Tools for Birding
You need only two basic tools to enjoy birding: binoculars and a bird identification field guide.
Binoculars
The design features should incorporate right eyepiece focusing to adjust for individual eye differences, plus central focusing to adjust for various distances. A pair of numbers ranging from approximately 6 x 30 to 10 x 50 is typically shown next to the right eyepiece; the first of these shows magnification power and the second indicates diameter of the objective lens in millimeters. The larger the diameter, the brighter the image. Most popular among experienced birders are the binoculars designated as either 7 x 35 or 8 x 40. Those larger than 10 x 50 tend to be overly bulky and difficult to hold steadily. Depending mainly on lens quality, binoculars for birding can range in price from $50 to more than $1,000.
Bird identification guide books
The three recommended here are each illustrated in color, show range maps for all species, and contain a birder's checklist in the back. They are standards in the field and are available at most bookstores.
- Birds of North America, by Robbins, Bruun and Zim. Illustrations by Arthur Singer. Published by Golden Press, New York. This covers all birds native to North America north of Mexico.
- A Field Guide to the Birds, written and illustrated by Roger Tory Peterson. Published by Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. The original eastern edition (revised numerous times) covers all birds east of the Rocky Mountains and north of Mexico.
- Birds of North America, by the National Geographic Society. This guide also covers all birds of North America north of Mexico.
Optional needs
Spotting scopes are popular with most advanced birders and are typically designed to magnify an object 20 to 60 times. Lenses can be purchased separately and are interchangeable. Zoom lenses are available. Spotting scopes are most practical for identifying birds across the wide-open areas of marshland, mud flats and lakes. Due to their narrow fields of view and the bulkiness demanded by their high-power magnification, they must be mounted on sturdy tripods to avoid shaky images.
Learning bird songs will quickly expand your ability to distinguish one species from another. It frequently is the only way to identify species that remain hidden. Song differences are also the best way to identify certain look-alike species, such as Alder and Willow Flycatchers. You can purchase recordings of birdsongs or borrow them from your public library. Recordings should rarely be used to attract birds because nesting birds can be threatened by invaders in their territories.
You can order Birding by Ear and other audio references from the following location:
Crow's Nest Birding Shop:
The Laboratory of Ornithology,
Cornell University
159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14850
(phone : 607/254-2400)
