How to identify birds
Using the resources below you will soon be skilled birder. You can recognise birds by their their colour, shape, size and flight pattern.
Visual guide
-
Australian Magpie
Large and distinctive black, white and pale grey bird with a pointed beak and red eye. -
Bellbird (female)
Browner than male, with white stripe across side of head below eye. -
Bellbird (male)
Olive-green, dark head with purple gloss. -
Black-backed gull
Sexes similar, large, adults with black wings, white head, and yellow bill; juveniles brown all over. -
Blackbird (female)
Dark brown with brown/dull-orange bill. -
Blackbird (male)
Black with orange bill. -
Chaffinch (female)
Brownish-grey, white wingbars. -
Chaffinch (male)
Blue-grey top of head, pinkish-brown underparts, white wingbars. -
Dunnock (or hedgesparrow)
Sexes similar, brown upperparts, grey breast, fine black bill, red eye, orange-brown legs. -
Fantail
Sexes similar, pied or black, long tail often fanned. -
Goldfinch
Sexes similar, red face, white neck, black crown, black wings with gold bars. -
Greenfinch (female)
Browner than male, dull olive-green. -
Greenfinch (male)
Olive-green, yellow on edges of wing and tail, pale heavy bill. -
Grey warbler
Sexes similar, grey upperparts, whitish underparts, conspicuous white tip on tail. -
House sparrow (female)
Paler brown upperparts, greyish-white underparts. -
House sparrow (male)
Chestnut-brown upperparts, greyish-white underparts, large black bib in breeding season, smaller in winter, conical bill. -
Kereru
Sexes similar, a large bird with a white breast, glossy purple/green upperparts and head, pinkish-red bill and feet. -
Myna
Sexes similar, starling-sized with a chocolate-brown breast and upper-parts, bright yellow bill and eye patch, and yellow legs. Mostly seen in the north of the North Island only. -
Red-billed gull
Sexes similar, grey wings, white head with red bill in adults, dark bill in juveniles. -
Redpoll
Sexes similar in winter, dull brown with crimson forehead, male develops pink patch on breast in breeding season. -
Rock pigeon
Rock pigeons or ‘town pigeons’ come in a wide array of colours, but most commonly have pale grey wings with black wingbars, a greenish-purple breast and grey head. -
Silvereye (waxeye)
Sexes similar, small, green with white ring around eye. -
Song Thrush
Sexes similar, brown upperparts, pale breast with dark brown spots, yellowish-brown bill -
Starling
Sexes similar, glossy black with yellow bill in breeding season; non-breeding birds spotted white with dark bill. -
Tui
Sexes similar, adults black with white tuft on throat -
Welcome Swallow
Most often seen in flight, swallows have dark blue wings and upperparts, a pale breast and pinkish-red ‘bib’ below their beak. -
Yellowhammer (male)
Bright yellow head and underparts -
Yellowhammer (female)
Duller and paler yellow than male
Image Credits:
Andrew Walmsley (www.awimages.net)
Australian Magpie, Bellbird, Black-backed gull, Blackbird, Fantail, House sparrow (female), Red-billed gull, Silvereye, Starling, Tui
A Howe (www.istock.com)
Chaffinch, Dunnock, Greenfinch, Rock pigeon, Redpoll
Tom Marshall
Goldfinch, Grey warbler, House sparrow (male), Kereru, Myna, Song Thrush, Welcome Swallow, Yellowhammer