Fun Bird Facts for Crossword Puzzle Lovers

The subject of birds in crossword puzzles can become as varied as the subject of card games. Not only can you take a clue like “bird” literally, but birds as symbols and metaphors feature in cultures around the world. Ravens and crows, for example, are considered supernatural in some folktales and associated with death. The corvid often finds itself featured in all kinds of modern prose and media. Game of Thrones, for example, features a three-eyed raven. There’s also the popular favorite: Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”, in which the bird is used as a symbol of the cyclical madness grief often brings.

That said, there are just as many possible answers for the clue BIRD if your puzzle requires a more literal answer, which we will focus on for the rest of this article.

Common Bird Categories in Crossword Puzzles

We can’t cover all 18,000 species, but we can choose some of the more commonly searched categories. Within these categories are plenty of bird-related clues, so it’s important to crack open this egg of knowledge and see what’s inside!

A Wading Bird or a Shorebird – All the Same

A wading bird is, as the name suggests, a bird that wades on shorelines of various bodies of water and muddy areas. They usually forage for food (often insects and small fish) in the water or mud, but don’t really hunt in the proper sense of the word. It can be argued that herons hunt for fish, but it would be more accurate to say that they stand and wait patiently for food to come to them.

Wading birds are also known as shorebirds in North America. SHOREBIRDS normally refer to gulls and the like, whereas wading birds refer to long-legged birds like herons. In the scientific community, however, “wading birds” is the preferred umbrella term for all birds that reside on shorelines.

Searching for a Songbird

Songbirds are also known as perching birds, as they seem to spend most of their time doing just that. Of course, their activities are far more diverse than that and their beautiful song comes from a specific vocal organ that grows to make the complex sounds we hear.

The reason songbirds sing is to claim their territory and attract a mate during the right time of year. The type of song, or call, lets other birds know who and where their fellows are. In the case of attracting mates, the female will choose a male who has the widest range and is able to perfectly mimic her and other birds. These are, of course, not to be confused with calls of alarm or the sounds made when they meet fellow songbirds out of mating season. Such sounds are not as melodic.

Aquatic Bird

Not to be confused with wading birds, though the two categories certainly have blurred lines between them (i.e., both categories include gulls). Aquatic birds, or water birds, are any birds that live on or around water. Though the term usually refers to freshwater birds, like ducks or geese, the definition of aquatic birds is too diverse to be so limited.

Even though some aquatic birds are more land-loving than others, this does not quite make them wading birds. Aquatic birds are usually distinguished by their webbed feet, distinctive bill, and ability to dive underwater or from the air to catch prey. The category includes gulls, eagles, penguins, geese, etc.

For anyone that wishes to study birds in more detail, keep in mind that “aquatic birds” is far too broad a term for any category of birds and is not one of the terms used to organize bird species.