Identifying Birds In The Wild

Feathers are tough and flexible at the same time, they are also wind-waterproof, and the down feathers keep the birds body temperature. The flight feathers in the wings are exceptionally strong, because they power the bird through the air, they can be colorful which is part of their mating and protective behaviour.

Most birds change their feathers once a year, this is called moult and it takes place gradually so that the bird is never completely naked and unable to fly, and normally happens over a couple of months towards the end of the summer.

A bird's year starts in early spring, when the days get longer, the males begin to sing, this is the way they attract the females to mate, and also marks out the edges of the territory that the pair will need to raise their family. Once the pair has established their relationship, nest building begins.

The nests are usually shaped like a cup and contain several thousand individual materials carefully woven to create the nest. In it the female bird will lay her eggs called a clutch, some birds will lay a single egg, while others will lay between four and six, and other birds like ducks and tits lay up to 15 eggs. And the amount of times the birds lay their eggs on a given season varies between one to four times.

Some birds travel long distances to avoid weather changes, and food shortages, like the swallow which travels to the south of Africa during the winter, where they can find their pray, insects. We are not sure how they do this, their journey is miles long, and crosses the Sahara desert, and it is done with incredible navigational accuracy. When they return in spring they will usually use the same nest as the year before.

Bird tables are a great way to bring them into your garden, as well as helping them survive through periods of bad weather, consider putting protecting caps around tall bird feeders to keep cats and squirrels away from birds and bird food.

If you plan to go birdwatching, take into consideration the weather conditions, and weather changes and dress accordingly, don't forget your binoculars and select the location for the trip. Remember that generally speaking, there will be more species to watch as you travel eastward, mixed farmland with hedges and woodland have more bird species, for the city people, look for parks with lakes, and gardens to bird-watch.