How to Identify Wildlife BBC 4-H

What kind of things do you use to help identify wildlife that you’ve SEEN?  Size, shape  Fur, feathers, scales or skin?  Habitat  Noise (or lack of)  Gait, (trot, flight, slither or other)  Other (smell?)

What kind of bird is this?

How Do You Identify Birds  Size, shape, color (boys vs. girls, summer vs. winter)  Beak or bill shape  Habitat  Flight Pattern  Song

Size, shape, color (boys vs. girls, summer vs. winter)  Birds can be tiny (like hummingbirds) and very large like geese, swans and eagles  Look at profiles, ducks, geese and swans have different body shapes than eagles, robins, or sparrows.  Boys are usually more brightly colored than girls, and sometimes change color in the winter (i.e. Goldfinch).

Beak or bill shape  Pointy like a sparrow or warbler  Robust like a finch or blue jay  Flat like ducks, geese, swans,  Hooked like eagles, hawks, falcons

Pointy beak Robust Beak

Flat beak? What do you call the beak on a goose?

A meat-eating beak. How can you tell?

Habitat  Are you looking at birds at a feeder or in the woods?  Different birds like marshes, swamps and beaches.  Other birds live in the deserts, mountains, rainforests, grasslands, etc.  If you know where you are, it can help identify birds.

Songs  Often you don’t see birds, you hear them.  Can you identify this bird? bird  How about this one? one  And this one? one

Flight Patterns

How do you identify animals that don’t fly  Fur or no fur?  Size, shape, color or color patterns  Habitat  Scat  Tracks  Skulls or bones (if they are dead )

Fur or no fur?  Is it furry, scaly, slimy?  First determine if it is a mammal, reptile, or amphibian (if you are in water you can add fish to that list).  Name 1 mammal, 1 reptile and 1 amphibian. How do you know which type of animal they are?

Size, shape, color or color patterns  You probably wouldn’t mistake a grizzly bear for a house mouse, but sometimes size can be more difficult if it is just a quick look.

Color and Color Patterns

Habitat  Again, knowing WHERE you are, helps you identify what animal it could or could not be.  If you are in Wisconsin, it’s highly unlikely you’ve seen a rhinoceros or koala. Is this an animal you would see in Wisconsin?

Scat  What is scat? It is an important clue to identifying animals.

Tracks Identify these tracks.

Skulls or bones

Identifying Wildlife Takes Practice  Best ways are to get someone to “teach” you by exploring nature together.  Field guides! There are guides for birds, mammals, amphibians, etc (even for tracks and scat!!!). Using one also takes practice.  Dichotomous keys- with practice you can identify any animal using a key (a set of questions that you answer until you come to a conclusion)

However, it’s worth it! Happy animal hunting.