Glossary:
What is a ....
Some terminology and ornithological definitions
associated with bluebirds and other cavity-nesting birds.
If you see a term I should add, please let me know. Acknowledgements to sources.
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- Abdomen: belly.
- Aberrant: atypical plumage, structural characteristic, or behavior.
- Abundism: an increase in dark pigmentation in patterned coats or skins which causes an increase in the number or size of pigmented spots, stripes or other patch types.
- Accidental: a bird or bird species when it shows up outside of its normal range.
- Accipiter: A genus of hawks characterized by having short, rounded wings, long tails, and long legs. In North America, there are three species - the Northern Goshawk, the Cooper's Hawk, and the Sharp-shinned Hawk.
- Active Control: With regard to House Sparrows or starlings, refers to aggressive management methods where eggs, nestlings or adults
are destroyed - e.g., puncturing eggs so they will not hatch,
or capturing and euthanizing adults.
- Adaptation: In evolutionary biology, any physical structure, physiological process, or behavioral pattern that makes an organism more fit to survive and reproduce in its environment.
- Adaptive radiation: the evolution of of species adapted to different ecologies and behaviors. For example, aerial specialists like Tree Swallows have evolved tiny feet and short legs, while ducks have webbed feet to enable swimming.
- Addle: render an egg infertile, e.g., by vigorous shaking. Also used by Purple Martin landlords to describe any rotten, dead or destroyed egg, which they often roll out of the nest cup.
- Adult: in birds, a mature bird that has acquired full characteristic plumage of the species; a Bald Eagle needs 5 years to reach this stage, many swallows take two years, while many songbirds (like bluebirds) are "adult" in one year. Older than a "subadult." Also see SY and ASY.
- Aerial Insectivore: Feeds on insects caught while the bird and insect are flying, like a Tree Swallow. During cold rainy periods, these birds or their young might starve.
- Agonistic behavior: combative, as in fighting over nest sites.
- AHY: After Hatch Year (bird age)
- Air Sacs: Thin-walled sacs extending from the lung bronchi of birds, which fill much of their body cavities. Their function is to increase respiratory volume and efficiency, and also to decrease body weight, adaptations that help make flight possible.
- Air vent: see ventilation.
- Albinistic eggs: Eggs that lack normal pigmentation (e.g., white eggs laid by a bluebird).
- Albino (Albinism): an inherited condition resulting in a lack of melanin pigmentation in the eyes, skin and hair (albinism). Both parents must have the recessive albino gene. Full or partial albino bluebirds have been seen. Also see leucism.
- Albumen: The egg white (clear part), which provides protection (cushioning), water and protein for the developing embryo. It has multiple layers: outer liquid, dense albuminous sac, inner liquid, and chalaziferous. The firm albumen holds the inner thin white and the yolk, and adheres to the shell membrane on each end of the egg.
- Allofeeding: When one adult bird feeds another, as in courtship.
- Alpha codes: four letter shorthand used to indicate a bird species. E.g., the alpha code for Eastern Bluebird is EABL. There are also six letter codes for scientific names.
- Alternate plumage: Temporary additions/colors during breeding season.
- Altricial: as in Nestlings. Altricial birds are either naked or have very
sparse down at hatching. They usually have their eyes closed at hatching,
are fed by their parents for some period of time, and may stay
in the nest for an extended period after hatching. Opposite of
precocial.
- Altruistic behavior : When one bird apparently puts itself at risk or makes a sacrifice to help another without any direct benefit to itself. An example is when fledglings from a previous brood help feed siblings from a subsequent brood. (There may be a selfish aspect to this in that they learn how to rear nestlings.)
- Alula: A small group of feathers attached to the first "finger" (at the bend) of the wing. Their function is to reduce turbulence and drag, and also assist with breaking and steering.
- AMKE: American Kestrel.
- Anisodactyl feet: three forward toes and one rear toe - found on most perching birds. See Zygodactyl feet.
- Anting: When a bird picks up ants and rubs them vigorously on its plumage (active) or lays on top of an anthill and lets ants crawl on its body (passive). More.
- Anthropomorphize: To ascribe human characteristics to something nonhuman like a bird.
- Appeasement display: signalling submission to a dominant bird, as when starlings crouch, lower their head and turn away from an opponent.
- Apteria: Areas of a bird's skin from which no contour feathers grow. Apteria are sometimes covered by down feathers, but may not be visible because the feathers cover the naked areas.
- Arachnid: a class of invertebrates that have eight legs, instead of six. E.g., spiders, mites.
- Arboreal: living in trees
- ASY: after second year - a bird two or more years old. For Purple Martins, considered an adult.
- Asynchronous hatching: hatching that does not occur at the same time, but that may take place over a two to three day period. Usually the younger chicks only survive if food is abundant. Common in Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. Also in Tree Swallows where incubation begins on the penultimate egg.
- ATFL: Ash-throated flycatcher.
- Attendant Species: Birds that tend to accompany bluebirds, such as house finches, goldfinches, and yellow rumped/pine warblers. (Wannabes)
- Attraction Spot: a black spot, 1.5"-2" in diameter, painted or made with electrical tape/felt attached to the roof (and sometimes sides) of a nestbox. Some believe it helps birds recognize the nestbox as a cavity from a distance.
- Auriculars: Cheeks or Ear Coverts. This set of feathers conveys sound into the ear.
- Avian: referring to the class of animals named birds.
- Avian flu: (influenza), also called Bird Flu or H5NI virus.
- Aviary: Typically a large, enclosed facility where birds are kept in captivity, but are allowed to fly freely. Sometimes wildlife rehabbers will keep birds that can not be released in an aviary.
- Aves: The Latin word for "bird" and also the name of the class of animals that consists exclusively of birds. Bluebirds are in the class Aves, the order Passeriformes (perching birds), the family Turdidae (Thrushes and Allies), genus: Sialia (a kind of bird), species (3), subspecies (14 or 15 depending on whose list you use) - see more info.
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- Babesiosis: a still uncommon disease transmitted by deer ticks.
- Bachelor Male: A male that has not yet found a mate and thus is not breeding. Bachelor Male bluebirds may sing plaintively for days on end trying to attract a female.
- Backcross: When a hybrid mates with one of their parent species.
- Baffle: A device placed below
a nestbox or a feeder to deter predators such as snakes, raccoons, mice and squirrels.
- Banding: An aid to studying wild birds, where a small individually numbered metal or plastic ring is attached to their leg or wing, to find the same individual later and study migration, longevity, mortality, population studies, feeding behavior, etc. Sometimes called "ringing." A permit is required.
- Barbs: The part of the feather that branches sideways off of the rachis.
- Basic plumage: plumage renewed after breeding. Temporary additions (for breeding season) are called Alternate plumage.
- BBS: The North American Breeding Bird Survey, done in June. Data is used to make maps.
- BCCH: Black-capped Chickadee.
- Beak: see Bill.
- Begging: Nestlings, and young that have fledged from a nest may beg for food, by stretching out their neck and opening their beak. Fledglings may utter a special call and flutter their wings. Females may also beg from males as part of courtship or pair bonding.
- Bergmann's Rule: a principle that asserts that body mass in warm-blooded animals increases with higher latitudes and colder temperatures. More info.
- Best of Bluebird_L Classifieds: Email posts, archived by topic, from the Bluebird_Listserv.
- BHCO: Brown-headed Cowbird.
- BHNU: Brown-headed Nuthatch.
- Biconical: an egg shape where both ends are tapered (pointy) like a grebe egg.
- Biliverdin: and the zinc chelate of biliverdin are two of three pigments responsible for egg coloration. These pigments produce blue-green colors.
- Bill: Beak or mandible (upper and lower). The bony modification of the bird's skull
used for picking up food and nesting material, and for preening feathers. The bill acts as both lips and teeth,
neither of which are found in birds. It also acts as a "hand," as many objects are picked up with the bill. Covered with a horny sheath.
- Bill fencing: stabbing at another bird with its bill, or running towards it with bill outstreched (starlings may do this.)
