Do You Need Birding Guides?

One of life's greatest pleasures for many people is to be at one with the natural world. Whether hiking, swimming in a lake, camping, or spotting animals in the wild, the enjoyment of being out in the fresh air is immeasurable as well as the health benefits.

Another way of getting out and about and enjoying nature is to go bird watching. It is a very inexpensive hobby and is something you can do on your own or with a group of friends. Bird watching is also a good way of bonding with family and makes a lovely outing for the weekend.
 

You don't need much equipment to go bird watching but you definitely need birding guides otherwise how will you recognise the birds you see, especially if you haven't seen them before? Bird watching field guides are usually regional so be sure to get the right one for your area. You can look on the internet to see what's available; Amazon is a great place to start as they carry nearly all the good titles available or you can browse your local book store but they probably won't have such a big selection.

Sibley's birding guides are very well thought of and range from books suitable for beginners to books for experienced bird watchers.

When you've chosen your bird book, look through it to familiarise yourself with the layout. Most of these books are laid out by species so if you aren't sure which birds belong to which species you may need to do some research before you actually go out birding. Regional birding guides may be laid out by area so obviously your own area is a good place to start and you should be able to find out what types of birds you can expect to see. This will make it easier to recognise the birds when you actually see them in the wild.

The best birding guides will have photographs and illustrations of the birds from different angles as well as identification techniques and information about habitat, migration and so on.

Once you've checked out the available birding guides, you will probably decide that you need a pair of binoculars or a telescope to help you see the markings and colouring of the birds more clearly. You can do without these but if a bird is quite different you won't be able to tell what it is without some form of magnification.

For more information on birding guides and articles on choosing binoculars and what you can expect to pay for them, visit Worldwide Bird Watching.
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