Becoming the Birder
How to become the birder in today's world.
Welcome back to The Birder’s Way! Once again I'm your host Caleb Shingleton. I’d really appreciate it if you would subscribe to my Substack, that way you will receive a notification anytime I make a new post.
First of all I’m going to give you 5 different steps on the best way to become a birder in today’s world.
1. First thing first, find a decent bird identification book. I’ll leave recommendations down below. Make sure you get one for the most common birds in your state.
2. Get outside after you've studied your bird identification book, and just observe the local species. Don't do anything too crazy at first that way you don't get overwhelmed trying to identify every bird species you possibly can.
3. If you have access to a mobile device I would highly recommend downloading the Merlin Bird ID app. Although it can sometimes be incorrect at identifying species, it is still very supportive to new birders. What I did when I first started using Merlin is recording the birds I heard then seeing if the bird species Merlin suggested matched the audio recording of the actual species itself. The Merlin app provides you with bird audio that way you can double check to make sure Merlin was correct at identifying the species. Let me know if you have any further questions about Merlin Bird ID app.
4. After have a few weeks worth of birding experience I'd really recommend getting your first pair of birding binoculars. It is so rewarding getting your first pair of binoculars. Depending on what type of habitat you live on or plan too be around I'd recommend either 10x42 or 8x42 magnification range. Also do some research before purchasing a pair. I'll leave recommendations down below.
5. Find a local birding group that would hopefully be whiling to help teach you new things about birds. I’d even recommend joining a online birding group, you can find those on Facebook, Discord, and GroupMe. Let me know what state you live in and I'll send you a discord invite to their local birding Discord server if you'd like :) .
Whenever I first started birding (which was only a year ago) I got a bit overwhelmed. I was super excited too dive right into the world of birds. As soon as I heard about eBird, I created an account. I made some very big mistakes whenever I submitted my first ever checklist. Such as saying it was a complete checklist even though I only birded for about 1 minute. I’ll talk about eBird more in another post. My point is before starting eBird I'd highly recommend learning more about your local birds and taking the free eBird Essentials Course. Trust me learn from my mistakes :) .
Alright here is all the beginner birding gear I’d recommend:
Field Guides:
The Sibley Guide to Birds, Second Edition, great for birders all over North America.
Peterson Field Guide To Birds Of North America, Second Edition (Peterson Field Guides), is another great field guide for bird species all over North America.
Binocular Recommendations:
Celestron Outland X 10x42 Binoculars they are great binoculars for the price! Fun fact that model was my first pair of binoculars.
Vortex Optics Diamondback 10x42 Roof Prism Binocular are amazing binoculars again at a great price!
Vortex Optics Viper HD Roof Prism Binoculars 8x42 if you aren't worried about the price, I'd highly recommend these binoculars!
Vortex Optics is my favorite company cause they have an unconditional warranty with all their products.
Mobile Birding Apps:
Merlin Bird ID is a great app for beginners. Just double check and make sure it gave the correct identification.
eBird app only use after you have some basic knowledge about your local birds, plus don't forget to take the eBird Essentials Course it’s very helpful when it comes too learning about contributing bird data too the eBird database.
Websites for learning about different birds and their behaviors:
All About Birds is a great free to use website to learn about birds. Here is what it looks like:
Super helpful information when it comes to learning about birds for free!
Birds of the World. is another amazing platform, the only thing different from it is you have to pay for it. I have been using is for about three months and it has been beyond worth paying for a year worth subscription. It’s amazing trust me! Here’s what it looks like:
I showed you all the free preview version species for safety reasons. As you can see they provide you with amazing information.
I really hope that helps you people that may be curious about becoming a birder. I've already learned so much just over the year I've been birding.
I just want to say, keep it as simple as possible when first diving into the birding world :) . You may also be wondering what the difference between a birder and a birdwatcher, that's why I'm going too recommend you read this post I made a few weeks ago:
That’s it for this post! Hope you enjoyed this post. Don't forget to share it with friends and family! Let’s grow the birding community!
Written by, Caleb Shingleton.
I learned how to use eBird by myself, learned how to ID birds with Merlin and books my grandmother gave me, and my father inspired me to love birds, when we moved to the Appalachian mountains, quite recently.
Good tips.