My curiosity for birding began when I led backpacking trips at an outdoor-education school in Australia’s Victorian Alps. For the first time in my life, I was trekking on a new continent to the chorusof squawking budgerigars and laughing kookaburras, witnessing enormous emus sip from billabongs in the dense eucalyptus bush.
When I returned to Colorado for college a year later, I realized just how much I’d been missing out on. In the years since, I’ve learned to incorporate the hobby as a fun aside on every adventure. Here are some simple ways to become a part-time birder.
Start Paying Attention
Before adding bird-watchingto your next adventure, take a little time to open your world to the species in your area. Notice them on your commute to work, your evening stroll, or justas you gaze outyour window. In your spare time, start flipping throughregional guides, like ǰ (each $19.95), to begin familiarizing yourself with the species near you and in your favorite parks or wilderness areas. The Audubon Society’s national website also hasan for beginner birders.
I also picked up valuable tips from Jason Ward's documentary web series ,on , where the Audubon apprentice and naturalist explores city parks and birding hot spots with notable guests like novelist and actor . Each short episode isfun, digestible, and educational in the way it introducesviewers totechniques and offers information on how to apply birdingto your lifestyle.
Local chapters of the and the also organize free walks in communities across the country that will give you some experience before you head out into the field alone.
Download TheseFree Apps
Now that you have a sense of what birding is all about, download the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s free app and load your local “bird pack”—a digital guide to the birds of your area. The app asksyou where you saw a bird, how big it was, its main colors, and what it was doing when you saw it. To reticent friends, I’ve described it asthe avian version ofPokédexfor aPokémon Go–like scavenger hunt.
If you’re interested in logging your sightings, , a companion app to Merlin by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, allows users to track species they’ve seen by location. The data collected and entered into the app is then made available for scientific research, education, and conservation,essentiallyturning eBirders into amateur wildlife biologists.
Toss aPair of Binoculars in Your Pack
Birding in its simplest form, unlike many adventure sports, is relatively free of gear, making it a great complementary activity. To enhance the experience, though, it’d be worth investing in a good pair of binoculars. While they can range in pricefrom $30 to a few grand, there’s no need to break the bank here. Look for a decently priced, quality pair, like the($120).
Bird-Watch When There’s Downtime
Perhaps you’ve pulled into camp earlier than expected and have a few spare hours before cooking dinner—go look for birds! Maybe your friends are setting up a climb in Joshua Tree National Park,and you’re left without a task. Go on a mini birding walk; there could be loggerhead shrikes skewering lizards on a Joshua tree.Maybe your hiking partner is digging a cathole off-trail. Put down your pack, bust out those binos, and check for upland birds in the evergreens, where there could be a sooty grouse in the blue spruce.Ormaybe you’re taking a breather after a long session of kiteboarding. Walk along the beach; there could be snowy plovers hunkered in the sand dunes. Whatever you’re doing, use your idle time to explore.
Be Proud of Your Sightings
The magic of birding is that it can giveyour adventures new meaning—you may have been stormed off a snowy peak in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, butyou saw a Vatican of northern cardinals scurrying around a jack pine. It’s a simple way to engage more with your surroundings.