- Bill snapping or Beak clicking: A sound made by adult bluebirds when flying by, usually during monitoring (e.g., bluebirds, Tree Swallows), probably either as an alarm sound or an attempt to frighten intruders. Starlings often clack or rattle their bills as part of their warbled song.
- Bill-sweeping: a display in which a pair of birds sweep their bills back and forth over the bark near their nest hole. Often the birds have crushed insects in their bills. Typical behavior of species such as White-breasted Nuthatch.
- Bill wiping: usually occurs at the end of feeding, may also signal appeasement (e.g., in starlings.)
- Bioaccumulate: accumulate in a biological system. Commonly refers to the cumulative uptake of toxic substances such as DDT that can stay in a biological system such as a fish.
- Biochrome pigments: naturally occurring chemical compounds that absorb light and reflect energy back to produce the colors we see. The three major types are melanin (earth tones like gray, black, brown and buff), carotenoids (which come from a birds diet and produce bright yellows, oranges, reds except in parrots [e.g., on Male House Finch], some blues and greens) and porphyrins (bright brown e.g., in owls, green and magenta).
- Biodiversity: (1) The variety of life forms,
the ecological roles they perform, and the genetic diversity
they contain (2) The variety from molecular,
population, and interspecific levels up to the heterogeneity
of ecosystems and landscapes (synonym:
biological diversity).
- Biogeography: the study of geographical distributions of plants and animals. Biogeographers divide the Earth into faunal regions that roughly correspond to the major continents.
- Bipedal: with two legs
- Birdality: the equivalent of the "personality" of an individual a bird (I made this word up.) More.
- Bird Brain: Large and well-developed (6-11 times larger than that of a similarly sized reptile), which exhibit functional lateralization.
- Bird Guardian: A commercially
available plastic tube that is inserted into a nestbox hole to prevent raccoons, cats and birds from preying on contents. A newer version screws onto the outside of a nestbox. May deter nesting birds.
- Birdhouse: another name for a nestbox.
- Bird Skin: The manner in which bird specimens are preserved in museum collections for the scientific purpose of bird study. In the old days, bird specimens were skinned out, then stuffed with cotton. Today, many bird skins are made by the technique of freeze drying. A "bird skin" is not the same as a "whole mount," which is a bird mounted in a life-like pose, complete with glass eyes. In a skin, the birds are posed lying on their backs, with their legs crossed.
- Blood spot: A red spot sometimes found on an egg yolk, also known as the meat spot.
- Blood feather: an immature feathers that still has a blood supply to the shaft. They have a dark-colored shaft, as opposed to the white or clear shaft of a mature feather.
- Blowfly:
Protocalliphora sp., an insect that parasitizes birds. The larvae suck blood from nestlings.
- Bluebird trail: a series of nestboxes placed along a prescribed route. Usually five or more boxes.
- Bluebirder: A person interested in raising bluebirds (e.g., by putting up nestboxes), as opposed to birders in general. First used by Dick Tuttle in the 70's?
- Bluebirding: Usually refers to people who are engaged in trying to increase bluebird populations by putting up nestboxes or a bluebird trail. First used by Dick Tuttle in the 70's?
- Bluepers: Mistakes made by bluebird host, with good intentions but unexpected and disappointing (and sometimes embarrassing) results. Linda Violett may have used it first. See Downside.
- Bolt (Mel) trap: An inbox trap cage that attaches to the inside of a nestbox door. The bird is removed through a small door built into the hardware cloth.
- Bolus: packing insects into a ball to carry back to the nest to feed young (Tree Swallows do this)
- Bottomland: low-lying land along a stream, river, or brook.
- Box depth: The interior distance from the roof to the floor of the nestbox.
- Breast: The feathers along the front of the body, from the neck down.
- Breast Band: stripe across the breast.
- Breast Spot: small, differently colored area on breast
- Breeding cycle: the time period beginning at nest building, through egg laying and raising young, to the point of independence
- Breeding dispersal: the year-to-year movement of an adult bird from one nest site to another.
- Bristles: Specialized feathers that have sensory and protective functions. They have a stiff, tapered rachis with a few basal barbs. Semibristles have more side branches. Usually found on the head, also on toes of some owls. Most aerial insect eating birds have bristles and semi-bristles around their mouths, on woodpeckers they cover the nostrils.
- Brood (n): the young of a bird that are hatched or cared for at one time. (v): to sit on and keep warm (nestlings or chicks).
- Brood Reduction: The strategy by which parent birds adapt their reproductive output to the current conditions of the environment, which maximizes the number of healthy fledglings. Includes siblicide and neglecting a runt.
- Brood parasitism: When a bird lays an egg in another bird's nest. See obligate brood parasitism and egg dumping.
- Brood patch: A bare
patch of skin on the bird's belly region, where downy feathers
either fall out, or are plucked out by the female just before she begins
incubating. It becomes engorged with blood vessels during breeding season, and works like a hot water bottle to transfer heat from the parent's body to the eggs. See photo.
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- CACH: Carolina Chickadee.
- Caching: hiding and storing food - e.g., in the crevices of bark and under leaves. Retrieval of cached food items is not accidental, as in scatterhoarding. For example, Black-capped Chickadees can remember the location of the stored food for up to a month after hiding it.
- Call: A vocalization used for alarms and contact. Generally shorter and simpler than songs. Especially important in birds that feed or migrate in flocks. Pitch (high or low, rising or falling); quality (harsh, clear, liquid, buzzy, etc.); and rhythm (fast, slow, choppy, etc.) are used to characterize calls.
- Calumnus: the quill of a feather that anchors it in the skin.
- Candidate: Before being added to the official list of threatened or endangered species, there is a category of 'candidate.' A species can remain a 'candidate' for years while the experts try to come to agreement.
- Candling: Shining a light through an egg to see whether it is developing or not.
- Cap: Top of the corwn.
- Carnivorous: subsisting or feeding on animal tissues. Carnivorous birds have strong, hooked beaks for tearing flesh and muscle.
- Cavity: a hole or opening in a tree trunk or limb, or fence post etc. Either excavated (e.g., by woodpecker) or a natural cavity found in a snag or dead/dying tree limb.
- Cavity adopter: Birds that use cavities already created, like Purple Martins and Tree Swallows.
- Cavity-nester: A bird that nests
in holes in trees or other structures, or in nestboxes. Also see primary and secondary cavity-nester.
- CARW: Carolina Wren.
- CBC: Christmas Bird Count, conducted by citizen scientists and reported to the Audubon Society. Data is used to generate maps.
- CBCH: Chestnut chickadee.
- Cere: Fleshy area between the beak and face.
- Chalaza (egg): The layer of the egg "white" that immediately surround the yolk. It is a firm but very thin layer of albumen.
- Characters: traits shared as result of common ancestry, e.g., the arrangement of toes. Unique characters define closely related groups of species. Conservative characters don't change easily in the course of adaptation. Ancestral (primitive) vs. changed (derived) characters are also used to figure out taxonomic relationships.
- Check (egg): An egg that has a broken shell or crack but the shell membranes are still intact and the contents are not leaking.
- Cheek: See Auricular.
- Chest: the front part of the body.
- Chick:
the young of any bird,used especially for a young chicken.
- Chin: part of the face under the bill.
- Citizen Scientist: A volunteer (regardless of age, location, or experience) involved in gathering data about our environment. The source of much CBC data.
- Cladistics: the study of evolutionary branching sequences. It enables ornithologists to sort across taxa, and looks at primitive and derived characters.
- Claim straw: a piece of grass placed in a nestbox, perhaps to signal intent to "claim" the box.
- Cloaca: The common
cavity into which the intestinal, genital, and urinary tracts
open in birds. Sperm are transferred when
the male briefly touches his swollen, sperm-containing cloaca
to the cloaca of a receptive female.
- Clutch: total number of eggs laid by a female bird in one nest attempt. Also called a set.
- Collar: Rear portion of the crown. Nape/hindneck.
- Colony: a group of birds nesting together in close
association, such as a purple martin colony
- Color Morph or Phase : See Polymorphism. Certain species may have two or more variations
in their plumage, presumably under genetic control. For example,
Snow Geese may exist in either the white or blue color phases. Color morphs are usually found mainly or exclusively in certain populations.
