Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Field-friendly bird sequence
Swimming Waterbirds

Canada GooseCanada Goose, Forest Grove, Oregon, 3 May 2009 by Greg Gillson.

 

The 13 categories of North American birds listed in the Field-friendly bird sequence: Part II are:

Swimming Waterbirds
Flying Waterbirds
Wading Waterbirds
Chicken-like Birds
Raptors
Miscellaneous Landbirds
Aerial Landbirds
Flycatcher-like Birds
Thrush-like Songbirds
Chickadee and Wren-like Songbirds
Warbler-like Songbirds
Sparrow and Finch-like Songbirds
Blackbird-like Songbirds

A beginner should be able to quickly place a bird they see into one of these categories.

The Swimming Waterbirds are those primarily web-footed birds most-frequently observed swimming. Oh, most are strong fliers, but they search for food while swimming and spend a great amount of time swimming and sometimes diving under the water.

Included families: geese, swans, ducks, loons, grebes, cormorants, coot, alcids.

Hooded MerganserHooded Merganser, Hillsboro, Oregon, 7 January 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

Clark's GrebeClark's Grebe, Forest Grove, Oregon, 5 July 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

Pelagic CormorantPelagic Cormorant, Newport, Oregon, 9 August 2008 by Greg Gillson.

 

American CootAmerican Coot, Forest Grove, Oregon, 7 February 2009 by Greg Gillson.

 

Tufted PuffinTufted Puffin, off Newport, Oregon, 10 August 2008 by Greg Gillson.