Please Help Pets by Donating One Dollar
Bird Terminology and what words about Birds mean.
Now, wonder no more what specific bird terms and words
about birds mean. Simply use this glossary and find out. Scroll
down to the word you are seeking, terms are listed alphabetically.
Ventral part or belly of the bird.
Lofty nest of a bird of prey.
Three feathers springing from the base of the primaries
Hatching that does not occur at the same
time but that may take place over two to three calendar days.
Avian Polyoma Virus
Ventral area between the body and the wing. Synonym: wingpit
The field activity of observing birds, birders are folks who engage in
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.
Another name for a nest box, or a home for a bird.
Birdman of Alcatraz
Person who identifies and observes birds in their natural
habitat as a recreation.
Any feather which still has a blood supply to it.
Time period beginning at nest building through egg laying
and raising young to the point of independence
Referring to the colorful plumage which the males of many
species acquire for the breeding season.
Young of a bird that are hatched or cared for at one time;
also: to sit on and keep warm chicks
A young or new born bird.
Posterior most chamber of the digestive tract in birds
A completely closed ring of metal that can only be put on a bird
within a certain time, usually from 8-10 days in a small bird and
up to four weeks in the larger species of birds. The bands are
usually imprinted with hatch date and place of origin.
Total number of eggs laid by a female bird in one nest.
Group of birds nesting together in close association.
Colored area over eye found in males.
Predominate feather type found on the body,
wings, and tail of the bird
Elaborate displays, most often performed by the males of
certain species in an attempt to attract a female mate.
Active at twilight, dawn, and dusk
A tuft of feathers on the top of a bird's head.
A sac inside a bird where its neck meets the body. It holds
food before digestion.
A species is dimorphic when there are distinct visual
characteristics between the genders.
Movement of a young bird from the site where it
hatches to the site where it breeds
Occurring or active in the day
A bird that has been bred within the country.
Refers to the plumage of a chick upon hatching
Occurs when a female lays her eggs in the nest of
another bird, sometimes creating very large clutches
The feathers that cover a bird's body.
A characteristic or combination of characteristics such as color,
shape, or specific marking (eye rings, wing bars, breast
by which a species of bird can be distinguished from other
A baby bird that is out of the nest, but not eating by itself.
A group of birds made up of either the same or different species.
Birds that feed primarily on fruit.
small pieces of rock, shell, or other hard substances that
birds eat to help them digest other foods. Grit helps grind up
coarse vegetable matter.
Birds that eat grains or seeds.
The environment where a particular species of bird
lives. Forests and wetlands are both examples of habitats.
Hand Fed Bird
Also Hand-reared or Hand-raised. The babies are taken from
parents at about two weeks, and then fed by people.
Birds that eat primarily plants.
A female bird of any species.
A technique a bird uses for various reasons, including
to search for food. To hover, a bird remains stationary in
mid-air, usually by rapidly flapping its wings
A bird brought in from another country.
Birds that eat mainly insects.
The abstract combination of a bird's posture, plumage, pattern,
shape, size and behavior.
An immature bird that feeds independently, but has not developed
it's first winter plumage
A method of telling the gender which is non-invasive. A drop of blood is
taken from the bird, usually by pulling out a blood feather.
The number of chromosomes then is looked at to determine
the gender of the bird. A male bird has two Z chromosomes
and a female one Z and one W.
Macaw Wasting Disease
The lower half of the bill. Maxilla is the upper half, both are
The feathers covering the back and upper wing coverts.
An extended journey a bird makes from one place to another.
The process by which a bird renews part or all of its
plumage by shedding old, worn feathers and growing new ones.
Both genders of the bird appear identical.
National Bird Day
National Audubon Society
Birds that feed largely on the nectar of flowers or
the juices of fruit.
Young bird that has not left, or abandoned, the nest.
The role a bird plays in the ecosystem, including what it
eats and where it lives
Birds that are born with their down feathers
Birds that are born without feathers and must develop their feathers
Used to describe birds that are active at night.
Birds that eat anything that is considered digestible/edible.
This type of band, which is squeezed shut around the bird's leg
is indicative of an imported bird.
Taxonomic group above the level of family but below that
of class. Orders are composed of one or more families.
Science of birds.
Pecheco's Parrot Disease
Method used by birders to attract birds, it consists of making
repetitious hissing type (also: psst psst psst, etc) sounds which seem
to attract a bird's curiosity
Pie Birds are "vents" placed in the middle of pies since Victorian Times.
They prevented the pie from boiling over and also supported the
pastry crust in the centre of the pie
Piscivorous: Fish-eating birds.
The process by which a bird cleans, arranges, and cares
for its feathers, usually by using its bill to adjust and smooth
Flight feathers of the wings
Psittacine Beak and
A serious viral disease which is highly contagious.
Also called Parrot Fever, Chlamydiosis, and
A period of isolation required for new or imported birds.
A place where a bird sleeps, sometimes in groups.
Hatching that occurs at the same time or
nearly the same time, usually within one calendar day
Nesting by a local population in which breeding pairs initiate
egg laying within a relatively short period of time.
The way bird scientists classify bird species based on
their similarities to or difference s from one another
General term applied to any bird that lives part of its life
in or around water.
A bird that is out of the nest, and eating on its own.
The lighter coloured tips of the upper wing coverts which
appear as narrow bars in the folded wings.
Distance from tip to tip of the longest primary feathers
of the outstretched wings.
A zoonosis is any disease of animals that can be contracted
by a human being. There are over 100 known diseases of
Incubation time for birds in days
bevy of quail, swans
brace of ducks
brood of chicks
cast of hawks
charm of goldfinches
clutch of chicks
congregation of plovers
covey of quail, partridge
exaltation of larks
flight of birds
flock of sheep, geese
gaggle of geese
murder of crows
muster of peafowl
nest, nide of pheasants
sedge or siege of cranes
skein of geese
spring of teals
team of ducks
volery of birds
watch of nightingales
wing of plovers
Attractive & Cheerful Bird Calendars
Simply Magnificent Stuffed Plush Birds