Adult A fully mature bird.
Bill The beak.
Coverts Areas of contour feathers found on the upperwing, underwing, uppertail, and undertail.
Eyering A ring of feathers, often colorful, that surrounds the eye.
First-winter A bird’s plumage in its first winter after hatching.
Forewing The leading edge of the upperwing.
Immature A bird that is any age younger than an adult.
Juvenile A young bird with its first set of full feathers.
Lores The area between the eye and the bill.
Malar A band or stripe of feathers on the side of the throat, in front of and below the submustachial stripe.
Mandibles The two parts of a bird’s bill: upper and lower.
Mantle Feathers covering the back.
Migrants Birds that have different, geographically separate breeding grounds and winter quarters.
Mustachial stripe A stripe that runs from the bill to below the eye, fancifully resembling a mustache.
Nape The hind neck.
Orbital ring Ring of bare skin around the eye, often brightly colored.
Primaries The main flight feathers found on the outer half of the wing.
Scapulars A group of feathers that form the “shoulder” of the bird between the back and folded wing.
Secondaries A group of relatively large flight feathers that form the inner part of the wing.
Species A taxonomic description relating to a population, members of which breed with one another but not with others. A species’ scientific name is binomial, comprising the genus name first, followed by the specific name; taken together, the name is unique.
Submustachial stripe The contrasting line of feathers below the mustachial stripe.
Supercilium A stripe that runs above the eye.
Tertials The innermost flight feathers.
Vent The area underneath the tail, covered by the undertail coverts.
Wingbar A bar or band on the wings, created by aligned pale feather tips, often those of the wing coverts.