Field Guides

There are several excellent choices for North America:

·         The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Sibley has lovely drawings with great detail and good explanations. However, it is one of the largest, heaviest of the field guides, so if you plan to take a book into the field, this one may be a bit bulky.

·         The Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America by Kenn Kaufman uses enhanced photos rather than drawings to illustrate the birds. Kenn Kaufman is an excellent writer and his text descriptions are very clear. This is a favorite of many birders.

·         The National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America is a classic, and is especially faithful to the most up-to-date bird taxonomies; indeed, it has gone through seven editions. it is particularly compact, so fits nicely in a backpack or fanny pack.

Should you buy a new copy or will a used one do? If you don’t mind occasionally seeing older (and out of date) scientific names and even occasional obsolete common names, or a different taxonomic order than the newest guides, you can get by with older editions. If you get more “serious” about birding, you eventually will want a more up-to-date version.

Online Field Guides (Apps)

There are several excellent apps for iOS and Android. A good one to start with is the free one from the National Audubon Society, which is available on in the Apple App Store and on Google Play. (You can link directly to the download from the NAS website at https://www.audubon.org/.) 

Binoculars: Purchasing

Finding a store that specializes in binoculars (optics) for birders can be tough. In Ohio, there are a few choices that you might want to check out:

·         Columbus: Wild Birds Unlimited on Sawmill Road carries a small selection of binoculars mostly geared toward beginners to intermediate birders. The staff is extraordinarily helpful and knowledgeable.

·         Northeast Ohio: Time and Optics in Millersburg in the heart of Amish country has a large selection of optics of all levels. Robert Hershberger and his staff there are very knowledgeable and they cater to birders.

·         Northwest Ohio: Black Swamp Bird Observatory has a small optics department in their nature store, located just inside the entrance to the famous Magee Marsh (aka Crane Creek) Wildlife Area. As you would expect, they are very knowledgeable indeed. In addition, several optics vendors have items for sale at the Biggest Week in American Birder festival held there annually in May.

·         Redstart Optics is an online vendor, but they are part of the Birdwatchers Digest publishing company located in Marietta. They do not have a store there, but often have a presence at birding-related events in Ohio, usually with lots of binoculars to try out.

Binoculars: Diopter Adjustment

Instructions for adjusting the diopter setting on your binoculars can be found easily on the internet, and most binocular come with instructions as well. One particularly detailed set of instructions is at https://www.birdwatching.com/optics/diopter_set.html.

Other Information

The National Audubon Society website (https://www.audubon.org/) has loads of information about birds and birding. On the home page, click on Birds & Guides in the main menu. That opens up a page from which you can access the online Audubon Guide to the Birds of North America (includes photos, descriptions, range maps, sounds, and more for all North American bird species); link to download the Audubon Bird Guide App; and read articles that will help you get started, choose and adjust binoculars, plan travel, involve your kids and grandkids, and more. 

And Remember….Enjoy the Birds!

Bill Heck