Birders can improve their bird identification skills by familiarizing themselves with avian topology – otherwise known as bird parts. Once you become familiar with the different parts of a bird, it becomes much easier to distinguish different species.

The head region of a bird is a good place to start learning the names of different bird parts. You can check out the different parts in the head region of a typical passerine in the new passerine parts gallery. This is a good resource for beginning birders, or even for experienced birders in need of some review. Check back in the future as additional bird parts are added to the gallery.