- Common name: An unofficial name that is not the scientific name. For example, the common name of Sialia mexicana is the Western Bluebird.
- Conduit (EMT): hollow metal pole used for electrical wires. Some people use it to mount a nestbox.
- Conical Baffle or Coolie Hat baffle - a cone shaped baffle placed on a mounting pole to deter climbing predators and snakes. More info and instructions.
- Coniferous: evergreen trees that bear cones, such as pines, firs, spruces, etc.
- Conservation: Managing natural resource use, allocation, exploitation, and protection to maintain the health of the natural world or ecosystem.
- Conspecific: of the same species
- Contour feather: predominant feather type found on the body, wings, and tail of the bird (as opposed to other feather types: down, bristles, semiplumes, etc.) Usually have a long central shaft with a broad, flat vane on either side.
- Convergence: the independent evolution of similar adaptations in unrelated organisms, so that they are superficially similar (e.g., in appearance or behavior.)
- Coverts: rows of smaller feathers that overlap flight feathers and cover the gaps between them.
- Cooperative breeding: Two females rear broods in the same nest simultaneously and/or non-breeding birds serve as helpers at the nest of one or more breeding pairs.
- Covert: body feathers which overlie the bases
of the flight feathers on the wings and tail. Also applies to
the feathers covering the bird's ear region.
- Cranial kinesis: The ability to flex or bend the upper half of the bill (Zusi 1984).
- Crepuscular: active at twilight, dawn, and dusk.
- Crowded Single Boxes: BRAW term for boxes from 100 feet to 100 yards apart.
- Crown: covers the top of the bird's head.
- Cup: With regard to nest shape, a deep depression, with a rim height several times the diameter of the eggs. See nest cup.
- Cupping: Female uses her chest and wings to form the cup in a nest.
- Data Logger: a field device that records weather data from one or more external sensors. E.g., used to monitor temperatures inside a nestbox.
- Dawn Serenade: a bout of singing by the male in the early morning to signal the mate or announce territory (e.g., in Mountain Chickadees)
- Deciduous: a plant with broad leaves that fall off or shed either seasonally or at a certain stage of development in the life cycle, e.g., oaks, maples, poplars, hickories, magnolias, etc.
- Decorative nestbox: A nestbox primarily designed for looks (e.g. think Birds & Blooms magazine), and not necessarily suitable for use for cavity-nesters. May actually result in death (e.g., if it is too deep, not properly ventilated, etc.)
- Decoy: A live House Sparrow used
inside a ground trap to attract other House Sparrows.
- Deer tick: A tiny tick (Ixodes sp.) that can transmit Lyme disease.
- Delayed dispersal: tendency for offspring to stay at or near home rather than look for a new place to live and breed. Same as natal philopatry.
- Detritus: in a nest, organic waste material from decomposing nesting material, feathers, etc. May attract fire ants.
- Digiscope: A digital camera with significant magnification capabilities, kind of like a binocular combined with a camera lens.
- Dimorphism: existing in two forms, two color forms, two sexes, etc. Also see sexual dimorphism.
- Diurnal: of, relating to, occurring, or active in the day
- Dispersal: movement away from a site - see juvenile dispersal and breeding dispersal.
- DNA-DNA Hybridization: compares genetic change that has taken place between two groups that came from a common ancester.
- Down: soft fluffy feathers (plumulaceous) that provide thermal insulation.
- Dummy nest: A nest not used for breeding, generally constructed by a male (as in House Wrens). May or may not be used by the female who reconstructs it. When constructed by House Wrens they lack a lined nest cup.
- Dumping: see Egg dumping.
- Dustbathing: Taking a "dry bath" in a little dustbowl. E.g. a House Sparrow bends its legs, leans forward on the chest, and throws up soil or water with the bill or wings. Sometimes wings are extended, shuffled in the soft soil and brought upward full of dust, which lands on the fluffed-up body feathers.
- Drain(age) hole: A hole in the bottom of a nestbox that allows water to leave the interior.
- Drip edge or Rain groove: a saw kerf on the underside of a the nestbox roof that directs water away from the entrance hole.
- Driver hypothesis: suggests that exotic species can dsplace native species, steering the compettion of species to a less diverse endpoint. Contract to "passenger hypothesis." (from Birdscope Spring 2007)
- Dwarf Egg: An egg that is smaller than usual (not common). They often lack a yolk, and thus will not hatch. They may be more spherical than a normal egg, and have a thick, rough shell.
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- EABL: Eastern Bluebird.
- EASO: Eastern screech owl.
- Ecosystem: naturally occurring group of organisms (plant, animal and other living organisms—also referred to as a biotic community or biocoenosis) living together with their environment, functioning as a unit of sorts.
- Ectoparasite: An organism that lives on the surface (outside) of the body of a host organism to the detriment of this host. An example is a blow fly larva.
- Edge:
habitat that occurs at the boundaries between different types of land cover, such as a forest and a meadow.
- Egg: an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. It nourishes and protects the embryo. Oviparous animals are animals that lay eggs, with little or no other development within the mother.
- Egg bound: the hen is unable to pass an egg that has formed. The egg may be stuck near the cloaca, or further inside. Egg bound is a reasonably common, and potentially serious, condition that can lead to infection or damage to internal tissue. The bound egg may be gently massaged out; failing this it may become necessary to break the egg in situ and remove it in parts. If broken, the oviduct should be cleaned of shell fragments and egg residue to avoid damage or infection.
- Egg dumping: when a female lays her egg(s) in the nest of another bird, sometimes creating very large clutches, e.g., chickadees (also called conspecific brood parasitism). Also see obligate brood parasitism - e.g., cowbirds). More info.
- Egg tooth: a sharp, hard rasp structure that forms on the bill tip of a hatchling that enables the baby to break through the egg shell. After a few days it is sloughed off/reabsorbed.
- Egg tampering: rendering eggs
infertile, by puncturing, boiling, microwaving, addling, etc.
An example of an active House Sparrow control method.
- Ehrlichiosis: a still uncommon disease transmitted by deer ticks.
- Elevator Trap: A ground trap where the bird steps into a moving chamber which then drops down. If they want to get out of the chamber, they have to enter the trap.
- Elliptical (egg shape): elongated wtih equally rounded ends, broadest in the middle. Long, normal or short (almost round) forms.
- Endangered species: in danger
of extinction throughout all or a significant part of
its range.
(ESA 1973. States may have their own definitions.)
- Endoparasite: an organism that lives inside the body of a host organism to the detriment of this host. E.g., a tapeworm.
- Endothermic: Warm-blooded, capable of maintaining high body tempreatures even when the ambient temperature varies.
- English Names: recommended standardized names in English prepared by the Internatinoal Ornithological Congress. Also see Scientific Names.
- Ethology:
the scientific study of animal behavior considered as a branch of zoology. A scientist practicing ethology is called an ethologist.
- European paper wasp: Also see native paper wasp. Polistes dominulus. A non-native wasp that builds a paper nest that usually hangs downward and has open cells on the bottom. May build nests inside birdhouses. First found in the U.S. in Massachusetts around 1980. Since then, it has spread in southern New England and south to Maryland, north to Maine, and west to Michigan and Ohio, California and Washington State.
- EUST: European starling.
- Euthanasia: A humane death that is quick, effective and minimizes stress and suffering.
- ETTI: (Eastern) Tufted Titmouse - sometimes referred to as TUTI.
- Excavators: Birds that make their own cavity for nesting.
- Extinction: the dying out of all members of a plant or animal
species.
- Extirpated: a species that is extinct in an area where
it was once found, but still exists in other states.
- Extra adult: a non-breeding adult that interacts frequently and nonhostilely with the primary breeding pair at or near the nest, regardless of whether they care for the young or later breed.
- Extra-pair copulation: For a pair bonded bird (e.g., one that is nesting), mating with a different male or female. Male bluebirds try to prevent this by guarding their mate.
