If you like birds but don’t know much about them, it’s time to launch a new hobby with this beginner’s guide to birding. Bird watching teaches us patience and the importance of observation. Birding is a way to spend quality time with yourself while meeting new (feathered) friends. It’s a way to practice silence and can be incredibly meditative. The best part about taking up the hobby of bird watching is that it’s easy and cheap. And you can get started today in your own backyard.
How many different birds live around you? I can promise you that if you give birding a chance, you’ll be absolutely blown away at how many different birds are right outside your door that you never really noticed. Ready to find out?
If your already sold on becoming a birder, click here to jump straight the first lesson.
What’s So Great About Birds?
Have you ever been asked this question:
“If you could be an animal, what kind of animal would you be?”
A huge percentage of people will answer that question with:
“I’d want to be a bird.”
Why?
So I can fly.
You don’t say you want to be a bird because you want to have feathers or so you can lay an egg.
Everyone wants to learn to fly.
Patience, Silence
Before we jump into how to identify birds, let’s take a minute to start settling in to the concept of what birding is. Sure, bird watching is about looking at pretty birds. But it’s so much more than that.
Birding is a very easy hobby. Except for those people who can’t sit still. I used to be one of those people until I learned to recognize that there was value in stillness.
I’ve been practicing yoga (on and off) for more than 30 years. It has taught me the importance of stillness, how to listen to my body and how to honor and nurture my inner voice. Yoga has taught me how to be patient with myself, whether that be in recognizing my physical limitations or emotional ones.
Practicing birding is a lot like practicing yoga or meditation. If you don’t do yoga or meditate, birding can become your gateway to getting started.
The Power of Observation
The speed of life tends to give us tunnel vision. We get up everyday and go about our business, and we don’t take time to notice (or smell) the roses.
Have you ever driven to work and realized when you got there that you have no recollection of the journey?
Birding is all about observation.
Where did you see the bird? What was it doing? Who was it hanging out with? What did it eat?
Those 4 simple questions and a little curiosity are all you need to get started with bird watching.
Download Merlin
If you are ready to start birding, let’s jump right in. No equipment needed. Not even binoculars. This is going to be instant gratification even for those with zero patience!
Your first step is to download the Merlin app on your phone. This app is free and it’s about to blow your mind.
God bless Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology (ornithology is the study of birds). They created this amazing app. The app is about to open your mind to a whole new world and it’s super fun to use. Get the kids involved!
Once have it downloaded, walk outside. Listen.
Do you hear birds? If so, open the app.
Click on Sound ID.
Your app is now listening for birds. As it recognizes them, a list of birds will start popping up.
How cool is that!!
Now, if you’re in the middle of a city, the app will have a harder time picking out bird sounds. But if you’re at home in your backyard, or walking in your neighborhood, or on the beach, or in the woods…..get ready to meet some new friends.
Congratulations! You’re Birding Hobby Has Hatched.
Isn’t it great when you can accomplish something that easily?
You can start exploring your new friends directly from the app. Click on the bird photos to learn more.
Photo ID
If you are able to get a photo of your bird, the Merlin app also has a photo identifying feature.
Take Time to Play
That is the end of lesson #1 on how to become a birder! Spend a some time utilizing your new birding tool and let it spur your curiosity.
When you’re ready for more, move on to Lesson #2 – Spreading Your Wings.
Feed the Birders
If you downloaded the Merlin app and love it, please consider making a donation to Cornell Lab of Ornithology so that they can continue to develop technologies that make it easier for us to connect with our feathered friends.
Immersive Birding
Can’t get enough of birds? Visit the Bird page to meet more feathered friends. You can read about birds too – science nerds will find The Voyage of the Beagle a fascinating read. It’s about the initial voyage where Charles Darwin first began to theory of evolution. The Beak of the Finch is another informative book about his studies of birds in the Galapagos which eventually became home to the Charles Darwin Research Station.
If you already love to bird but want to go beyond your backyard, check out the travel pages for Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago and Galapagos for some international birding inspiration.
I loved the birding lesson!!