This term has been around for a long time. It is a common phrase used in some parts of the country. When my wife and I moved to “this neck of the wood” ten years ago my fellow birders gave me strange looks when I used this term. Let’s say you're group is birding in thick forest and a quick shadow of a bird zips by. One of your birding compadres asks you what you think it was. You think for a minute and reply “the jizz of it make me think it was a “grooved billed flycatcher”. In this context, the “jizz” is all the knowledge you have pertaining to the type of terrain, time of year, knowledge of bird habits, silhouettes in flight, color, and what birds you would expect in that area.
There are several theories on where the term came from. During World War II, the soldiers manning aerial gun emplacements used the term to identify different airplanes. Also, the German word “gestalt” can be defined as “form or shape”.
Well, I hope you got the “jizz” of what I have been trying to say.
See you in the field,
Jim Harrison
