birdguy.net: students

CURRICULUM

I hand out a lot of material during the course of the term. Most of the handouts can be found on this page. The bird family handouts, or learning groups can be found in the table below. Before getting into these, however, you might want to review some introductory material relating to the general discipline of observating of birds:

Going Birding? Before you go (1)	Going Birding? Before you go (2)	Basic Topography
Bill Shapes	Tail and Wing Shapes	What's that Song?

The following classification system is by no means scientific. The eight categories proposed by Roger Tory Peterson in his Field Guide to Western Birds are nevertheless a convient and intuitive system of ordering the many species of birds in our area. Click on a group and an explanation accompanied by a silhouette will appear. Most seabirds are not discussed because we will have no chance to observe them during the class field trips.

Swimmers	Aerialists	Large Waders	Shorebirds	Game Birds	Raptors	Misc. Land Birds	Passerines
Loons Grebes Cormorants Dabbling Ducks Diving Ducks Coots Moorhens Alcids	Pelicans Gulls Terns Skimmers Swifts	Herons Egrets Nightherons Bitterns Cranes Ibis Rails	Intro 1 Intro 2 Oystercatchers Stilts Avocets Plovers Godwits Curlews Whimbrels Willets Yellowlegs Phalaropes Snipes Dowitchers Tattlers Surfbirds Turnstones "Peeps"	Turkeys Pheasants Quails	Intro 1 Intro 2 Kites Harriers Accipiters Buteos Eagles Vultures Ospreys Falcons	Owls Kingfishers Doves Roadrunners Nightjars Hummingbirds Woodpeckers	Corvids: Crows Ravens Jays Magpies Curious Little: Chickadees Titmice Bushtits Wrentits Wrens Kinglets Gnatchatchers Tree Climbing: Nuthatches Creepers Icterids, Etc.: Grackles Blackbirds Cowbirds Orioles Meadowlarks Starlings Watchpost Insectivores: Flycatchers Open Country Ground Birds: Larks Pipits Seed eating: Sparrows, etc. Thrushes: Thrashers Mockingbirds Thrushes Bluebirds Relaxed Treetop Insectivores: Vireos Nervous Treetop Insectivores: Warblers Miscellaneous: Dippers Waxwings Shrikes Swallows Phainopepla Tanagers