Birding 101 With Steady

In my last post, I raved about my newly-awakened interest in birds. I said I'd pass along what I learned, so here we go!

Three Essentials for a Beginning Birder

I've quickly learned that three things are essential to a beginning birder:

1) A good guide book
Every birder has his or her favorite guide book--- of which there are quite a few. They range from the highly local (say, your county) to world-wide coverage. The one I'm using is the Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America, and I really enjoy it.  Some other popular books include Sibley's, Peterson's Field Guide, and National Geographic's Field Guide.  In addition, many birding organizations publish local and regional checklists, which tell you what birds to expect in an area. 
There are also online identification aids, and even apps for your iPhone!

2) A pair of binoculars

While you can see a lot of birds without them, binoculars are a big help when trying to spy on that feathered friend up in the tree.  They're also useful for making out field markings that distinguish similar birds from each other.
There's a wide variety of binoculars out there, ranging in size, magnification distance, and price.  Even an inexpensive pair can really help out, especially if you're just starting birding.  I got a pair of compact field binoculars from Target for less than $30, and they're great for spying on birds in the backyard.

3) Patience
Learning to identify even your basic backyard birds can take a little bit of effort.  When you get discouraged because all those little brown birds look the same, don't give up!  The more you watch them, the easier it gets to notice small differences.  I've found that keeping a list of the birds I see and writing down their page numbers in my guide book for a quick reference really helps me remember a new friend.

The Life List

I don't think I've known a serious birder until recently.  Thus, I was unaware of many aspects of the hobby (obsession?).  As a compulsive list-maker and crosser-offer, the birder's life list is quite an appealing part of the hobby.  Did you know that people keep track of every bird species they've ever seen? That's a life list.  Some enthusiasts go so far as to travel around the world in search of exotic flyers, or that next number on their list. My life list, to date, covers 79 bird species. It's surprising to sit down and count the number of different birds you already know. Go ahead, try it! Here's a checklist of North American birds to use: American Birding Association's North American Birds Checklist. You can download a .pdf checklist from the "Don't Miss" box on the right side of the page.

How many did you get? Leave me a comment and let me know!  Doing this for the first time also showed me how many birds I didn't know.  For instance, the name mockingbird was familiar, but I had no idea what they actually looked like!

Counting Birds and Checking Them Off

When researching my new hobby of birding, I quickly noticed that in addition to keeping life lists, birders seem to like to have an excuse to go out and count birds, and often have large numbers of birders counting birds at the same time in different locations. Of course, they have quite good reasons behind the counts --- they provide scientists with data about populations, migrations, and the like --- and are opportunities to meet and socialize with other birders.  As I said, there are lots of different organized counts. Coming soon is the Christmas Bird Count.  This one has been going on for over one hundred years! There's also the Great Backyard Bird Count in February.

I haven't signed up for any of these yet, but I'm keeping my eye on them with regards to my winter schedule. I have joined a different program, but you'll have to stay tuned to find out about that adventure!