What you need before you start birding

1) Binoculars or Spotting Scope

Binoculars are great while moving around to catch a look at birds, such as hiking in the woods. Spotting scopes are more stationary but allow you to see up close at greater distances, like searching for ducks out on the ocean or a lake.

2) Field Guide or Smartphone

There are plenty of field guide books and smartphone apps to choose from that will help you identify what you see. Search around and find one that works best for you.

3) Bird Songs

With songbirds you’ll find you hear birds more than you see them. Some smartphone apps and websites contain recordings of bird songs so you can learn some of them before you go out birding.

Please do not use recordings of bird songs to call birds in closer to you. This causes stress for the birds and wastes their time and energy – instead of finding food or tending to the nest, they will instead spend a lot of time trying to find the bird singing from the recording.

What to note while looking at a bird

1) Size, Shape, and Behavior

Is it bigger or smaller than a crow? What about a robin? Is it plump with a short tail or slender with a long tail? Does it climb on a tree trunk or dart quickly between shrubs?

2) Color and Distinct Markings

What colors are the feathers? Is there anything you notice on its head, around the eyes or on the wings or tail? Any streaking on its chest or back? Is the beak long and pointed or short and conical?

3) Habitat – Where Are You?

Are you in a forested, shrubby, wetland, or grassland area? Are you down the shore? If you’re in your backyard, are there forests, wetlands, or grasslands nearby? Where you are and what habitat you’re in will help you identify what birds are there.

4) Timing – Breeding, Wintering, or In-between?

You’ll find different birds in the winter than in the spring and summer. And during migration, you can find all sorts of birds moving through. Most field guides and birding websites have a distribution map to help you determine if a bird is a regular only when breeding, in the winter, or year-round.