By now you know the difference between bird watching and birding. There’s one more term which is often heard around these two- Ornithology. Derived from Greek words ‘ornith’ + ‘logy’ which means ‘birds’ and ‘science’ respectively, it literally means “Study of Birds”.
So how does it differ from birding? The difference isn’t vast really; it’s just a matter of levels. A birder is an amateur ornithologist only. Ornithologists study all aspects of birds, appearance, habitat, migration, reproduction, behavior, manners everything. Very few people pursue ornithology as their sole profession and most prefer to work as researchers, biologists, ecologists, geneticists etc. The reason is not a lack of popularity rather it’s the distribution of modern biological theories across different animal groups.
John James Audubon, Alexander Wilson, Thomas Brewer are all notable names in the field of ornithology. And how can I forget Salim Ali? He is one of the most famous ornithologists in India. And did you know who is called “the Father of Ornithology”? Mr. Allan Octavian Hume.
Above diagram covers almost the entire external anatomy of a bird. Why is this important, you ask? Knowing and understanding external anatomy is crucial for identification. So let’s cover this one by one.
Head: Crown and Nape are key parts of the head that help in identification.
Auriculars: Are the specialized feathers related to opening of the ear, extending backward or towards the eye. These are also called “Ear Coverts”.
Eyering: The ring around the eye. Also called as ‘Orbital Ring”. Along with it, the color of iris serves as an important field mark.
Lore: If present extends from the base of narials (feathers present at the base of nostrils) to the eye.
Bill: It is a bony outgrowth from the skull which is made up of upper mandible and lower mandible. Often the shape, size, curvature of bill act as important field marks.
Throat: Starts from below the chin up till the forking of ventral feather tract. In some birds it’s differently colored than the rest of the plumage and often marked with stripes, spots, and lines. Malar Stripes run along the throat of some birds and act as fantastic ID agents.
Breast: The area below the throat that extends all over the breast muscles.
Belly: It extends from the bottom of the chest and reaches up to vent (the area around the cloaca). Feathers of belly overlap with undertail coverts.
Undertail Coverts: These are the contour feathers behind the vent which also cover the base of the tail. These are also called “Crissum”.
Uppertail Coverts: These form a single semi-circular row of feathers which also cover the base of tail. In some birds, these feathers extend way beyond the tail like in Indian Peacock.
Tail: A single line of feathers covers the anatomical tail. Tail’s length, shape, color and the way it is positioned are important markers to be kept in mind while observing birds.
Rump: It is the patch positioned low on the back and above the tail.
Back: Often the most easily noticed part of a bird, given the bird is in the right posture. Running from the base of nape up until the rump, it is usually broad and often distinguished from the rump, nape, and wings through some markings.
Primaries: These are the feathers present on tip of wings, as in covering the digits and hand portion of wings.
Secondaries: These are present a little above the primaries and represent the forearm part of the wings.
Scapulars: These are the feathers that cover the shoulder of a bird.
Feet: Feet includes toes, talons (or claws), and the hind toe. The orientation of toes and size of talons are also important markers used for identification.
And yes, do check out this learning course offered by The Cornell Lab for learning this anatomy. It is fun and comprehensive- https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/features/birdanatomy/
Who Gave The Bird That Name?
Whenever anybody asks you ‘Who are you’, what’s the first thing that you say? You answer with your name, right? Why? That’s because that has become your identity. People identify you with your name.
Humans are especially fond of naming things and as such, they haven’t left birds out of the loop. Birds may not care what they are called but we do. And therefore, here I bring to you some interesting facts about their names and the process behind naming them.
There are mostly 3 ways of naming a bird. There are names that commemorate a person (called eponym), names that come into form because of the sound the bird makes (called onomatopoeic names), then there are common names and scientific names.
Let’s talk about Eponyms first. In early 18th and 19th century, species were being named formally after famous ornithologists. Cooper’s Hawk was named after William Cooper, White’s Thrush after Gilbert White, and there are many more, but not all names were in honour of ornithologists only. Some were named after explorers, soldiers and people who collected a species for the first time.
Likewise there are names that are actually the sounds that the birds make, onomatopoeic names; for example, koel, motmot, toucan, chickadee, towhee, pipit, owl, crow and so many more. Don’t you think it would have been wonderful if all birds were named that way? But then, sometimes even birds use different dialects, so that would have given rise to different names for the same bird and that would have increased confusion. Sigh.
Well, confusion in the birding community was not a new thing as most common names ruled in the naming world. The only problem? People from different geographic locations referred to the same bird with different names and for a long time, it was thought that those were two different species. Take for instance the case of house finches which are called as linnets by some people. Americans referred to Cormorants and Europeans called the same birds shags. This was getting out of hand.
And this is where the International Ornithological Committee(IOC) came into the picture and announced a World Bird List which accepted common English names for all the bird species, dead or alive.
There’s one more naming scheme we haven’t explored yet and that is Scientific naming. Carolus Linnaeus was the man behind scientific nomenclature of all animals wherein he divided the entire animal kingdom into groups based on their similarities. These groups were further divided into subgroups which kept increasing the number of similarities these organisms shared with each other. The lowest rung of this classification ladder ensured that the organisms belonged to the same species. Here is how he went about it and let me remind you, although this system was developed in 1758, this is still used today.
So he had 7 rungs in the classification ladder. Similarities increase as we go down:
Example: Orange-headed Thrush.
Scientific name: Geokichla Citrina
Classification:
Level | Name | Description |
Kingdom | Animalia | Animals |
Phylum | Chordata | Animals with backbones |
Class | Aves | Birds |
Order | Passeriformes | Songbirds |
Family | Turdidae | All Thrushes |
Genus | Geokichla | Similar Thrush |
Species | G.Citrina | Orange-headed Thrush |
There are a few rules to be followed while observing this nomenclature. The one you need to care about is the species name is written in Camel case and always in italics.
All this makes you wonder are names really so important? I guess they are, even if you’re a bird.
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Maguri Bill is located in Tinsukia in Assam, located in the northeast region of India. It is a beautiful swampy area created by the confluence of the rivers Dibru, Lohit, and Brahmaputra. This swamp created by these three mighty rivers has become the house for a variety of flora and fauna. Located close to the area is the Dibru Saikhowa National Park. The name “beel” has been given to the piece of land by the local fishermen after a certain kind of catfish.
Dehing Pataki Wildlife Sanctuary located in Assam has rainforests that have given way to picturesque landscapes, plush fields, and an exotic variety of flora and fauna. Its nurturing environment also poses for a popular bird-watching destination in Assam. Several rare species reside in niches of trees in the grasslands here.
Here is a guide on how to make the best out of your excursion to Dehing Pataki Wildlife Sanctuary.