- Eye line: line of feathers in front of or behind eye. Carolina Wrens have a more prominent eye line than House Wrens.
- Eye ring: pale colored feathers around the eye. In bluebirds, juveniles have a white eye ring.
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- Family Name: A taxonomic grouping. Family names end in "-idae." For example, all woodpeckers are iin the family Picidae.
- Faunal Regions: Australasian (Australia and New Guinea), Ethiopian (Africa south of the Sahara), Nearctic (North America), Neotropical (Central and South America), Oriental (Southeast Asia), and Palearctic (Europe and Asia). Each region has characteristic birds. The U.S. is in the Nearctic Faunal Region. Also referred to as Avifaunas.
- Feather: One of the epidermal growths that collectively form plumage. See primaries, secondaries and coverts. Filamentous, soft, flexible and lightweight. A fully grown feather is dead, with no nerves, muscles or blood vessels beneath the outer surface. Types of feathers include contour, flight, down, semiplumes, filoplumes, bristles and powderdown.
- Feather germ: the tubular bump where feather growth begins with a thickening of the skin cells.
- Feather tracts: dense concentrations of feather attachments (pterylae), separated by areas of skin with no feathers (called apteria).
- Fecal glue or glop: a mucky building of excretions in a nest. May be associated with excessive consumption of earthworms.
- Fecal sac: a clean, tough mucous/gelatinous membrane/film containing the excrement of nestling birds. Sort of like a birdie diaper. Parents can be seen removing them from nestboxes, and usually drop them some meters away from the nest (Tree Swallows may drop them in water.)
- Feral: escaped from domestication and gone wild. Often used to refer to feral cats that live outdoors (free roaming) and are not owned/kept as pets.
- Filoplumes: hairlike feathers used to monitor the movement and position of adjacent vaned feathers. Particularly found on the back of the neck.
- Fire ant: Four species of fire ants are found within the contiguous southeastern United States. The tropical fire ant, Solenopsis geminata Fabricius, and the southern fire ant, S. xyloni McCook, are considered "native." A black fire ant (Solenopsis richteri Forel) and a very aggressive red fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren) are introduced.
- Fledging: The act of leaving the nest. See fledgling.
- Fledgling: A young altricial bird that
has left the nest. Young birds are said to have "fledged" when
they have completely acquired their first true feathers and have
left the nest. They may be referred to as "fledglings" from
the time they leave the nest until they are completely independent
of all parental care. They often have short wings and a short tail. They may not be able to fly well.
- Floater: An unattached adult (not paired) that may challenge a breeding bird for a nest site.
- Flock: a large group of birds. Special terms may be applied to certain species - e.g., a flock of geese is called a gaggle.
- Flyway:
the aerial flight path of migrating birds.
- Follicles: new feathers grow from these specialized pockets of skin cells.
- Foraging: looking for food.
- Foraging style: The way birds hunt or scout for food. E.g., Eastern Bluebirds perch and drop to the ground for food, Western Bluebirds hover, Tree Swallows capture bugs on the wing.
- Forehead: Part of the face above the eyes.
- Forest fragmentation: occurs when large, contiguous blocks of forest are broken up into isolated islands by development, roads, or clearing for agriculture.
- Fortsner bit: A specialty wood cutting bit often used to make entrance holes in nestboxes. It rides on semi-circular spurs and produces a clean, flat bottom hole. Can be used with a drill press.
- Fostering: Placing an egg or a baby bird in the nest of another bird of the same species in order to enable it to survive (e.g. when the parents are killed). Nesting must be at the same stage of development.
- Fright molt: when frightened, the follicle muscles that hold a feather in place may relax, resulting in easier loss of feathers.
- Frontal Shield: Extension of the bill onto the forehead.
- Functional lateralization: the left hemisphere of a bird's brain is dominant, and is associated with learning and innovation in vocalizations.
- Funnel trap: used to capture birds. It does not have moving parts, but instead has an entrance shaped like a cone that narrows at the end so birds can not exit.
- Fur Plug: A blanket of fur or "cotton" used to conceal eggs from predators or keep them warm when the female leaves the nest. Common with chickadees for eggs that are not being incubated.
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- Gape: Base of the bill where the mandible join (rictus.) As a verb, when nestlings open their mouths to be fed.
- GCFL: Great crested flycatcher.
- Genus: a grouping in the classification of living organisms having one or more related and morphologically similar species. In the common binomial nomenclature, the name of an organism is composed of two parts: its genus (always capitalized) and a species modifier. For example, the scientific name for the Western Bluebird is Sialia mexicana. Sialia is the genus, mexicana is the species.
- Gizzard: a large, strong muscular structure us4ed primarily for grinding and digesting tough food. The avian equivalent of molars. Less muscular in birds that eat softer foods like insects or fruit.
- Glabrous: having no hairs, projections, or pubescence; smooth (as in mealworms)
- Gonys: Lowermost ridge on lower mandible.
- Granivorous: feeding on seeds or grain. E.g., House Sparrows are primarily granivorous.
- Ground trap: A trap used to catch House Sparrows and starlings that is placed on the ground or elevated. Different from an inbox or nestbox trap.
- Growth bar: One light band plus an adjacent dark band on a tail feather. It denotes 24 hours growth.
- Habitat:the place or environment where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives and grows.
- Hallux: The large, opposable single rear toe on a bird's foot that helps a bird grip a branch.
- Hanger strap: a metal strap (e.g. 16 gauge steel x 12" x 1.5") used to mount a nestbox on a pole. It is attached to the back of a nestbox, and then the other side is bent and inserted into conduit or PVC pipe.
- Hantavirus: Hantavirus Four Corners (also known as Muerto Canyon) virus causes a rare but deadly pulmonary syndrome. The virus is transmitted by infected rodents through urine, droppings, or saliva.
- Hardiboard: fiber cement siding. Sometimes used to make nestboxes, but a special saw is needed to cut it.
- Hardware cloth: Wire mesh that
comes in a roll. Somewhat flexible. Available in hardware/garden
stores.
- Hatch: A baby bird breaks through
the egg and is 'born.' Also refers to emerging from a pupa or chrysalis.
- Hatching: the moment an organism emerges from an egg, pupa, or chrysalis.
- Hatchling: a newly hatched bird.
- Head stripes: bold lines on the head.
- Head Scratch: Many birds scratch their heads with their feet.
- Heterogametic sex: Unlike mammals, female birds have two different sex chromosomes - Z and W.
- Hibernation: winter dormancy in animals characterized by a significant decrease in metabolism.
- Hindhead: Back part of the crown. Occiput.
- Hindneck: back of the neck (nape/collar)
- Hive tool: a metal tool used by bee keepers. Comes in handy for squashing paper wasps and cleaning out boxes.
- Hobby wire: Fine
gauge, flexible wire that can be used in place of monofilament to
deter House Sparrows from nestboxes or feeders. Also used on a Magic Halo. 28-30 gauge
for model airplanes works well.
- Hole Hog: When an older nestling crowds the nestbox entrance hole trying to snag all the food proffered by parents (a made up word).
- Hole guard:
Sometimes called a Squirrel tooth-bender or hole protector. Placed around the entrance
hole to a nestbox to prevent squirrels or woodpeckers from enlarging
the hole. Often made out of metal. Different size holes can also
be use to exclude larger birds (called a hole restrictor).
- Hole restrictor: See hole guard.
- HOME: Hooded merganser.
- Homeothermic: having a body temperature that is constant and largely independent of the temperature of its surroundings; an endotherm.
- HOSP: (English) House Sparrow.
- Host:
The organism from which a parasite obtains nourishment and shelter.
- HOWR: House Wren.
- Huber trap: An inbox trap designed by Joe Huber that uses a flat plate of steel attached to a trip rod.
- Hutchings "Coon" Guard: a PVC tube placed over the entrance hole to deter raccoons and cats. More info and instructions.
- HY: hatch year - the time from hatching until the following nesting/breeding season, somewhat less than 12 months.
- Hybrid: The offspring of parents of two different species. Hybrids can be extremely variable - even siblings within a single brood can look quite different from each other. Most hybrid species are fertile.
