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This glossary contains terminology and
definitions for birds in alphabetical order.
The four letter common name
alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the
common first name and the first two letters of common last
name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from
the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the
first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1)
below for the rules used to create the
codes.
Four-letter (for English common names) and
six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were
developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American
Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and
nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk
117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list
has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes
reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through
2006.
Alphabetic (“alpha”) codes, abbreviations of
English or scientific bird names, have long been employed by
ornithologists. They allow quicker data entry than filling out
the full English or scientific name of a species and they can
also serve to cross-check other recorded names or numeric
data. The U.S. Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) has long used
alpha codes in banding data, and these codes have become an
integral part of large ornithological programs across Canada
and the United States; however, inconsistencies occur in the
rules governing the alpha codes of the BBL, and their list
does not include most species found exclusively in Mexico,
Central America, and the Caribbean.
Pyle and DeSante
recognized the utility of alpha-code systems, so they created
two lists of alpha codes for use by North and Central American
and Caribbean ornithologists. The first list contains
four-letter codes, based on English names, broadly following
the rules and strategies adopted by the BBL. This list differs
from that of the BBL in two ways. First, all 2038 species
recorded from the American Ornithologists' Union area (through
2004 according to their 45th supplement) are included, as well
as 91 non-species forms (many of which were recognized by the
BBL) for which standardized English names are provided.
Second, standardized, species-categorization definitions and
conflict-resolution formulae have been derived and strictly
adhered to. The second list follows the same basic principles
except that it contains six-letter codes based on the
scientific names (genus, species, and subspecies) of the
species or forms. We hope that this second list will be useful
for ornithologists, particularly those in Latin American
countries, who prefer using scientific rather than English
names. These two lists will be updated every two years,
following taxonomic and name changes adopted by the AOU in
future biennial supplements. Read More: The
BBL code system: Rules for forming the codes
Abdomen
Also called the belly, it
is the ventral part of the bird.
Alula
Small joint on the bird’s
wing, similar to the human thumb, with three or four
quill-like feathers. It is a necessity for low speed flight
and maneuverability. The feathers function much like the slats
on airplanes by basically increasing the curve of the wing and
as such help the bird to land and take-off again.
Alular quills
Three feathers
attached to the alula originating from the base of the
primaries. They are essential for low speed flight and aid in
coordinated landing and take-off.
Alular quill coverts
Alular quill
coverts are smaller feathers covering the quill of each flight
feather. Each wing has primary, secondary and tertiary coverts
based on the location of the feather.
Auricular
Soft webbed feathers on
the side of the bird's head. These feathers overlap the ear
and as such are also called ear coverts or ear patch.
Axillary
Located between the body
and the wing of the bird. Similar to the human armpit, also
called the wingpit.
Back
The dorsal part of the bird
between the base of the wings from the neck to the tail.
Belly
The ventral part of the bird,
or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum
and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and
the breast.
Bill
Birds do not have a mouth like
humans, but instead have a bill or a beak. The bill reveals
much about the bird’s food and lifestyle.
Body
The body is similar to the
human torso area. It is the bird’s main mass not including its
appendages such as wings, tails and legs.
Breast
The upper front part of a
bird.
Breast band
A contrasting band
across the breast.
Breast spot
The breast spot is a
small area of contrasting color on the breast.
Cap
The area on top of the head of
the bird.
Cere
Also called the operculum, it
is a smooth and featherless patch of skin located where the
beak attaches to the forehead.
Cheek
Located between the lore,
eye, auricular and the lower mandible.
Chest
Also called the breast area,
it is the frontal area on the body containing the breastplate
and major flight muscles.
Chin
The area of the face just
below the bill.
Cloaca
Birds do not have two
separate cavities for excrement and reproduction like humans
do. In birds, there is one entrance/exit that suits both
functions. It is also called anus or vent.
Cloacal kiss
This term is analogous
to sexual intercourse in humans. It is used to describe
copulation between birds.
Collar
Similar to the upper part of
the human neck, located at the back of the crown.
Comb
Only found in male birds and
consists of a colored area over the eye. A well developed comb
can also signal (sexual) health to a potential mate.
