ANOTHER HAPPY COINCIDENCE "The back yard is getting
overgrown, and the berries are attracting several kinds of
birds. My ability to distinguish one kind of bird from
another is spotty at best. I'm pretty clear on penguins
versus ostriches, for example, but I couldn't tell a wren
from a sparrow if I had one of each up either nostril. And
there's been a particularly charming reddish fellow keeping
me company as I gnash my teeth over the boring part of my
big project. So I thought I'd look him up, but couldn't find
a workable guide.
Until I started dabbling in hem's archives, and found the
tool for identifying birds she blogged quite some time ago.
And it really works and makes much more sense than the other
ones I found, which asked me first for the bird's
species--as if I knew that! Do I look like an ornithologist?
Give me questions I can answer from observation, like "what
color is it?" and "what shape is the bill?". Each question
narrows down the choices until you find your answer. Simple
and elegant. Welcome, little house finch." - Sally Waterbones
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