A birding event in which a birder or team of birders tries to see as many species of birds as possible within a calendar day.
A birding event in which a birder tries to see as many species of birds as possible within a defined area (generally a region or country) within a calendar year.
Binoculars
A bird of prey. Although many BOPs are big and impressive, they aren't always readily identifiable, either because they are flying very high or the lighting conditions make all BOPs look like dark spots in the sky. As such, this generic acronym comes in quite handy – some days, many birds that are obviously raptors never get identified.
Yellow-rumped warbler
Photographing birds using a digital camera attached to binoculars.
Photographing birds through a spotting scope.
A rare bird that a birder missed seeing.
Flycatchers of the genus Empidonax.
A natural occurrence where migratory birds are forced down by adverse weather in a way that makes them congregate in large numbers. This is generally associated with meteorological and geographical conditions.
An aircraft often mistaken for a very high bird.
Great Blue Heron
Great Horned Owl
Juncos
Urbanized Canada Geese which frequent city parks, picnic areas and gold courses.
Little Brown Job. Any small, brownish bird that you have not been able to identify is often referred to as a LBJ. Many LBJ’s are sparrows, as the female or immature sparrows can be difficult to identify, even for the experts.
Least Sandpipers
A life list is a list of birds an individual person has seen in their life.
A bird species you have never seen before in your life. A lifer allows a birdwatcher to add a tick to their life list.
A very rare bird.
Cowbird
A species that constantly eludes a birder.
Something that looks like a bird from a distance but once binoculars or a spotting scope is used, turns out not to be a bird at all.
A phenomenon that occurs when one rare bird draws a bevy of birders to an area, resulting in more interesting species being discovered in the same locale.
A birding location near one's home that a birder visits frequently.
A bird which spends a vast amount of time living on the open ocean. Also can mean a boat trip designed for birders to find open-ocean (pelagic) species.
A term which refers to any of the small, almost identical-looking Calidris sandpipers.
A sound that birders make to try and draw birds out into the open. Sounds like pishhhh pishhhh.
Adjective used to describe a bird which has escaped from captivity, rather than a genuinely wild bird.
The time of day when the birds are least active. Siesta time often occurs during the mid-afternoon hours.
Sharp-shinned Hawks
Spouse of birder that is not a birdwatcher.
A species that triggers a lifelong passion for birding.
Birds that are only identifiable to genus level (on a day list) (from "sp.", abbreviated form of species).
A tick is a new bird that a birder adds to their list. This could be a daily list, yearly list, or even a lifetime list. If you are seeing a bird for the first time, you can celebrate with a tick.
Turkey Vultures
The act of traveling a long distance to see a rare bird or a bird that is not on your life-list.
Any gull, regardless of whether it’s a pretty species or not, that presents an identification challenge.
Refers to the birds you would normally expect to see in an area each time you go there.VEEGEE Violet-green Swallows.
A bird straying well outside of its regular ecological range.
Neck pain resulting from staring high into treetops.