Commissure
The hinge where the
mandibles meet.
Crest
Tufts of feathers on the head
of the bird.
Crissum
The feathers in a
triangular area on the underside of a bird between its vent
and the base of its tail feathers.
Crown
The crown is the top part of
the birds head.
Culmen
The culmen is the uppermost
central ridge of the upper mandible.
Dihedral
When a bird in flight
holds its wings such that they appear to form a “V” shape they
are called dihedral.
Ear patch
Consists of soft,
loose-webbed feathers on the side of the bird's head below and
behind the eyes.
Ears
The rounded areas on the
bird’s face covered with feathers, also called facial discs.
Eye
The eye is the organ of sight.
The bird's eyes are larger compared to the bird's skull and
are, therefore, proportionally larger than human eyes. Since
the skull is lighter compared to the human skull (adjusted for
size), the eyes take up about 15% of the weight.
Eye line
The line of feathers just
in front of and behind the eyes. It extends back from the
posterior angle of the eye. This can be a useful trait used in
identification in the field since it is very noticeable.
Eye ring
The circle around the eye
formed of feathers that are a different color from the rest of
the face.
Eyebrow
Also called the
supercilicum or superciliary it is the arch of feathers over
each eye.
Eyelid
Birds have one upper and one
lower eyelid - the latter being more moveable. Birds also have
a nictitating membrane between both eyelids and the cornea. It
has its own lubricating duct equivalent to the human tear duct
to clean and protect the eye.
Face
The front part of the head
consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.
Facial discs
Also called ears.
Feet
The feet are located at the
terminal part of the legs, and most birds have four toes. The
first toe points backwards while the other three toes point
forward. The second, third and fourth digits or toes are
counted from the inside of the foot out and have 2, 3 and 4
phalanges respectively. Most birds do not have a fifth toe
except for some where it has evolved into a defensive sput,
such as in the chicken.
Flank
The lateral area posterior to
the side of the bird’s body that extends back to the base of
the tail.
Flank stripe
Contrasting colored
stripes on the flanks.
Flight feathers
Located on the
wing, and collectively called remiges (singular, remex). The
long stiff feathers are subdivided into two major groups based
on the location and are called primaries and secondaries.
Forehead
Is located above the eyes.
Foreneck
Also called the jugulum or
throat patch, it is located on the front of the neck.
Frontal shield
The area where the
bill extends onto the forehead of the bird. It is often
brightly colored and is meant to grab the attention of other
birds.
Gape
Also called commissure, it is
the hinge where the mandibles meet.
Gonys
The lower most ridge on the
lower mandible.
Gorget
A small iridescent patch on
the throat of a hummingbird.
Greater secondary coverts
The
feathers overlying the bases of the secondaries. In some
birds, the primary converts are completely covered by them.
Gular region
The area between the
chin and the foreneck.
Head
The head is the upper part of
the body, containing the bill, eyes, crown, ears and nose.
Head stripes
The head stripes are
the contrasting colored lines on the top of the bird's head.
This is a useful feature to discriminate between species.
However, juvenile birds often have less pronounced stripes
than adults.
Hindhead
Also called the occiput,
it is the back portion of the bird's crown.
Hindneck
Also called the nape and
collar, it is the back of the neck.
Horns
Paired contour feathers on
top of the head of the bird.
Inner primaries
The inner primaries
are a group of feathers closest to the body on the wing of the
bird. They are generally covered partially by the
secondaries.
Inner secondaries
The group of
secondary feathers located closest to the body with respect to
the outer secondary coverts.
Inner wing
Includes the shoulder,
the secondaries and the secondary coverts.
Iris
The iris is the colored part
of the eye, equal to the human iris, located around the pupil.
The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990's as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine.
Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.
ITIS inherited approximately 210,000 scientific
names with varying levels of data quality from the NODC data
set. While many important taxonomic groups were not well
represented (e.g., terrestrial insects), the rate of errors
and omissions within represented taxonomic groups ranged from
relatively low (e.g., few misspellings or occasional
typographical errors) to rather high (e.g., many species names
without authors or dates, or species assigned to wrong
groups). Every living organism that has been classfied into
the ITIS database has a 6 digit taxonomic serial number (TSN).
