Species Identification: A Journey with No Destination
BioLit 2022
The Biodiversity Literacy module is a broad and open-ended module, with the long-term goals of monitoring biodiversity on the university’s land and how it changes, as well as improving biodiversity literacy in the St Andrews student community. Central to the module is learning how to identify species across a range of taxa. This semester we have focussed on identifying birds and trees. As a lifelong bird enthusiast and keen birdwatcher, I had a background in bird identification before starting the module. However, despite years of being a nature lover, my tree identification skills were limited: I was able to identify Scots Pine and almost nothing else! While starting from very different baselines, my knowledge of both bird identification and tree identification have been enhanced by this module.
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When it comes to birdwatching, I’m a bit of an obsessive. Each year since 2020, I’ve recorded every bird species I’ve seen within Scotland in a ‘year list’, and so far I’ve seen 197 species in 2022. I’ve also been known to ‘twitch’, meaning to travel to see rare birds. Despite this obsession, I’ve realised recently that by throwing myself in at the deep end of birdwatching and focussing on seeing as many different species as possible, I had neglected some important basics. In particular, this module made me realise that I had largely overlooked one of the vital skills in bird identification: identifying by sound. When module organiser Will identified a Reed Bunting by call on a bird walk at Out Head, I was surprised that I had not recognised the call. On other occasions too, I have been struck by my inability to distinguish between common bird calls.
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Initially, I felt disheartened, doubting myself and feeling a strange sense of impostor syndrome. Eventually though, it galvanised me into taking action, and I increased my focus on identifying birds by sound while out birdwatching. I have downloaded the excellent Merlin Bird ID app and the Anki flashcards for this module, redoubling my efforts to cement my knowledge of basic bird calls.
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While I’m quite experienced in identifying birds by sight, I still have much to learn in this area too. Early in the semester, I was watching seabirds in the hide at Fife Ness when I spotted a distant shearwater heading south over the water, occasionally arcing above the horizon. “Sooty!” I called excitedly, thinking that I was watching a Sooty Shearwater. Yet, as another birdwatcher spotted the same bird, he identified it as a Manx Shearwater. As the bird got closer, I realised he was right. Strangely, I felt very put out by this. Not because the other birdwatcher had done anything wrong (after all, he was helping me to learn) but because my misidentification made me question and doubt my knowledge and experience. Reflecting now, I realise how foolish this was. After all, that day was the first time I had ever seen Sooty Shearwaters, and I had already managed to identify several correctly. Why had I been so hard on myself for one mistake? Pondering this led me to an obvious but important realisation: that making mistakes is an integral part of learning bird identification. To become better at identifying birds, I must recognise that it’s ok to be wrong sometimes.
Sooty Shearwater (a bit closer than they can normally be seen at Fife Ness!)
Manx Shearwater. ‘Manxies’ can be distinguished from ‘Sooties’ by their smaller size and pale undersides, although these features can be difficult to notice at distance.
This realisation helped me in learning tree identification, an area in which I lacked experience prior to joining this module. As it has been many years since I started my journey of bird identification, I had forgotten what it was like to be overwhelmed by everything being so new. While the learning curve has been steep, it has felt rewarding to progress from only being able to identify a couple of tree species to a level where I can now walk around St Andrews and identify many of the common tree species present, including Rowans, Maples, Birches and Sycamores. Throughout the learning process, I have made use of apps including Seek and British Trees to help me to recognise common trees. This approach has been novel, but has helped me to learn. Of course, I’ve made mistakes along the way, but I have accepted this as part of the learning process and tried to be kinder to myself.
A screenshot from the British Trees app.
The most valuable part of my experience in the Biodiversity Literacy VIP group has been learning alongside like-minded nature enthusiasts. As I am already relatively experienced in bird identification, I have benefitted from being able to share advice with others and have learned through helping others to learn. This has also allowed me to go back to basics, focussing on the key features used to distinguish between different birds, something I often overlook as I am so used to identifying birds without thinking about the identification features that I rely on. The advice of fellow members of the group has also been invaluable in learning tree identification features.
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Learning species identification is a journey with no ultimate destination. The more you learn, the more you realise how much you have yet to learn, and that you can never know everything. Setbacks are inevitable, but it is important not to get too disheartened when you get something wrong, as mistakes are part of the learning process. Species identification is a valuable skill that is often overlooked in the modern world. By learning species identification as part of the Biodiversity Literacy VIP, we are becoming equipped with the relevant skills to move towards our eventual goal of monitoring and recording biodiversity on university-managed land in and around St Andrews. As a group, we are learning together and learning from each other, and this has been a unique and enjoyable experience that I have not encountered in more traditional modules.
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Photo credit: John Anderson https://pbase.com/crail_birder