Little brown bird (LBB) or little brown job (LBJ) is an informal name used by
birdwatchers for any of the large number of species of small brown
passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...
birds, many of which are notoriously difficult to distinguish.
This is especially true for females of species which show
sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...
, which may lack much of the differentiating colouring present in males.
The name little brown bat is also applied to records in general observations of
microchiropteran species, many of which are indistinguishable by their greyish-brown fur and similar structure.
See also
*
Damned yellow composite, a similar term for the numerous difficult-to-identify dandelion-like plants
*
Little brown mushroom, a similar term for difficult-to-identify mushrooms
*
Minibeast
*
Small shelly fauna
References
Birdwatching
Slang
{{Passerine-stub