Ah, the joys of country living.  Spending time with the animals, discovering that overgrown cucumber in the garden, listening to the birds….

Kansas is blessed with a gorgeous array of bird species—songbirds, hawks and owls, herons and egrets, and even a surprising number of sandpipers, seagulls, and other birds we tend to associate with coastal areas.  (Would you be surprised to see a flock of pelicans soaring above your head in the Great Plains?)  Besides being conveniently located in the middle of the country, the Sunflower State offers a wide variety of habitats for our feathered friends to take advantage of, ranging from woods to wetlands to open prairie.

At some point, you may start to wonder, What is that new bird that dropped in this spring?  Or, if you already have a basic knowledge of bird identification, you may run across some of those strikingly similar species that give birdwatchers fits.  A good field guide is a must-have when solving questions like these, but here’s an online resource that can help with quite a few bird-related quandaries: the ultimate Internet bird guide from Cornell’s All About Birds site.

There are a number of ways to use this online bird guide.  You can search for your bird by name, shape, or taxonomy, or you can just enjoy some of America’s favorite birds.  Included for each bird is information on its appearance, range, and habits.  To make identification easier, you’ll also find great recordings of the bird’s various calls and songs, as well as photos and tips to help you distinguish it from similar species.

Whether you’re keeping a life list of every species you’ve ever seen or just curious about the birds in your backyard, you’ll find this online bird guide extremely helpful.  Before you know it, you’ll be identifying birds with ease.