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<font color="#009900" size="+1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Birds & Blooms Newsletter - Seasonal Suggestions </font> 

Dear $$firstname$$,

Greetings from <i>Birds & Blooms</i> magazine! We hope you enjoy this BONUS newsletter, which helps you ask the right questions to reveal the identity of a new feathered friend. See if you can figure out...

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<font color="#009900"><b>What Is That Mystery Bird? </b></font>

A NEIGHBOR or friend approaches you and says, "I saw a new bird in my backyard the other day, and I don't know what it was." You're likely to reply, "What did it look like?"

"Well...it had some red on its front. And I think it was dark on the back..."

Such a sketchy description offers too few clues for even an expert to identify the backyard visitor. Trouble is, when they see a new bird, many people get so excited they forget to look for important clues that could lead to the bird's identity.

Next time you spot a new bird, remember to look for the features that make it unique. Then a positive identification should be fairly easy. For example, let's say you've just spotted a "mystery bird". Look closely and make mental notes of several key features.

<b>Size:</b> How big is the bird? Is it larger, smaller or the same size as a robin? Or a sparrow? Or a crow? (The mystery bird is about the same size as a robin.)

<b>Color:</b> What colors are its feathers? Red? Yellow? Black? Brown? A combination of several colors? On what parts of the bird are these colors located? On its back? Breast? Belly? Throat? Wings? Rump? Head? Legs? (Mystery bird has a bright red breast, white belly and black head and back.)

<b>Field Marks:</b> What striking marks does the bird have? Wing bars? Striped or spotted breast? Eye lines? Bars on its tail? Spot or crest on its head? White outer tail feathers? (Mystery bird has white wing bars and a white rump.)

<b>Shape:</b> Is it shaped like a duck? Hawk? Woodpecker? Heron? Swallow? Robin? Wren? Is its bill long and pointed or short and thick? Is its tail long and thin or short and round? (Mystery bird has a large, thick bill like a cardinal's--probably for cracking seeds.)

<font color="#009900"><b>Seek Other Clues</b></font>

Remember that other details besides the bird's appearance might help pinpoint its identity.

<b>Location:</b> Where is the bird? Is it on the ground? In a tree? On water? In a field? In a forest? Flying high or low? (Mystery bird is among the leaves of a tree in southeastern Wisconsin.)

<b>Season:</b> Is it spring, summer, fall or winter? (Mystery bird is sighted in summer.)

<b>Behavior:</b> What is the bird doing? Hopping? Walking? Climbing up or down a tree? Sitting on a branch? Eating? Bathing? Feeding young? Preening? (Mystery bird is sitting on a branch and singing.)

<b>Sound:</b> Every bird makes sounds, either songs, alarm calls, tapping on trees with its bill or beating the air with its wings. If the bird is making a sound, what kind of sound is it? (Mystery bird has a lovely melodious song, somewhat like a robin.)

<font color="#009900"><b>By the Book</b></font>

Armed with these details, we can begin paging through a field guide, which arranges birds in families. (See a list of popular field guides below.) We know by its size and shape that mystery bird is not a hawk, duck or woodpecker. It must be a large songbird...perhaps a thrush or finch.

Once we've found the right family (finch), we look for a bird with mystery bird's color and field marks. It looks a lot like a grosbeak--the rose-breasted grosbeak. Reading the description of the rose-breasted grosbeak, we discover that mystery bird is a male, because the female is a brown-striped bird.

Sure enough, the range map (a map showing where the bird is usually found) indicates that the rose-breasted grosbeak spends spring and summer in southeastern Wisconsin. Mystery solved! 
(To see the mystery bird, visit
<A HREF="http://www.birdsandblooms.com/RD.asp?ID=344">http://www.birdsandblooms.com/RD.asp?ID=344.)</A>

<b>Bird Field Guide Is Helpful Tool</b>

WHEN Roger Tory Peterson published A Field Guide to the Birds in 1934, he opened the door to a new world of identifying birds. His guide was the first to describe the unique qualities and specific field marks of each and every bird in eastern North America. It also grouped similar species together so direct comparisons could easily be made.

Since then, many other field guides have followed suit. That's why a field guide is a helpful companion for bird-watchers who want to identify unfamiliar backyard birds. Here are some field guides commonly used in North America:

* American Bird Conservancy's Field Guide to All the Birds of North America, published by HarperCollins.


* A Field Guide to the Birds, by Roger Tory Peterson, Houghton Muffin Co. There are two volumes: Eastern birds and Western birds.


* Field Guide to Birds of North America, Second Edition, National Geographic Society.


* Golden Guide to Field Identification: Birds of North America, Golden Press.


* Stokes Field Guide to Birds, Little, Brown and Co. There are two Volumes: Eastern region and Western region.

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<I>Birds & Blooms</I> magazine brings beautiful backyards from across America into your living room--through vivid, full-color photos. It's like a friendly "chat" over the back fence with your bird-and flower-loving neighbors. 

To subscribe on-line, visit <A HREF="http://www.birdsandblooms.com/rd.asp?id=343">http://www.birdsandblooms.com/rd.asp?id=343</A>

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BYE for now from the <I>Birds & Blooms</I> staff...see you next month!

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Copyright 2004 Reiman Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
<I>Birds & Blooms</I>, P.O. Box 991, Greendale WI 53129-0991
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