot and chickadees who take and run for loftier perch shelling. Let's get the chickadees out of the way here. They do whatever it takes from head-scratching to foot-scratching to dive-bombing to snatch and grab. They are by for, in my opinion, the most versatile and determined to survive of all my feathered friends. I could go on and on about all the adaptations they have and gregarious habits that allow them to survive MN winters and propagate themselves as a steady, reliable and charming winter and summer companion. Now let me cover the ground-scratchers, which is what actually instigated this extended diatribe. Ground-scratchers vary in their aggressiveness in the act and the use of their feet and legs - which are very likely specifically adapted for this action. I would have to compare their feet and legs up-close and with measuring devices to confirm this and I am sure someone already has - but that is beyond an email. White-throated Sparrows are charming in their leaping forward and backwards scratching technique - continuously similar pace and effort - quickly snatching any exposed tidbit - like raking leaves. Fox Sparrows seem to be much more aggressive, like they are on a mission to move everything out of their way, to uncover the nuggets that could lie just beneath the ground surface as well as that which lies atop the ground - which seems to be the limit to the junco's and head-scratcher's efforts. Fox Sparrows must have hoe- like toes to be able to scratch and turn the surface soil in their knowing search for ground yummies. What am I really trying to share here? Simply this noticing - I preview ID my birds in a glance of motion and can spot new visitors by scratching sound, degree and blur of activity, and other motions in addition to sound and physical IDs. Well it was a new realization to me and its only taken some 30 years of birding to realize it and how much I do use it without even realizing that I do it. I hope there was something I shared that is of value. This also has me thinking of what other ways I unconsciously ID birds and what else I take for granted in my enjoyment of my avian adventures. When I am turning kids onto birding for the first time, what else can I share with them that will add to their excitement and ability to appreciate this new world that has surrounded them all of their lives? Now I can add this to my teaching. I guess that is the point of this sharing. Thomas Maiello Spring Lake Park
