By Susan and Biff Andrews

We are members of the Historic Southside Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists.

We are so because we love Nature, learning about the outdoors, tending to Mom Nature after Man has brutally assaulted her and so on.

Some of our co-members are into salamanders and reptiles, some are into insects, many are birders. We love them all and like to learn from them, but we will never be birders.

Let’s examine several pairs of birds to explain our frustrations. All quotations are taken from Roger Tory Peterson’s “Eastern Birds” (1980).

Size matters! Consider the downy woodpecker and the hairy woodpecker. Their descriptions are exactly the same, except that the hairy woodpecker has a bill that’s half an inch longer. “The downy is a smaller version of a hairy woodpecker.”

The size difference is 7 inches, versus 9 inches. But identifying them at 50 yards through inexpensive binoculars — as they climb and descend trees — is challenging.

Then there’s the matter of sound. Real birders can stand in the woods and list 10 nearby birds by call alone. They listen to CDs and downloaded apps of bird calls as they commute on the highways.

The fish crow and the common crow are virtually identical. Peterson writes: “Measurements of the two broadly overlap …16-20 inches versus 17-21 inches.”

The salient difference? The common crow “issues a firm clear ‘Caw!” while the fish crow manages a mealy-mouthed ‘Car” or ‘Ca.’ Who can tell the difference from a hundred feet away? Not us!

How about range? The Carolina chickadee and the black-capped chickadee look nearly identical except for a minor white smudge on the latter’s wing. They vary in size, too — from 4-1/2 inches to 4-3/4 inches or 5-1/4 inches.

But the Carolina version ranges from the Gulf Coast through Virginia to Maryland, whereas the black-capped lives in the northern half of the country. Peterson notes, “The black-capped penetrates the range of the Carolina some winters.”

So which are you looking at this winter?

Think these are challenging? Next time you see a tern diving on baitfish at the seashore, try to determine if it’s a royal tern, Caspian tern, least tern, Arctic tern, common tern, Forster’s tern, etc., etc. Jeez, Louise!

Then there are the shorebirds, the sandpipers and their ilk. And don’t even think about warblers. Peterson has 26 species labeled “confusing fall warblers.” If he’s confused….

I admit to being hard of hearing in one ear. And, yes, I’m slightly red-green colorblind (about a third of all males are.) But, I love nature, and I love birds.

I feed them. I admire them. I watch them for hours. I like their coloration and songs, at least what I can see or hear. But darned if I can tell them one from the other!

Still, we’ll be at the Dismal Swamp Birding Festival April 21-23. We enjoy the guided walks and watching the experts banding tiny birds. You’ll get to see them up close and personal, where misidentification is impossible!

The exact schedule of activities will be published in early March. Come along, and bring another confused bird lover with you.

Susan and Bradford “Biff” Andrews are retired teachers and master naturalists who have been outdoor people all their lives, exploring and enjoying the woods, swamps, rivers and beaches throughout the region for many years. Email them at b.andrews22@live.com.