- Hyperthermia: heat stroke which occurs when the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate, body temperature climbs uncontrollably. Can result in death.
- Hypothermia: when the core body temperature has dropped to significantly below normal and normal metabolism begins to be impaired. Common cause of nestling death during extended periods of cold, rainy weather.
- Imprinting: learning occurring at a particular age or a particular life stage that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of behavior. It typically involves an animal or person learning the characteristics of some stimulus, which is therefore said to be "imprinted" onto the subject. E.g., a rescued nestling may become imprinted onto a wildlife rehabilitator.
- Incubation (period): The period during
which the adult bird starts sitting on eggs to warm them until they hatch
- Infanticide (al behavior): Adult kills babies (not for food), an uncommon behavior in birds. House Sparrows and House Wrens will kill babies of other species, Tree Swallows will kill babies of other Tree Swallows which is called intraspecific infanticide (see Dead TRES)
- Infant exploitation: cannibalism (where the adult eats an infant of the same species)
- Infertile: For a bird, sterile - unable to reproduce (e.g. sperm are not alive.) For an egg, has not been fertilized.
- Iris: colored part of the eye.
- Insectivorous: eats insects.
- Insert or Inbox Trap: fits in
a nestbox, behind the entrance hole, and trips when a bird enters
the box.
- Interspecific: Between different species.
- Intraspecific: Within members of the same species.
- Invasive species: a non-native (i.e., introduced or exotic) organism like a plant or animal capable of establishing a breeding population in the new location without further intervention by humans, and becomes a pest in the new location, threatening the local biodiversity.
- Invertebrate: lacking as spinal column.
- Irrupt: to undergo a sudden upsurge in numbers, especially when natural ecological balances and checks are disturbed.
- Jailhouse feeder: A feeder with
metal or wooden dowels (looks like prison cell bars) on the sides
to allow entry only to smaller birds.
- Jewel wasp:
Nasonia vitripennis, a beneficial insect that wasp drills a small hole into the blow fly pupal and deposits an egg. The wasp larva then consumes the larva.
- Jugulum: front of the neck (foreneck, throat, throat patch).
- Juvenal plumage: Feathers on a juvenile bird.
- Juvenile: In birds, young that
are not sexually mature. They may have different plumage or markings than adults.
- Juvenile dispersal: movement of a young bird from the site where it hatches to the site where it breeds
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- Kerf (Saw): a groove cut in wood/other material below the entrance hole of a nestbox to help nestlings exit when fledging. More info.
- Kingston (Snake/Predator) Guard: A section of stovepipe, a round piece of hardware cloth, and two strips of hanging iron, a pipe-mounted nestbox guard that stops most climbing predators including snakes. More info and instructions.
- Kingworm or King mealworm: see superworm.
- Lard: Lard is an animal fat produced from the fatty or otherwise unusable parts of pig carcasses. It can be used to make suet.
- Larva: (pl. larvae) the immature, wingless, and often worm-like stage of a metamorphic insect that hatches from the egg, alters chiefly in size while passing through several molts, and is finally transformed into a pupa or chrysalis from which the adult emerges.
The larva can look completely different from the adult form (e.g., blow fly)
- Leading edge (of wing): front edge of wing in flight.
- Leucistic plumage: See Albino. Plumage is dilute, paler/whitish overall, with a faint pattern (leucism). This is more scarce than a partial albino.
- Lice: Parasites that live in the birds feathers. There are more than 150 species, including chewing lice, louse flies and feather mites.
- Lifter pole: A device used to take down hanging/high nestboxes and replace them.
- Listserv: An email forum for sharing information - Cornell sponsors the Bluebird_Listserv. Threads are archived by topic.
- Live trap: A device that traps creatures but does not kill them - e.g., an inbox trap.
- Lore: The region between the eye and bill on the side of a bird's head, used for ID.
- Lower mandible: lower part of bill.
- Lyme disease: a potentially serious illness transmitted by deer ticks.
- Magic Halo: A patented metal
hoop with/without hanging lines, used on top of feeders to deter
House Sparrows.
- Malar Streak: area on the sides of the chin. Whisker/mustache.
- Mandible: see Beak. The upper mandible, or maxilla, is a flattened, hollow bony cone reinforced by bony struts called trabeculae.
- Mantle: upper surface of the wings and back.
- Mast: edible seed and fruit produced by trees or shrubs that wildlife species will consume - hard (e.g., acorn) or soft (e.g., Flowering dogwood fruit.)
- Mealworm: The larval form of Tenebrio molitor, or the darkling beetle.
- Mealworm farm: a set up to grow mealworms, from egg to beetle.
- Median Line: stripe through the crown.
- Melanism: Caused by an excess of dark (brown or black) pigments. Less frequent than albinism or leucism, and may occur in combination with partial albinism.
- Metabolism: chemical processes occurring within a living cell or organism that are necessary to maintain life. In metabolism, substances are broken down to yield energy, or synthesized.
- Metal Conduit: Pipe used for electrical wiring, also used for mounting nestboxes.
- Micromanagement: in monitoring, checking a nestbox too often (e.g. hourly) or interfering unnecessarily with the nesting process.
- Millet: group of small-seeded genera of the grass family (Poaceae) widely grown around the world for food or animal feed. Proso millet
(Panicum miliaceum) is often included in inexpensive bird seed mixtures.
- Migration: regular, extensive, seasonal movements of birds between their breeding regions and their wintering regions. Not all birds migrate - e.g., Black-capped Chickadees do not.
- Migratory Bird Treaty Act: A 1918 federal law that made it illegal to hunt, capture, ill possess, sip or sell migratory birds, nests and eggs. It does not extend to House Sparrows or starlings.
- Mist net: a mesh net used to capture wild birds for banding or other research projects.
- Mite: a tiny arachnid (related to spiders, thus having 8 legs) parasite that may live in the nest, nostrils, trachea, lungs, and air sacs of birds, or feathers.
- Mobbing: When birds gang up on another species to drive it away - e.g., Tree Swallows driving off a bluebird or House Sparrow.
- MOBL: Mountain Bluebird.
- MOCH: Mountain chickadee.
- Molting: The process of dropping old feathers and growing new ones in their place. Most birds molt at least once a year.
- Monitoring: checking a nestbox to gather data and address problems.
- Monofilament: Fishing line, used to deter House Sparrows from nestboxes or feeders.
- Monogamy: mating with only one member of the opposite sex at a time, i.e., one male mates with one female.
- Monomorphic: having a single form. Opposite of polymorphic.
- Mounting: Putting up a nestbox (e.g., on a pole, tree, etc.)
- Moustache: area at the sides of the chin. Whisker/malar streak.
- Mud nesters: Birds like Barn and Cliff Swallows that build nests out of mud.
- Multi-holed box: A nestbox with more than one entrance hole, designed to improve ventilation, attractiveness, or escape options.
- Murmuration: A flock of European starlings (can number a million or more)
- Myth: a commonly held inaccurate belief that is not based on fact.
- NABS: North American Bluebird Society.
- Nape: back of the bird's neck.
- Nasofrontal hinge: The part of the beak located between the bill and skull.
- Natal: relating to birth (e.g., natal nestbox - where bird was born)
- Natal dispersal: Movement away from where a bird is born to where it breeds.
- Natal down: The fluffy feathers on hatchlings. They get pushed out by incoming juvenal pennaceous feathers in the first few weeks. A few wisps may remain attached to the incoming feathers (e.g. on the head.)
- Natal philopatry: Tendency of young to come back to the area where they were born. See delayed dispersal
- Native: naturally occurring, indigenous or endemic (i.e., not introduced, either accidentally or on purpose).
- Natural selection: the predictable predominance of individual organisms with advantageous traits, like camouflage or agility.
- Neophobia: fear of novel objects. May be a factor with HOSP fear of sparrow spookers, magic halos and monofilament.
- Neossoptiles: Natal down feathers (e.g. on Tree Swallows)
- Nestbox: A birdhouse where cavity-nesters
build a nest. Some people write this as two words (nest box.)
