I recently saw a female Nashville Warbler in my backyard. It was neat to watch it glean bugs from the young lilac bush in my yard. I first saw it in a tree, so I saw the underside. My first instinct said Yellow Warbler, but when It flow down the the lilac I could see the gray head and white eye-ring.
After it flow away, I got my book and IDed it as a female Nashville Warbler.
Here are tips I use to ID birds.
1. Don't get to caught up in the moment too much.
2. Focus your attention on field marks. When I was watching the warbler I focused in on the eye-ring, the gray head, the yellow underbody, etc.
3. Use the field marks you focus on to your advantage when looking in your book. Compare birds that look like the on you saw. Use the field marks to narrow down the possibilities to one, just like the search engine on this site!
This will help you a lot.
Good Luck Birding
Josh
