Bird Identification

[StuartDH]

We're currently re-jiggling the reference section to adopt the forum/gallery design and login facility, like this :

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/nature/node/647

As part of the process, we're rebuilding the categories that pages in the reference section can fit in and could do with suggestions on suitable categories for birds.

As well as the months the year that the birds are usually seen and their colours, we've currently got categories for:

Residency

Summer Visitors
Winter Visitors
Passage Migrants
British Residents
Vagrants

Family

Accentors
Auks
Buntings
Bustards
Buzzards
Chats*
Cormorants
Crakes
Crows
Cuckoo
Curlews
Dabbling Ducks
Dipper
Diving Ducks
Divers
Doves
Eagles
Falcons
Finches
Flycatchers
Fulmars
Gannets
Geese
Godwits*
Grebes
Grouse
Gulls
Harriers
Hawks
Herons
Ibises
Kingfishers
Kites
Larks
Loons
Martins
Nightjar
Nuthatches
Owls
Patridges
Passerines
Perching Ducks
Phalaropes
Pheasants
Pigeons
Pipit
Plovers & Lapwings
Rails
Redstarts
Sawbills
Sandpipers & Allies
Scoters
Shearwaters
Shrikes
Skuas
Snipes*
Sparrows
Starlings
Swallows
Swans
Swifts
Terns
Thrushes
Tits
Treecreepers
Wagtails
Warblers
Waxwing
Whitethroats
Woodpeckers
Wren



Groups

Gamebirds
Birds of Prey
Wildfowl
Seabirds
Garden Birds
Waders*
Woodland Birds*
Rare Birds*

Habitats

Bays & Estuaries
Cliffs & Rocky Shores
Beaches and Sand Dunes
Reedbeds*
Urban Environments

Grassland & Meadows
Heathland
Parkland
Farmland & Pastures
Lowland
Upland

Coniferous woodland
Deciduous woodland
Mixed woodland

Bogs and Marshland
Lakes and Ponds
Rivers and Streams



The more categories we have, the more easily visitors will be able to find a specific species in the encyclopedia, so if you can think of any more that we can add, please post them here and I'll add them to the lists.

Thanks

Stu

[wildone]

How about Woodland birds? Waders? Rare Birds? Godwits? Snipe?There are also a number of birds which do not belong to any family, or are the only member in Britain, such a Avocet, Stone Curlew and Ruff. Indeed I think you have missed most of the waders.

[Tursiops]

category: "Chats" - robin, wheatear etc.
spelling: "Patridge" should read "Partridge"
T

Oh, and "Loon" is the North American name for "Diver", not British.

[Diane]

For the family section, you would be better sticking to the standard systematic order of birds. If you get hold of a Collins Bird Guide that should help. I think there are some Internet resources, but not sure of the URLs.

[John]

Originally Posted by Diane

For the family section, you would be better sticking to the standard systematic order of birds. If you get hold of a Collins Bird Guide that should help. I think there are some Internet resources, but not sure of the URLs.

You beat me to it. That is what I was going to suggest.

[StuartDH]

Thanks for the suggestions so far, we've added them to the list.

[wildone]

Chats is another name for small Thrushes. In Collins they all are covered by Thrushes.

[wildone]

Habitat could include Rivers and Lakes

[StuartDH]

We've had a look through Collins and most of the family info ties in with the book - although there's probably still some missing.

The advantage of having a database is that we can more easily break down and cross groups and then combine them again into larger sets, so we can work around the constraints of having to present the info in book format.

Essentially, wherever a bird can be found in a group, we want to include that group name. For example, the Redstart can fit in a group with the Black Redstart, but it can also be in Chats, Thrushes and Passerines

[Grantus]

Originally Posted by Tursiops

Oh, and "Loon" is the North American name for "Diver", not British.

Isn't Loon the Scottish name?

[John]

Originally Posted by Grantus

Isn't Loon the Scottish name?

I must admit that I thought it was only the American term. I have been to Scotland many times and never heard the Divers called Loons there.