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What do I have?
We have included this page to help you determine what type of bird you have, including a few age differences. These are some of the species that are commonly found by the public in the Southern Nevada area.
You may have noticed on the When to Help page that there are many types of birds. Sometimes bringing them in is not always the best choice. We have tried to make this page as user friendly as possible for the general public. It is not meant, by any means, to be a field guide, it is only to help with a quick identification. For a more complete identification of specific species, check out enature.com in the field guide sections.
Ornithologists group birds into categories, for instance, one family will have many species yet another will have very few or even one species. Hummingbirds belong to the Family (Trochilidae) yet there are several varieties of Hummingbirds from the brightly colored Allen’s to the curved beak Lucifer Hummingbird. Categorizing species into families helps to narrow down the identification.
Looking at the beaks and feet of a bird can be very helpful in identification as can looking for specific makings, i.e., wing bars, facial markings and colors of legs. There are so many species and families of birds it would not be reasonable to attempt to list them all.
We have tried to group our bird pictures into categories that many people may think they fit into, to help target what family the bird may actually belong to.
Other than sparrows, most young birds from nestlings to fledglings have “down feathers” (lint looking, fluffy tufts. As they grow older, the immature down type feathers may be seen only sparsely on the top of the head, etc.. Usually (not always), the down is white or gray. We are only including some pictures of the young, simply to help you get an idea of what differences can be seen in young birds.
It’s important to have a good idea of whether it is a young bird or an adult. Our reason for this is because young birds may be easily approached and caught. They are still being fed by the parents and are usually fine. If, on the other hand, they are easily approached or picked up and they are adults, then there is good reason to believe there may be a serious problem. In any case, it’s good to know how to identify the young compared to adults and what to look for in case of injury or illness.
For a checklist of injury and illness see our Injured or Orphaned page.
First we would like to list some general information.
Below are examples of Precocial and Altricial birds. It’s important to know the difference when deciding the best course of action for the orphaned and when holding for transport.
There are variations on the terms, Precocial and Altricial but we will only refer to the two general terms for purposes of rescue information.
Precocial: A precocial bird is "able of move around on its own and follow the parents soon after they hatch." The word comes from the Latin root "precocious." Some examples of protected precocial species are: ducks, geese, quail and Killdeer. If you are rescuing one of these birds, please check out our, Rescue page under the heading, Precocial.
 Killdeer chick |
 Mallard Ducklings |
Altricial: Altricial means "they are not able to leave the nest and move around on their own soon after they hatch.” The word Altricial comes from the Latin root meaning "to nourish" referring to the need for constant care from the parent before they are fledged from the nest”.
 Nestling Finch |
 Barn Owl |
Looks like an Owl.
Did you find this bird?
We receive many calls, especially during the spring and fall months, about these strange owl-like birds. During these months, Poorwills are usually found just sitting in the road or on driveways and often in warehouses. The caller usually says, “I have a baby owl and something must be wrong with it. It won’t move.” These types of birds sit during the day with their large dark eyes closed. They have a camouflaged coloring which resembles a piece of tree bark or rocky ground. The legs are usually hidden under the body and are dark in color with small weak feet, not like the talons of birds of prey.
Their posture has more of a lying-down appearance than the standing up-right posture typical of a bird pf prey such as an owl.
 Poorwill Adult |
 Nighthawk Chick |
 2 Adult Poorwills |
 Nighthawk Adult |
What are they?
You may have a Common Poorwill.
The Poorwill measures approx. 8 inches in length, with rounded wings and no wing bar. When approached, they will often rock back and forth and may lift the wings straight up or lunge and hiss, opening a surprisingly large, yet harmless frog-like mouth. Or they may silently fly up and glide back to the ground a few feet away. They sit in open areas watching the skies for silhouettes of flying insects such as large moths, beetles, or mosquitoes. They fly up about ten feet, catching flying insects in their mouth. They nest on the ground with no nesting materials. Although they may migrate as do the Nighthawks, Poorwills may also hibernate, lowering respiration, heart rate, and body temperature for days and possibly months during the colder winter months as flying insects are not as available. When in this unique hibernation state, they are often mistaken for being dead, injured or ill.
In Southern Nevada, they often seek out warehouses or other city buildings in the fall. During the spring they become active again and try to escape from these buildings as the temperatures rise and much needed food become available again.
Or you may have a Nighthawk.
Nighthawks are very similar in appearance to the Poorwill. However, they are about 9 inches in length, with pointed wings, and an identifying white wing bar. They have a more streamlined appearance and are often mistaken for bats while swooping in the air searching for flying insects (usually at dusk and dawn).
What to do.
These are very gentle birds, although the poorwills appearance can be alarming when they are attempting to frighten predators away by lunging and hissing opening their very large (yet harmless) mouth. They are much smaller than they appear and have tiny black beaks as with the Poorwill.
If you cannot see any injuries, Check the injured Page if their eyes are clear and alert and they can fly away, leave them alone.
If they are in a dangerous situation, place them up on a platform-type perch (not a tree branch), out of the sun and away from any danger. If they are trapped in your building, open all doors in the early morning and evenings so they may leave.
If they are healthy, they will fly away at dusk (unless it’s very windy). If they don’t, they may need to be brought in for a health check.
Feel free to call us if you have any concerns about their health and how to proceed.
Owls
Here are Barn Owls in three different stages.
 Barn Owl Chick |
 Barn Owl Older Chicks |
Adult Barn Owl |
|
 Sparrow pre-fledgling |
 Mourning Dove Chick |
 Immature and Older Chick Mourning Doves |
 Pigeon Chick |
 Pigeon Adult |
 Flamulated Owl Chick |
 Flamulated Owl Immature |
Barn Owl |
Barn Owl Chick |
Barn Owl Older Chicks |
 Short Eared Owl |
 Golden Eagle Chicks |
 Prairie Falcon Adult |
 Immature Peregrine |
 American Kestrel Chick |
 American Kestrel Adult Male |
 Turkey Vulture |
 Roadrunner Pre-fledgling |
 Roadrunner Adult |
Killdeer Chick |
 Mocking Bird pre-fledgling |
 Starling Chick |
 Grackle Chick |
 Pre-fledgling Grackle |
 Adult Grackle |
 Adult Raven |
|
Nestling Finch |
 Adult Finch |
 Coot chick |
 Eared Grebe |
 Great Blue Heron |
 Brown Pelican Immature |
 Ring bill Duck |
Immature Mallards |
Poorwill Adult |
Nighthawk Chick |
2 Adult Poorwills |
Nighthawk Adult |
 White Throated Swift Immature |
 Hummingbird Fledged, Pre-fledged and Nest |