Little brown bird

{{Short description|Informal name used by birdwatchers}}

File:Dunnock (Prunella modularis) Otmoor.jpg is the archetypal little brown bird: its name actually means 'little brown bird', from Old English dun, brown, and ock diminutive for a bird.{{cite book|last = Lockwood| first = W. B.|title = Oxford Book of British Bird Names|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 1984}}]]

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 birds, many of which are notoriously difficult to distinguish.{{cite web |last1=Wood |first1=F. |title=Little Brown Birds |url=https://www.birdnote.org/show/little-brown-birds |website=www.birdnote.org |publisher=BirdNote |accessdate=23 January 2019 |date=November 2010}} This is especially true for females of species which show sexual dimorphism, which may lack much of the differentiating colouring present in males.{{cite web |last=Mayntz |first=Melissa |title=Little Brown Job – Definition |url=http://birding.about.com/od/birdingglossary/g/lbj.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130211004335/http://birding.about.com/od/birdingglossary/g/lbj.htm |archive-date=2013-02-11 |accessdate=February 2, 2015}}{{cite book |url=http://www.lbjs.co.za/about.html |title=Chamberlain's LBJs |last=Peacock |first=Faansie |publisher=Mirafra Publishing |year=2012 |isbn= 978-0620543200 }}

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.{{cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Les |last2=Bressan |first2=Vicki |title=Key to identifying bats in south east Queensland |url=http://www.gbwildlifecarers.org.au/forms/Microbat%20Identification%20Key.pdf |website=Granite Belt Wildlife Carers Inc |publisher=Bat Rescue Inc. |accessdate=3 February 2019 |date=February 2008}}{{cite journal |last1=Queale |first1=L.F. |title=Field identification of female little brown bats Vespadelus Spp. (Chiroptera : Vespertilionidae) in South Australia |journal=Records of the South Australian Museum |date=1997 |volume=30 |issue=1997–1998 |pages=28–33 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40728192#page/32/mode/1up }}