- Nestcam: A video camera used
for viewing activities inside a nestbox. Also called a nestbox camera.
- Nest change: Replacing a nest that is wet, or infested with blow flies etc.
- Nest cup: With regard to construction, the interioor part of the nest where eggs are laid. In some nests (e.g., House Wren) the interior cup is of different construction.
- Nest site fidelity: when a bird returns to a nest site used the previous season or from which it fledged.
- Nestling: A baby bird still in
the nest.
- Niche: in ecology,
the position occupied by an organism or group of organisms) within an ecosystem or the conditions making possible a habitat.
- Nidicolous: staying in the nest until grown/nearly grown, or sharing a nest with another species (e.g., mites in a bird nest).
- Nocturnal: Of, relating to, occurring or active at night - e.g., flying squirrels.
- Noel Guard: a rectangular tube of hardware cloth stapled to the front of a nestbox to keep predators out, but allow the users of the nestbox in and out. More info and instructions.
- NOFL: Northern flicker.
- Nomenclature: a system of naming and categorizing objects in a given category - e.g., Linnaeus's system of binary names for birds - made up of the genus and species.
- Nyjer: a narrow, small black seed enjoyed by goldfinches, pine siskins, house and purple finches. Not preferred by House Sparrows. Also called thistle seed (although it does not come from the thistle plant), niger or nyger seed.
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- OATI: Oak titmouse.
- Obligate brood parasite: Birds that can not build their own nest, and instead pawn their eggs and young off to a host of another species. The only North American birds in this category are the Brown-headed and Bronzed cowbirds.
- Occiput: rear of the crown, hindhead.
- Omnivore: eats pretty much anything, not selective.
- Oology: the study of eggs.
- Order: A taxonomic groping or lineage. Birds are divided into 30 orders, all of which end in "-formes."
- Orientation, entrance hole: The compass direction that a nestbox entrance faces.
- Ornithology: The science of birds - The branch of zoology that
deals with the study of birds, including their physiology, classification,
ecology, and behavior. A scientist practicing ornithology is called an ornithologist.
- Oval: (egg shape) - the shape of a chicken egg, rounded and largest on on ened, taperly distinctly towards the narrower end. Sometimes called "ovate."
- Ovate: (egg shape) oval.
- Oviduct: The passage along which eggs travel.
- Oviparous: animals that lay eggs, with little or no other development within the mother. All birds are oviparous.
- Pair bond: the association between two birds who have come together for reproduction; can be short-term (lasting only through egg-laying or the rearing of young) or lifelong.
- Pairing: Putting nestboxes 5-25
feet apart (or even back to back), usually to provide nesting for both bluebirds and Tree Swallows. Note that BRAW considers boxes within 100 feet of each other to be paired.
- Pamprodactyl feet: all four toes directed outward, as in some swifts. Also see Zygodactyl and Anisodactyl feet.
- Paper wasp: The native paper wasp (Polistes
fuscatus) is smaller than the European paper wasp, brown, and lacks vivid yellow markings. They tend to only be aggressive when defending their nests, and are otherwise beneficial insects to have around the garden
- Paraffin: canning wax, used to coat the inside roof and upper walls of a nestbox to prevent paper wasps from nesting.
- Parasite:
An organism that lives in or on another organism, the "host," at whose expense it obtains nourishment and shelter. An example is a blow fly. Also see ectoparasite and endoparasite.
- Parasite load: the amount or quantity of parasites possessed by an individual that may affect the individual’s capacity for survival.
- Partial albinism: See Albino. May occur in feather groups - e.g., the head may be entirely white.
- Passenger hypothesis: Suggests that exotic species may expand into areas whre other birds are not already using resources, perhaps because of habitat degradation or disease. Contract to "driver hypothesis." (From Birdscope Spring 2007)
- Passive control: With regard
to House Sparrows, control methods that do not kill eggs or adults.
Includes methods to deter House Sparrows from coming to feeders.
Also includes wing trimming.
- Peck-dominance: Who gets to eat first. In a winter flock of titmice and chickadees, the chickadees are socially dominant at a feeder.
- Pellet: Undigestible remains (exoskeletons, feathers, bones, fur) regurgitated by owls, raptors etc. Ornithologists often study them to determine what birds have been eating.
- Penultimate: next to the last, as in the penultimate egg. Some birds like Tree Swallows start to incubate after laying the penultimate egg.
- Perch: on a nestbox, a peg below the entrance hole. Not recommended for bluebird houses because it may help House Sparrows take over a nestbox.
- Persistent layer: Will continue to lay eggs if lost/removed - e.g., 28 eggs were collected in one Red-headed Woodpecker cavity, after which the pair drilled a new hole in the same tree and raised four young.
- Pesticide: a chemical, or sometimes biological agent such as a virus or bacteria, used to control, to repel, to attract, or to kill pests including insects, weeds, birds, mammals, fish, and microbes, that compete with humans for food, destroy property, spread disease, or are considered a nuisance. Pesticides are usually, but not always, poisons. They include bactericides; herbicides, which kill or prevent the development of weeds; fungicides, which kill fungi; plant growth regulators, which prevent excess growth of a plant; virucides; insecticides, which kill (or prevent the development of) insects; acaricides or miticides , which kill mites; avicides, which kill birds; chemosterilants; molluscicides, which kill snails and other mollusks; nematicides, which kill roundworms; rodenticides, which kill rodents, generally mice or rats. They may also include repellants and attractants for insects, birds and mammals. Humans have used pesticides since before 500 BC.
- Philopatry: faithfulness to a region or an area.
- Phylogeny: the tree of genealogical relationships among species that provides a foundation for taxonomic classification.
- Piciformes: The taxonomic order for woodpeckers.
- Pipe flange: rim or collar on a wheel or pipe which holds it in place, gives it strength or allows it to attach to another object. Water pipe can be coupled to the bottom of a nestbox with a pipe flange plate. The center has a threaded hole that the water pipe screws into. Can also be used to attach a nestbox to a conduit pole, using a conduit connector.
- Pipping: When the embryo starts to break through the shell to hatch.
- Pishing: Attracting birds by making precise hisses, whistles, chips and squeals.
- Plumage: the covering of feathers on a bird.
- Plumulaceous: downy (as in feathers)
- Pneumatization: When the skull gradually divides into two layers, separated by a space. Happens in the first autumn of a birds' life. ""Skulling" can be used to determine a birds' age.
- Pole pounder: A device used to push a pole into the ground.
- Polyandry: One female mates with two or more males. Also see Polygyny and Polygamy.
- Polygyny: One male mates with several females. Also see Polyandry and Polygamy.
- Polygamy: Both polygyny and polyandry occur.
- Polymorphism: Species occur in a variety of plumage colors that have no relation to age or sex.
- Precocial: chick. Precocial birds have their eyes open at hatching, are covered with down, and leave the nest almost immediately after hatching to find food for themselves. Opposite of altricial.
- Predator: An animal or other organism that hunts and kills other organisms for food. For example, a raccoon is a predator that eats eggs and nestlings.
- Predator guard: a device placed underneath a nestbox (e.g., a baffle on a mounting pole) or on the entrance hole to prevent predators such as snakes and raccoons from raiding nests.
- Preen: cleaning, grooming, and maintaining parts of the body. Birds regularly preen feathers to remove parasites, keep them in good aerodynamic condition, and "oil" them with waxy, oily secretions that come out of the uropygial (preen) gland.
- Preen gland: the uropygial gland located on the rump at the base of the tail. Looks kind of like a tick.
- Premature fledging: when leave a nest under their own power, accidentally, earlier than expected. Often they can not fly well and are thus more susceptible to predators and bad weather. More info.
- Pressure treated lumber: Wood treated with chemicals to make it last. Not suitable for nestbox construction because of potential impact on bird health.
- Prey: animal eaten by a predator.
- Prey Preparation: Parents (e.g., Mountain Chickadees) may remove heads, wings, appendages before feeding to nestlings, especially when they are very young.
- Primaries: are the long flight feathers of the wings which are attached to the manus, or the "hand" part of the wing. The number of primary feathers varies from 9 to 11, and are numbered from the innermost primary to the outermost.
