A FEW BASIC BIRD WATCHING TIPS

A great way to find birds is to look for movement: up in the sky, at the edges of trees or shrubs, in grassy areas, and on branches and power lines. You can also listen for bird sounds at bus stops.

Information to take along
It is extremely helpful to buy a bird "Field Guide" for your area. There are a lot of choices but we like the Sibley Guides.

There are also audio guides that help you identify birds by sound like these mp3's available from The Urban Bird Sounds Project or Stokes Field Guide to Bird Sounds.

There are even bird guides, both visual and audio, for smart phones from Audubon.

Equipment
A pair of binoculars can also be very helpful and increase enjoyment by allowing you get up close and personal to animals that often keep their distance.

Bare-naked Birding
Contrary to popular belief, binoculars are not always needed to go bird watching. Check out this article on Bare-naked Birding Article (otherwise known as bird watching without binoculars).

Green Birding
Join the green birding movement. Green birding promotes local bird watching instead of spending large sums of money and generating carbon emissions by driving single occupant vehicles or flying long distances to watch birds. It encourages walking, biking or using public transportation. Bus Birding is a Green Birding activity.

Read more about it here.

You can walk out the front door and start right now.
Be patient. Once you get used to looking for and listening to birds you will begin to notice that they are almost always around, even in unexpected places like bus stops, shopping centers and even inside big box stores.

Becoming aware of these fascinating, ever-present animals can greatly enhance your experience and understanding of the local natural environment and how interconnected we are to it.