This unique number can be used at the ITIS web site to obtain
the most up to date classification information about a
species. More
information on the ITIS system.
Jugulum
The ventral part of the
neck under the bill.
Knee
The joint in the middle part
of the leg, in the same location as the human knee.
Leading edge of wing
The leading
edge of the wing is the first from a frontal position when the
bird is in flight.
Leg
Proportionally the bird’s legs
are extremely strong in order for it to be able to land and
take off without getting injured.
Lesser secondary coverts
The short
feathers overlying the median secondary coverts on the top of
the wing. They are located near the shoulder and can be seen
as the first row of feathers on the bird’s wing. They are also
called marginal coverts and are referred to as the shoulder.
Lore
The area under the eye and
above the bill.
Lower mandible
The lower part of
the bill.
Lower mandibular tomia
The cutting
edge of the lower mandible.
Malar stripe
Also called whisker,
mustache or malar streak, it is the area below the eye and
bill on the sides of the chin that stretches downwards.
Mandibular ramus
A prong-like
projection from the bill on the posterior side.
Mantle
The upper surface of the
back and wings covered with shorter feathers.
Marginal coverts
The feathers
overlying the base of the median secondary coverts and are
also called lesser secondary coverts or shoulder. They are
positioned at the top edge of the wing closest to the body of
the bird.
Median line
The stripe along the
very top part of the head through the crown.
Median secondary coverts
The
feathers on the wing covering the bases of the greater
secondary coverts.
Mustache
Also called a malar
streak, stripe or whisker it is the contrasting color on each
side of the chin down through the throat area
Mouth
The mouth is similar in
function to the human mouth and refers to the cavity bounded
by the bill.
Nape
Also called the hindneck or
collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the
body.
Nasal canthus
The inner corner of
the eye.
Nasal fossa
The depression in which
the bird’s nostril is located.
Neck
The neck connects the head to
the body of the bird.
Neck patch
A sac located on the
neck that is inflatable and is only visible in males during
courtship displays.
Nictitating membrane
The third
eyelid of the bird that can be closed for protection. It has
its own moisturizing system similar to tear ducts.
Nostril
The nostrils are the two
small openings on the top of the bill.
Occiput
The back portion of the
crown.
Operculum
The smooth and
featherless patch of skin located where the beak attaches to
the forehead of certain birds. It is often enlarged and
brightly colored such as one can observe in pigeons, parrots
and birds of prey. It is also called the cere.
Outer primaries
The outer primaries
are the primary feathers on the wing farthest from the body.
They often appear to be the longest feathers on the wing.
Outer secondaries
The outer
secondaries are the secondary feathers of the wing furthest
away from the body.
Outer tail feathers
The tail
feathers farthest from the center.
Outer wing
The alula and the
primary feathers.
Pelagic
The pelagic is a type of
bird whose habitat is on the open ocean rather than in a
coastal region or on inland bodies of water (lakes, rivers).
An example of a pelagic bird is the blacklegged kittiwake.
Pinnae
Elongated feathers
projecting from the upper body area, generally the neck or
head.
Plumes
Large, conspicuous, showy
feathers.
Primaries
The primaries are the
flight feathers specialized for flight. They are attached to
the "hand" equivalent part of the wing.
Primary coverts
The primary coverts
are shorter feathers that cover and protect the primary flight
feathers.
Primary numbering
The primary
numbering is a system developed to assign numbers to each
primary feather for easier identification.
Pupil
The dark center of the eye.
Rectrices
The principal feathers
that make up the tail. They range in number from eight to
twenty-four.
Remiges
Refers to the flight
feathers-primaries, secondaries, and tertials.
Rictal bristles
The short and stiff
feathers near the bill.
Rictus
The base of the bill where
the mandibles join.
Ruff
A fringe of feather growth on
the neck of a male bird used in courtship displays
Rump
The area between the uppertail
coverts and the back of the bird.
Scapulars
Short feathers in the
area where the bird’s back and wings join.
