Bird Call

Bird-nerd-words of the day: Least Concern Status

A Bird (or any animal actually) that has had it's survival situation evaluated and found not to be in danger is lumped into this category along with such species as the Asian Tiger Mosquito, and us (aka human beings.)

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Nail

A hard shield-like plate at the end of the upper mandible on many wildfowl such as geese and swans.

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Pied [PIDE]

Having patches of two or more colors; often used with birds. 

Bird-nerd-words of the day: Nest Lining

Many birds add a layer of something softer than the main nesting material for the eggs to rest on...not to mention the mom.  : )

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Twitching

X-treme birding, or the practice witnessed in The Big Year when a birder goes to great lengths, including traveling long distances, to see a rare bird, especially a life bird.  (I wouldn't do that of course.  Well, how far would it have to be to qualify as a long distance?)

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Corvids

 Nickname for Corvidae (helps a lot right?), the bird family containing Jays and crows.

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Casual

Many experts use the term for birds that show up occasionally in a region but have only been sighted a few times (say 10 or 20); e.g. Steller's Jays are common in western coniferous forests, but casual at low elevations.

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Crissum [KRIS-uhm]

The feathers or area under the tail. 

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Cline

When range and appearance of bird subspecies change gradually from one to the next. (Or to quote Wikipedia 's elegant description: "an ecotone in which a series of biocommunities display a continuous gradient."  Then it continues, "More technically....")   : ) Thanks, the first explanation was technical enough.

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Cache

As a verb it means to hide away treasures or food, especially in the ground. 

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Mealworm

A beetle larvae often used in bird feeders.  It is an especially helpful to nesting birds.

Bird-nerd-words of the day: Nest Site

The specific spot where the nest resides instead of the general area.  For example the location could be in the Huntington "Garden of Flowing Fragrance" between the "Terrace that invites the Mountains" and the "Cascade of Resonant Bamboo", while the actual nest site might be in the fork of a common live oak tree.

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Whisker

A common marking on birds, especially Passerines, that follows the lower line of the "cheek";  also known as a "moustachial stripe".

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Accipiter [ak-SIP-i-ter]

This is a genus of hawks which includes Goshawks, Cooper's Hawks, Sharp-shinned Hawks and the like.  There is an anatomical distinction but it's way too technical for me.  Suffice to say these birds are nimble and quick pursuing small birds all-out through thick woods.  Scary for the little bird.

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Eyrie [AIR-ee]

Technically this means any high isolated place, but it has come to refer mostly to the nest or brood of birds of prey especially eagles. (extra credit for spelling it correctly.)   

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Passerines [PAS-uh-eens]

Generally defined as perching birds or sometimes as songbirds. They account for over half of all birds. It's usually males that sing. And why?  Females. Think Justin Timberlake. : )

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Crustaceans

Arthropods ranging from krill to lobsters which play a huge role in the diet of many birds.

Bird-nerd-word of the day: Wader

A classification which includes birds such as plovers, stilts, and curlews. It doesn't necessarily include all birds that wade, however, such as herons.