- Primary cavity-nester: Nests in a hole. Can create its own cavity (e.g., a woodpecker with a strong beak).
- Primary coverts: feathers that cover the base of the primaries on the upper surface of the wing.
- Promiscuity: Males and females mate more or less indiscriminately. See Polyandry Polygamy and Polygamy.
- Protoporphyrin: is a pigment that produces colours ranging from yellow and pink to reddish buffs or browns. It is one of three pigments secreted by cells in the oviduct (see biliverdin).
- PROW: Prothonotary warbler.
- Psilopaedic feather coat: a few scattered down feathers found on hatchlings of many cavity nesters (unlike the dense fuzzy covering [ptilopaedic] on ducklings.) Those feathers usually only last a week or two.
- Psittacosis: also known as parrot disease, parrot fever, and ornithosis, an infectious disease caused by a bacterium called Chlamydophila psittaci that can be contracted from parrots, macaws, cockatiels and parakeets, pigeons, sparrows, ducks, chickens, etc. After an incubation period of 5-14 days, systoms can mimic severe atypical pneumonia with flu-like symptoms like fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a dry cough.
- Pupa (plural pupae): The non-feeding stage between the larva and adult in the metamorphosis of holometabolous insects, during which the larva typically undergoes complete transformation within a protective cocoon or hardened case.
- PUMA: Purple martin.
- PVC: poly vinyl chloride, a hard plastic used to make drainage pipes etc. Used to make tube nestboxes, or sometimes to manufacture regular shaped nestboxes.
- Pygostyle: supports tail feathers for braking and steering.
- Pyriform: egg shape with larger end distinctly blunt and rounded, tapering to a narrower point on the other end.
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- Rachis: The part of the feather shaft that supports the vanes.
- Range: geographical area within which a species can be found.
- Rare: population density
is always low in a species, either in a particular area or generally.
- RBNU: Red-breasted nuthatch.
- Rebar:
a steel reinforcing bar. Can be driven into the ground, and then a conduit pipe is placed over it for nestbox mounting.
- Remiges: the flight feathers of a wing - stiff and large.
- Replacement clutch: eggs laid to replace a clutch in which none of the eggs hatched.
- Rehabber: See wildlife rehabilitation.
- Repeating Trap: a ground trap that doesn't need to be reset to catch another bird. Some use an elevator mechanism.
- Resident: a species that passes the winter (overwinters) successfully in most years.
- Retrices: flight feathers in the tail, used for steering and braking.
- Rhamphotheca: A horny sheath that covers both jaws of a birds' beak.
- Rictal Bristles: stiffened feathers near bill.
- Rictus: based of bill where the mandibles join. Gape.
- Ringing: see Banding
- Riparian: along banks of rivers and streams.
- Roost: (n) - a place, or support on which birds rest; also a group of birds resting together. (v) - to settle down for rest of sleep.
- Roost box: like a nestbox, only designed for roosting. The hole may be at the bottom to retain warmth, and it may have a larger interior with perches inside.
- Rump: Area between the uppertail coverts and the back (butt).
- Runt: the smallest nestling. Sometimes the result of asynchronous hatching.
- Runt egg: Noticeably smaller than the smallest extreme expected by normal variation within a clutch. May be different in shape (e.g., more narrow.) More.
- Saucer-shaped nest: Shallow cup with the height of the rim not more than 2x the dimater of the eggs.
- Saturation: With regard to bird population, when a habitat has reached it's carrying capacity, or ability to support that creature. With regard to nestboxes, when the maximum number of nestboxes that will be used are available in a certain habitat.??
- Scapulars: Area of feathers between the back and the wings.
- Scatterhoarding: hiding food in bark crevices and under leaves, moss, or lichen. Retrieval of food items is accidental, not memory-based. Opposite of caching.
- Scientific name: the technical name of a creature, made up of the genus, species, and sometimes a variation. E.g., the scientific name for the Western Bluebird is Sialia mexicana. Scientific names are usually used to avoid confusion because common names may vary by region. Birds also have standard English names.
- Seasonal molt: when worn feathers are replaced with new ones, or camoflauging colors are replaced with brighter colors. Also see Molt.
- Secondaries: the long flight feathers of the wing arising from the ulna, or "forearm" region of the wing. Secondary feathers are nearer the bird's body than the primary feathers, and are numbered from the outermost feather to the innermost. There are six on most birds.
- Secondary cavity-nester: Nests in cavities, but is unable to excavate its own hole (e.g., a bluebird, because it does not have a strong enough beak.)
- Semiplumes: inbetween down and contour feathers, with a large rachis and loose downy vanes. They enhance insulation.
- Set: total number of eggs laid by a female bird in one nest attempt. Also called a clutch.
- Sexing nestlings: determining whether nestlings are male or female. By day 13, bright blue feathers protruding from wing sheaths indicate a male.
- Sexual dimorphism: differences that occur between the sexes of a given species. For example, Eastern Bluebirds exhibit sexual color dimorphism as there is some difference in plumage color between males and females that allows us to distinguish the sexes.
- Shared nesting: When two females of the same or different species lay their eggs in the same nest and share incubation and subsequent family duties. The two females will either sit side by side or one on top of the other to incubate the eggs. In some instances they will take turns incubating the eggs. Also see brood parasitism.
- Sheath: the outermost layer of cells that fall off when feather growth is complete.
- Shell membranes: tough and fibrous, mostly protein, inside the egg shell.
- Shell (egg): the outer layer of the egg, which is mostly calcium carbonate. If there is any pigment, it is laid down in the spongy layer of the shell.
- Shoulder: feathers overlying bases of median secondary coverts.
- Shrub: Multi-stemmed woody plant (e.g., no distinct single trunk).
- Sidling: a behaviror that usually occurs near a nest, where the owner (e.g., a starling) moves or hops along a branch or wire (without facing the intruder), forcing it to move away.
- Skulling: looking for pneumatization to determine a birds' age. The feathers on the crown are moistened and moved apart, to view the skull through the nearly transparent skin. If the skull ispink, the bird is young of the year. If it is dullish white, pneumatization is complete so it is an adult or a young-of-the-year bird with cranial separation complete.
- Siblicide, obligate: When a larger chick kills a smaller sibling, e.g.,owls
- Snag: a standing dead tree. Many primary cavity nesters build nest holes or roosts in snags, which are often reused by secondary cavity nesters. More info.
- Snake Display: When a bird on a nest mimics a snake, in the case of a Tufted Titmouse, by hissing while lunging/striking side of nestbox. Possibly an anti-predator or general nest protection behavior. See video.
- Song: territorial vocalization used to communicate the identity and whereabouts of an individual to other birds and/or to signals sexual intentions and create/maintain pair bonds. Different from call.
- Songbird: a bird belonging to the suborder Oscines of Passeriformes (about. 4000 species), in which the vocal organ can produce various sound notes, commonly known as bird song. Not all songbirds produce melodious tunes - e.g., the House Sparrow. Songbirds all have preen glands with a unique nipple structgure, unique sperm, a specialized perching foot with a large hallux, uniquely arranged deep tendons, and simplified foot muscles that facilitate perching.
- Sound (egg): An egg with an unbroken shell.
- Sparrow resistant nestbox: A birdhouse style that may not be preferred by House Sparrows, but may still be used if competition for nest sites is high, or for the purposes of attack. No box invented to date that can be entered by a bluebird is "sparrow-proof" because bluebirds are bigger than House Sparrows.
- Sparrow Spooker: A device placed on top of a nestbox that scares
away House Sparrows.
- Speciation: the splitting of one phyletic lineage into two or more.
- Species: a kind of organism. Usually defined in ornithology
as an interbreeding group of birds that is reproductively isolated
from other such groups. See subspecies. Bird species have characteristic sizes, shapes, songs, colors, ecological niches and geographic ranges.
- Species of Special Concern: category
created by the Fish & Wildlife Service and apparently
is the Federal Government's version of a 'watch list' for species.
States may have their own definitions.
