Comments on: In which I misidentify a Turkey Vulture

By: Jan Axel

Jan Axel — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 04:54:59 +0000

Great story… some years ago, my former non-birder neighbor called (knowing that I’m a passionate birder) very excited to say me he was seeing a Harpy Eagle (Panama’s National Bird… and by far the only eagle known by most of my compatriots) right in the phone post in front of the house. A quick glimpse through my kitchen window proved that it was an Osprey

By: The Ridger

The Ridger — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:00:32 +0000

Good thing it wasn’t a dark-headed vulture; you’d have really been sure!

By: Listening Earth Blog » Blog Archive » I and the Bird #116

Listening Earth Blog » Blog Archive » I and the Bird #116 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:09:33 +0000

[...] the subject of identifying species, here is a cautionary tale about being overconfident about one’s bird id, in this case a Turkey Vulture – especially when you didn’t actually see the bird! While with [...]

By: Grant McCreary

Grant McCreary — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:50:20 +0000

“mental osmosis can be a powerful force if applied consistently and patiently throughout a relationship”

Very true. My wife is interested in the outdoors, and enjoys some birds. But definitely not a “birder”. But mental osmosis is real. Every now and then she asks to see the pictures in a birding magazine to see if she can identify the bird. Wow, that sounds alot like a birder to me, better not tell her that . Anyways, she can ID many birds, or at least get to the right family.

In fact, just recently, she beat me to the identification of a bird in a video I was watching. So it definitely pays to take heed of your non-birding spouse’s comments.

By: jason

jason — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:17:59 +0000

Hilarious! And all too familiar. Anyone who can tell the difference between a great-tailed grackle and a brown pelican is an expert, so I think we’ve all been there, especially when dealing with limited information. We can regale each other all day with similar tales (Have I told you about when my mother asked me to identify a sparrow-sized clump of leaves in a tree about 100 yards from where we stood?). Ultimately, though, even when I put my foot in my mouth with hearing a few details and thinking I can pin it down, I worry less about that and relish the idea that people want to know, are trying to be better about appreciating what’s out there, and feel I might be able to help (though they’d never call again if they knew the truth!).

By: Nate

Nate — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:55:52 +0000

@John- I think you’ve gotten to the heart of it. Details like “enormous” are only moderately helpful.

By: John

John — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:49:40 +0000

I think it’s easy for birders to have trouble identifying the bird a nonbirder is describing because we have much different standards for what might be uncommon or notable. Plus the details a nonbirder notices aren’t necessarily the ones we end consider important.

By: Nate

Nate — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:14:12 +0000

@Seabrooke- Yep, the best birders are able to minimize their mistakes or to refrain from calling them out, but no one is completely immune from them.

You’re absolutely right about the bird stories. People seem to want validation from an “expert”, which is nice if you’re open to providing it. Sometimes birders are unprepared by what being the local bird expert entails.

By: Seabrooke

Seabrooke — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:16:20 +0000

That’s a great story. It’s happened to all of us. And it still even happens with our own identifications. Dan spotted a large shape in one of the trees some ways off in the field behind our house a month or two ago and was *convinced* it had to be something unusual, an eagle, or at the very least a Rough-leg, ’cause it was *huge*. I wasn’t so sure, but was willing to hold off on an ID because he seemed so convinced. And then as I watched with a scope, the bird flashed its rufous-red tail as it balanced in the wind.

And the other thing about non-birders is that as soon as you mention to someone new that you’re a birder, or that you work with birds for a living, *everybody* has a bird story they want to relate to you. And usually it’s something rather mundane, to a birder, but was meaningful enough to them for them to actually take note of a bird and remember, so you try to be enthusiastic and supportive of their interest and twist their mundane observation into something notable for them.

By: Nate

Nate — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:36:32 +0000

@Robert- Great story! My wife’s explanatory skills aside, she would have me believe that she thought it was a Vulture from the start, so her gut is pretty good. So like yours, it seems something has gotten through to her after all.