Home >> Science & Nature >> Animals & Science

How to Identify a Baby Bird With a Long Beak

Many baby birds of diverse species look roughly the same in their earliest days: a naked or sparsely feathered reptilian-looking creature with oversized head and feet. Identifying them as a layperson can be difficult, as the young bird may little resemble the sleek, fully and sharply plumaged adult. For birds with prominently long beaks, the situation is slightly different, as a number of notable species have other physical traits -- such as elongate legs or large body size -- that help set them apart. Remember to leave wild baby birds alone except in rare circumstances advised by professionals, and never interfere with the parenting processes of the adults.

Instructions

- 1
  
  Baby egrets are bigger than many adult songbirds.
  
  Define the bird's size. A baby great blue heron is substantially larger than a baby meadowlark, both of which have long beaks in proportion to their size. A baby hummingbird will be at the extreme end of small -- they may be an inch long and weigh less than a dime.
- 2
  
  Hummingbirds have proportionately long and very straight bills.
  
  Consider the shape of the beak. Many North American birds with long beaks also have relatively straight ones; again, the hummingbird demonstrates a convenient extreme, with its proportionately enormous bill forming a rigid, severe line. Wood storks, ibises and some other wading birds, however, have gently curved bills. The long beaks of many seabirds, such as gulls and petrels, have a sharp curve at the end.
- 3
  Examine the bird's major physical features beyond its beak. A baby heron or egret can quickly set itself apart from other nestlings or fledglings by its long, gangly legs and long-toed feet. A baby kingfisher has a pink mouth and partly fused toes.
- 4
  
  Adult-style plumage patterns develop at different stages of a young bird's development, depending on the species.
  
  Look at the plumage pattern if the baby bird has feathered out. This may be less illustrative than you might think, considering that young birds typically develop downy feathers first and may not develop a characteristic adult pattern and color until nearly mature. Young gulls and terns often show dark speckling on their downy coats. A young woodpecker that has grown stiffer feathers will show the black-and-white plumage so distinctive in the adults of many species, such as downy and three-toed woodpeckers.
- 5
  
  A long-billed baby bird seen along a wetland shore may well be a heron, egret, bittern or other wading bird.
  
  Think about the location in which you find the baby bird. A downy fledgling encountered on seashore rocks is likely a seabird -- maybe a gull, tern, cormorant or the like -- or a surf-foraging species such as a sandpiper. One encountered in marsh reeds is most likely a heron or egret. A long-billed baby in a backyard, thicket bramble or woodland groundcover may well be that of a passerine, or songbird.

Animals & Science