ID Toolkit
David Allen Sibley
Artist David Allen Sibley is the author of the bestselling Sibley Guide to Birds, Sibley's Birding Basics, and Sibley guides to birds of eastern and western North America. His first article for Birder's World, a profile of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, appeared in our August 2006 issue. His column "ID Toolkit" appears in every issue of the magazine.

Read more about David Allen Sibley
ID Toolkit: Legs aweigh!

How the way a bird holds its legs in flight can change its ­appearance

By David Allen Sibley
Published: August 20, 2010
Large terns

Why bill color remains an important field mark for identifying Caspian and Royal Terns

By David Allen Sibley
Published: June 25, 2010
Identifying hawks

How to use proportion, shape, and pattern to ID Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks

By David Allen Sibley
Published: April 23, 2010
BRD-TK0410-500

Paying attention to differences in behavior can help you recognize different subspecies

By David Allen Sibley
Published: February 19, 2010
Head patterns
Why it pays to look for the gape line first when studying birds’ head patterns
By David Allen Sibley
Published: December 28, 2009
Five fundamental feather groups determine the head pattern of nearly every songbird
By David Allen Sibley
Published: October 23, 2009
David Allen Sibey's three keys to hawk ID
By David Allen Sibley
Published: August 21, 2009
The best way to learn your shorebirds is to study them when they're close up
By David Allen Sibley
Published: June 19, 2009
How watching birds sing can help you know them better
By David Allen Sibley
Published: February 20, 2009
The difference is nothing more than the length of a bird's crown feathers
By David Allen Sibley
Published: January 1, 2009
How to use movement and proportion to judge the size of birds
By David Allen Sibley
Published: November 1, 2008
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