Secondaries
Flight feathers that
are attached to the wing in the area similar to the human
forearm and between the body and the primaries.
Secondary coverts
The feathers that
cover and protect the secondaries.
Shoulder
The short feathers
overlying the median secondary coverts on the top of the wing.
They are located near the back and can be seen as the “first
row” of feathers on the birds wing. They are also called
marginal coverts and lesser secondary coverts.
Side
The area between the belly,
the wing and back, It is equivalent to the area between the
human armpit and the hip bone.
Side of neck
The area between the
foreneck and hindneck.
Spectacle
The spectacle refers to
the combination of the eye ring and supraloral line.
Speculum
The brightly colored area
on the wing (secondaries of the wing) on several duck
species.
Subterminal band
The bands of
contrasting color located just before the tip of the tail.
Superciliary line
Also called
supercilium or eyebrow, it is the arch of feathers over the
eye in the same approximate location as the human eye brow.
Supercilium
Also called the
superciliary, it is the arch of feathers over the eye.
Supraloral line
A contrasting line
between the eye and the bill.
Tail
Feathers extending from the
rear of the bird and used for balance and as an asset to
attract potential mates.
Tail coverts
The short tail
feathers covering the base of the long tail feathers.
Tail numbering
The tail numbering
is a system developed to assign a number to each tail feather
which can convey certain characteristics about certain
species.
Tarsus
The tarsus is the part of
the leg between the knee and the foot of the bird, similar to
the lower leg in humans..
Temporal canthus
The outer corner
of the eye closest to the ear.
Terminal band
The terminal band
refers to the contrasting stripe at the tip of the tail.
Tertiaries
The third set of flight
feathers located closest to the body.
Throat
Similar in locations to the
human throat
Throat patch
Feathers of a
contrasting color found on the throat.
Tibia
Similar to the human upper
leg.
Toe
The toes aredigits attached to
the feet just like human toes. Most birds have four toes. The
first toe points backwards while the other three toes point
forward. The second, third and fourth digits or toes are
counted from the inside of the foot out and have 2, 3 and 4
phalanges respectively. Most birds do not have a fifth toe,
except for some where it has evolved into a defensive sput,
such as in the chicken
Trailing edge of wing
The edge of
the wing seen when the wing is stretched out in flight.
Underparts
Include the belly,
undertail coverts, breast, flanks and foreneck.
Undertail coverts
Also called
crissum, they are feathers in a triangular area on the
underside of a bird between its vent and the base of its tail
feathers. Adult females tend to have conspicuous dusky edging
to most of these feathers. Juvenile females tend to have
nearly pure white undertail coverts.
Underwing
The bottom side of the
wing.
Upper mandible
The upper part of
the bill.
Upper mandibular tomia
The cutting
edge of the upper bill.
Upperparts
Include the back, rump,
hindneck, wings and crown.
Uppertail coverts
Short feathers
covering the upper side of the base of the tail.
Upperwing
Visible part of the wing
when looking at the bird from a top view while the bird is
stationary and has its wings pressed against its body.
Vent
Birds do not have two separate
cavities for excrement and reproduction like humans do. In irds,
there is one single entrance/exit that suits both functions
called the vent, cloaca or anus.
Whisker
Also called the mustache,
malar steak or stripe, it is the contrasting colored feathers
on each side of the chin down through the throat area.
Wing
The wing is the feathered
appendage that allows a bird to fly. Strong flight muscles are
attached to the wing such that the bird can lifts its own
bodyweight.
Wing bars
The wing bars make the
bird's wing look "striped". They are pale or white tips of the
greater and median secondary coverts on the wings. From a
distance, it can be viewed as a horizontally striped pattern
making the wing look layered.
Wing coverts
The feathers that
cover and protect the flight feathers.
Wing lining
The wing lining is the
short and softer median, lesser and marginal coverts on the
underwing.
Wing stripe
The area at the base of
the wing which is made up of pale or white tips on the flight
feathers.
Wingpit
Also called the axillary,
is located between the body and the wing of the bird, similar
to the area of the human armpit.
Wrist
The wrist refers to the base
of the primaries in the bird’s wing. |
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