Sam Fried Sam FriedSam Fried has seen and photographed almost all North American birds. Meet Sam Previous Answers

Habitat. Take stock of the trees, shrubs, or other plants in the area where the bird is sighted; and if possible, think about what kinds of forests or other natural areas might be in the immediate vicinity, say a mile or two away. Birds that live in coniferous forests (pine, spruce, cedar, hemlock etc) will usually not be the same birds that you find in hardwood forests such as maple, hickory, or oak.

Size. Another critical factor. Is the bird as big a pigeon or an owl; medium-sized, like a robin or an oriole; or a tiny thing, like a wren or warbler?

Bills and beaks. The shape and length of a bird's bill or beak is one of the very best clues. The beak of a finch, for example, is short and very stout for cracking seeds; the bill of a wren or a flycatcher is longer, narrower, and built for catching insects or probing.

Flight patterns. Experienced birders often can ID species as they fly away because they remember a few clues about HOW the bird flies. Goldfinches, for example, have a distinctive, dipping style of flight: they flap a few times, then dip down, flap a few times to gain altitude, then dip again. Woodland hawks, such as the sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks, do a lot more flapping than a red-tailed hawk, which soars with its large, fan-shaped tail open wide.

It's fun and great practice for me to hear about birds you've seen and try to help you identify them. Hopefully the clues I mention will help you identify more and more birds on your own. With all this in mind, I'll attempt to ID a bird encountered by Lynn on a recent camping trip.

Lynn was sitting quietly when a large bird, about the size of a pigeon, alighted nearby on a stump. Lynn described the bird as having “gray-looking feathers on the body, a white ring around the neck,” and what sounds like a very distinctive crown colored bright red; she also noted his very long beak. Lynn also took note of this bird's habitat and behavior: using its powerful beak, this largish bird was first seen digging in the stump, and then moved on to another tree — which Lynn noted was not a healthy-looking tree — and tore a chunk of bark right off it.

I'm going to guess that Lynn saw the largest species of woodpecker in the United States, the gorgeous pileated woodpecker. For all of its size and striking color, the pileated is known to be a pretty shy bird, Lynn, and you're really fortunate to have seen one. Pileated woodpeckers depend upon mature forests to survive. They became scarce in the middle 1900s when forests across the country were cleared; as second- and third-growth forests have matured, especially in the eastern US, the pileated woodpecker is once more gaining ground.

Lynn supplied many clues, the most important of which (for me) were the following: the bird's size (only one other woodpecker is close to the size of a pigeon, and that woodpecker, the flicker, doesn't have a red crest); the bird's coloration; and the bill, which Lynn noted was very long.

But what clinched it for me were these other clues:

The bird was seen around trees that didn't appear healthy. Wherever forests are disturbed by fire, insect infestations, or disease, you'll find woodpeckers. A struggling tree is a magnet for woodpeckers--they can excavate nest cavities in the dead wood, and live near a bonanza of ants, beetles, grubs, and other insects that either move into the dying trees, or caused them to deteriorate in the first place.

The bird was pecking at a stump. Pileated woodpeckers are very fond of excavating stumps for carpenter ants, especially in winter--and while this wasn't winter, warm-weather food sources are still a ways off.

Thanks, Lynn, for your model powers of observation!