GUIDES

Look-alikes

Compare the clues that separate familiar birds.

Featured guide

Downy or Hairy Woodpecker?

Compare the bill with the head in profile. The Downy’s bill looks much shorter.

Birds shown at different scales.

Compare face, streaks and bill on both sexes.

Combine silhouette, tail, flight and voice without treating one cue as proof.

Sort familiar brown birds by bill, face and underpart pattern.

Read proportions and seasonal plumage before judging glossy color.

Compare tail, body and wing marks despite variable pigeon colors.

Compare head and breast while allowing immature and variable plumages.

Understand why range and multiple clues matter in the contact zone.

Separate orange-sided ground birds using posture, bill and color placement.