- Spooker: See sparrow spooker.
- Spotting scope: A single lens device used to view birds at a distance. Usually requires a tripod.
- Strigiformes: the taxonomic order for owls.
- Subadult: a young bird that is sexually mature and capable of breeding but that does not yet exhibit characteristic plumage or marking of an adult of the species.
- Subelliptical (egg shape): rounded at the ends, but a little more elongated, tapering more towards the ends, with the broadest part nearer one end than the other.
- Suborbital ring: eyelids.
- Subspecies: Definiable plumage and/or other physical differences between regional populations of the same species. Presumed to be able to interbreed freely with other members of their species if given the opportunity. Sometimes referred to as "race." Identified by a third name (trinomial nomenclature) after the genus and species (e.g., Sialia sialis grata.) Also see Species.
- Suet: For bluebirds, a mixture of lard or vegetable shortening and peanut butter. Other items may be added such as sunflower chips and dried fruit, and whole wheat flour to hold it together.
- Sunbathing: May occur on rooftops - e.g., House Sparrows lie on their bellies with wings extended to varying degrees and with body feathers fluffed up. More.
- Superciliary line: Line of feathers above the eye. Supercilium, eyebrow.
- Superworms: (also called King or sometimes Giant mealworms) are Zophobas morio (sometimes listed as Zoophorbas) They are not treated with hormones, but are naturally larger (around 2-3 times bigger) than regular mealworms.
- SY: second year - the year after the hatch year. For Purple Martins, considered a subadult.
- Sympatric speciation - genetic variation in species inhabitating the same geographic regions so they become different species.
- Synchronous hatching: hatching that occurs at the same time or nearly the same time, usually within one calendar day.
- Synchronous nesting: nesting by a local population in which breeding pairs initiate egg laying within a relatively short period of time (a few days to a few weeks), as in Tree Swallows.
- Syrinx: The larynx-equivalent in a bird.
- Systematics: The systematic classification of organisms and the evolutionary relationships among them based on comparisons of fossils, preserved specimens, behavior and DNA; taxonomy.
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- T-post: A metal fence post with little ridges on it to hold wire. Sometimes used for mounting nestboxes.
- Tallow: is rendered beef or mutton fat (suet). Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without refrigeration, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation.
- Tanglefoot: A sticky barrier prevent crawling insects like ants from getting to a nestbox. Usually placed on tape below a nestbox in a place where the birds can't get into it.
- Tarsometatarsus: a long, single leg element made up foot bones fused fused to one another and to the metarsals, enabling birds to walk on their toes rathern than on the whole foot.
- Tarsus: part of the leg between the knee and the foot.
- Taxonomy: scientific naming of organisms and their classification with reference to their precise position in the animal or plant kingdom.
- TBN: The Birdhouse Network. A citizen-science project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in which people place nestboxes in their yard or neighborhood and then monitor the birds that nest inside.
- TBT: Transcontinental Bluebird Trail. A continent-wide grassroots conservation
effort to help the bluebirds and other native, cavity-nesting bird species. NABS maintains a database of nestboxes and nesting results.
- Thermoregulate(ion): maintaining a constant body temperature.
- Temporary nestbox: A mobile nestbox
with an insert trap used to capture House Sparrows or starlings.
- Territory: a defined area (including land and waters), usually considered to be a possession of an animal.
- Territorial:
an organism which defends an area against intrusion (usually from members of its own species).
- Tertiaries: Feathers adjoining the secondaries.
- Thermoregulate: Ability to control body temperature - e.g., in Tree Swallow nestlings when they are 9.5 days old.
- Thistle: See nyjer.
- Threatened species: likely to
become endangered in the near future in all or a significant
part of its range (ESA 1973, States may have their own definitions.)
- Tibiotarsus: The top of the leg bone - like the human femur.
- Toehold: a saw kerf or other means (hardware cloth, rough wood) that allows nestlings to grab onto the nestbox wall to fledge.
- Trabeculae: Bony struts in the upper jaw and forehead of a bird.
- Trail: see bluebird trail.
- Trap:
A cage, usually made out of metal, placed on the ground to trap
House Sparrows or starlings. It may have a funnel type entrance,
or an elevator that drops down and send the sparrow into the
cage. An "insert trap" fits in a nestbox, behind the entrance
hole, and trips when a bird enters the box.
- Tremble-thrust: Adult stands in cup and thrusts/stabs beak deep into the nest between eggs or nestlings, and vibrates it rapidly and vigorously, perhaps to knock detritus and parasites away from nestlings down to the bottom of the nest/to increase porosity/ventilation and insulation of the nest (described by Hartshorne 1966/Haftorn 1994?)
- TRES: Tree Swallow
- TUTI: See ETTI.
- TY: Third Year (bird age)
- Type I territory: Furnishes all the requisites for breeding - nest and food supply are in the same territory. Tufted Titmice occupy Type I territory.
- Type II territory: Birds locate the nest within the territory, but go off the territory to obtain food.
- Tyro: Someone new to bluebirding. Also called a "newbie."
- Utility pole: a telephone pole. Don't mount boxes on a utility pole without asking permission from the utility first.
- Undertail coverts: feathers covering the underside of the base of the tail.
- Universal sparrow trap: An inbox trap designed by Steve Gilbertson that uses a piece of steel tape measure that springs up to block the entrance hole.
- Upper Mandible: upper bpart of beak.
- Uropygial gland: during preening, the bird squeezes small amounts of oily liquid from this organ, located on the upper surface of the tail.
- Van Ert sparrow trap: An inbox trap designed by Floyd Van Ert that uses a steel door and a small coil spring to block a nestbox entrance hole.
- Vane feathers: The smaller contour feathers that cover the body surface and the larger flight feathers of the wings and tail. OR the interlocking system of barbs and barbules that form the flexible but cohesive surface on a contour feather.
- Ventilation hole: A hole or slot in the side or front of a nestbox that allows air to circulate through the interior.
- VGSW: Violet-green swallow.
- Vix bit: a special drill bit used to center screw holes on hinges.
- WBNU: White-breasted nuthatch.
- WEBL: Western Bluebird.
- Whisper Song: Male House Wren sings without opening its bill and song is inaudible from >10 m. It coincides with period when pairs are copulating - maybe to avoid attracting other males to a fertile female.
- White (egg): Several layers of albumen inside the egg - clear in an undeveloped egg.
- Wildlife rehabilitator: An individual (usually licensed) that takes injured/orphan wildlife and restores them to health, ideally so they can be released into the wild.
- Window strike: A bird colliding with a pane of glass because it doesn't see it, or is trying to defend its territory from its own reflection. Can result in death.
- Wing: A modified forelimb used almost solely for flight.
- Wing bars: Pale tips of greater and median secondary coverts.
- Wingspread/Wingspan: the distance from tip to tip of the longest
primary feathers of the outstretched wings.
- Wing quivering: occurs during courtship feeding when female begs male, or when juveniles beg for food from parents.
- Wing wave: While perched, a male bluebird flaps, one wing in a circular motion, usually to attract a mate. In starlings, wing flicking can be a threatening display.
- Wing trimming:
Cutting the primary and secondary flight feathers on a wing which
reduces the birds ability to fly. A passive control measure used for House Sparrows.
- Wing quivering: Vibrating of wings to beg (stimulate feeding by) a parent or partner. Both adult male and female Tufted Titmice will wing quiver.
- Winterizing: Insulating or closing up ventilation holes to maintain interior temperatures in a nestbox that may be used for roosting.
- Wishbone: The furcula, which compresses and rebounds like a powerful spring in rhythm to the beat of wings.
- WODU: Wood duck.
- Worn plumage: Older plumage that looks frayed, ragged, colorless or paler than regular plumage.
- Yolk (egg): The yellow part of the egg. it consists of the latebra, germinal disc, concetric rings of yolk material and the vitelline (colorless) mebrane that surrounds and contains the yolk.
- Zygodactyl feet: Three forward toes and one rear toe - as in most woodpeckers, owls and some swifts. See Anisodactyl feet.
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Acknowledgements to Primary Sources:
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