REFERENCE
Bird Glossary
The language of ornithology, explained in plain words.
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- Altricial
- Chicks that hatch naked, blind and helpless, needing long parental care (e.g. songbirds, parrots).
- Air sacs
- Thin-walled sacs connected to the lungs that drive a one-way flow of air through them.
- Avian
- Relating to birds (class Aves).
- Brood
- All the chicks hatched from one clutch of eggs.
- Brood parasite
- A bird that lays eggs in another species’ nest, e.g. the common cuckoo and Asian koel.
- Casque
- A helmet-like growth on the bill or head, as in hornbills and cassowaries.
- Cere
- A fleshy, waxy patch at the base of the upper bill in raptors and parrots.
- Clutch
- The complete set of eggs laid in one nesting attempt.
- Coverts
- Small feathers covering the bases of the flight feathers.
- Crop
- A pouch in the throat for storing food before digestion.
- Crop milk
- A nutritious secretion fed to chicks by pigeons, flamingos and emperor penguins.
- Diurnal
- Active during the day.
- Echolocation
- Navigating by echoes of clicks; used by oilbirds and some swiftlets in dark caves.
- Endemic
- Found naturally in only one place, e.g. the kākāpō in New Zealand.
- Field mark
- A visible feature that helps identify a species, such as a wing bar or eye ring.
- Fledgling
- A young bird that has just left the nest and is learning to fly.
- Flyway
- A major migration route used by many species, e.g. the Central Asian (Indus) Flyway through Pakistan.
- Furcula
- The wishbone — fused collarbones that act as a spring during flight.
- Gizzard
- A muscular stomach that grinds food, often using swallowed grit.
- Irruption
- An irregular mass movement of birds outside their normal range, usually due to food shortage.
- IUCN Red List
- The global inventory of species’ extinction risk, from Least Concern to Extinct.
- Jizz
- Birders’ term for the overall impression of a bird’s shape, size and movement.
- Keel
- The ridge on the breastbone that anchors flight muscles.
- Lek
- An area where males gather to display competitively to visiting females.
- Lores
- The area between the eye and the bill.
- Mantle
- The upper back between the wings.
- Migration
- Regular seasonal movement between breeding and non-breeding areas.
- Mobbing
- Small birds harassing a predator together to drive it away.
- Morph
- A distinct colour form within one species, e.g. the white and rufous paradise flycatchers.
- Moult
- The regular replacement of old feathers with new ones.
- Murmuration
- The swirling aerial display of a huge starling flock.
- Nestling
- A young bird still in the nest.
- Nocturnal
- Active at night, like most owls and nightjars.
- Ornithology
- The scientific study of birds.
- Passerine
- A member of Passeriformes, the perching birds — over half of all species.
- Pelagic
- Living on the open ocean, like albatrosses and petrels.
- Plumage
- A bird’s feathers collectively; may change with age and season.
- Pneumatic bone
- A hollow, air-filled bone connected to the respiratory system.
- Precocial
- Chicks that hatch with down and open eyes, able to walk and feed soon after hatching (e.g. ducks, partridges).
- Preening
- Cleaning and arranging feathers with the bill, often spreading oil from the preen gland.
- Primaries
- The long outer flight feathers attached to the “hand”.
- Ratite
- Flightless birds with a flat breastbone: ostrich, emu, rhea, cassowary and kiwi.
- Raptor
- A bird of prey such as an eagle, hawk, falcon or owl.
- Resident
- A bird that stays in the same area all year.
- Roost
- A place where birds rest or sleep, often communally.
- Secondaries
- Flight feathers attached to the forearm (ulna).
- Stoop
- A high-speed dive by a falcon on its prey.
- Syrinx
- The vocal organ of birds, at the base of the windpipe.
- Talon
- The sharp curved claw of a bird of prey.
- Thermal
- A rising column of warm air used by soaring birds to gain height without flapping.
- Torpor
- A short-term drop in body temperature and metabolism to save energy, used by hummingbirds.
- Vagrant
- A bird found far outside its normal range.
- Wader
- A shorebird that feeds in shallow water or mud (called a shorebird in North America).
- Zygodactyl
- Feet with two toes pointing forward and two backward, as in parrots and woodpeckers.