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Birdaday Field Notes

Beginner reference

How to start birding

Birding needs less gear than most people expect. The National Audubon Society's beginner guide starts with noticing the birds already around you, in a yard, on street trees or in a nearby park, and calls binoculars optional but useful. This page gathers the first steps that Audubon, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the American Birding Association (ABA) describe, explains the numbers printed on binoculars, and shows where those sources give different advice.

Quick read

Start at home. A yard, street trees or open water nearby all count (Audubon).

Get a field guide or a free app. Cornell suggests a book at home and an app outdoors.

Binoculars: 7x or 8x is the usual beginner advice; borrow or try a pair before you buy (Audubon, SUNY Cobleskill).

Log what you see in eBird, the Cornell Lab's free checklist database.

Find people: Audubon lists 500+ local chapters; the ABA keeps a bird-club directory by state.

Seven steps to start

  1. Look where you already are. Audubon's guide suggests checking your yard, street trees and hedges, a nearby green space, or open water.
  2. Read up before you go out. Nicholas Lund, writing for Audubon, says almost any field guide works if it has pictures of each bird and range maps, and suggests keeping it where you will flip through it every day. Libraries lend field guides, notes a SUNY Cobleskill beginner pamphlet hosted by New York State Parks.
  3. Try identifying by more than color. Audubon's guide says "Color is one of the last clues experienced birders use." Our bird ID basics page covers the Cornell Lab's four keys: size and shape, color pattern, behavior and habitat.
  4. Add binoculars when you can. See the numbers explained below and how to set them up for your eyes.
  5. Pick a bird and go find it. Lund's advice: choose a species likely near you at this time of year and use eBird's explore tools to see where others reported it.
  6. Write it down. Audubon lists a weatherproof notebook and a birding app as basic gear. eBird turns your notes into checklists (below).
  7. Bird with other people, and follow the ABA Code of Birding Ethics from the first day.

What the numbers on binoculars mean

On a pair marked 8x42, the 8 is the magnification and the 42 is the diameter of each objective (front) lens in millimeters (Cornell Lab; Audubon). Together they set how big and bright the image looks.

Spec What it means Figures sources give
Magnification (the 8 in 8x42) How many times larger the bird looks Audubon's Wayne Mones: 6x to 8x, and he prefers 7x. Cornell: many birders prefer 8x over 10x
Objective lens (the 42) Front lens diameter in mm; bigger is brighter Mones: 40 to 45 mm full-size, 30 to 35 mm midsize (lighter, less detail in poor light), under 30 mm too dark in poor light
Exit pupil Beam of light leaving the eyepiece: objective ÷ magnification 8x42 = 5.25 mm. Wikipedia: the human pupil is about 3 mm in daylight; people over 50 rarely dilate past 5 mm
Field of view Width you see, in feet at 1,000 yards or in degrees Cornell: typical birding binoculars 5.5° to 8.5°. Mones: at least 6.5°, which he gives as 341 feet
Close focus The nearest distance that still looks sharp Cornell: many birding models focus to 10 feet or less, some to about 5 feet; not always related to price
Eye relief How far your eye can be from the eyepiece and still see the whole view Mones: 15 to 20 mm on birding models. Wikipedia: over 16 mm suits any eyeglass wearer, over 17 mm for thick frames

Why not more power? Mones writes that higher magnification exaggerates hand shake and heat shimmer, narrows the field of view and dims the image. Cornell adds that a wide field of view makes it easier for beginners to find a bird quickly and follow it in flight.

Parts of a pair of binoculars and what 8x42 meansA generic pair of binoculars seen from above, eyepieces on the left and front lenses on the right, with seven numbered parts: 1 eyecup, 2 exit pupil, 3 diopter ring, 4 center focus knob, 5 hinge, 6 objective lens of 42 millimeters, 7 field of view. Below, three boxes: 8x is the magnification, 42 mm is the objective lens, and 42 divided by 8 equals a 5.25 millimeter exit pupil. 42 mm 1234567 8×42 mm42 ÷ 8 = 5.25 magnificationobjective lensexit pupil, mm
  1. Eyecup. Twist it out if you do not wear glasses; fold it down if you do (Cornell). Eye relief, 15 to 20 mm on birding models, is how far back your eye can sit (Audubon).
  2. Exit pupil: the small disc of light behind each eyepiece. Objective ÷ magnification: 42 ÷ 8 = 5.25 mm.
  3. Diopter ring evens out differences between your two eyes, usually marked about +2 to −2. Set it once (Cornell).
  4. Center focus knob for everyday focusing. Mones suggests a single center knob that turns "one to one-and-a-half times."
  5. Hinge. Fold or spread the barrels until you see a single round image (Cornell).
  6. Objective lens, 42 mm across on an 8x42: the second number.
  7. Field of view, the width of what you see. It shrinks as magnification rises (Cornell).
Drawing: Birdaday Field Notes, a generic pair following the specifications explained by the Cornell Lab, Audubon (Mones) and Wikipedia cited below. Not any real model. Not to scale.

Setting up and using a pair

  1. Eyecups: out without glasses, down with glasses (Cornell Lab).
  2. Hinge: adjust until both eyes see one circular image (Cornell Lab).
  3. Diopter: start at zero, cover one front lens and focus on a sharp-edged object with the center knob, then switch sides and focus with the diopter only. Note the setting (Cornell Lab). Mones suggests a target 50 to 100 feet away.
  4. Finding the bird: fix your eyes on it and raise the binoculars without shifting your gaze; note a landmark such as a branch to help you find it again (University of Georgia EcoReach).
  5. Care: keep lens caps on when not in use and wear the strap (University of Georgia EcoReach).

Where sources disagree

Question One view Another view
Best magnification Mones (Audubon): 6x to 8x, prefers 7x; Peterson and Sibley used 7x42 Cornell: many birders prefer 8x over 10x. SUNY Cobleskill pamphlet: 7x or 8x to start
Do binoculars matter at first? Lund (Audubon, 2015): "In the beginning, you don't need to worry about what kind of binoculars you're using" Audubon's current guide: optional, but wait until you can afford a pair whose optics are good enough to help. SUNY Cobleskill: try or borrow before buying
Drawings or photos in a field guide? Cornell: "Look for a field guide with drawings rather than photographs"; artists show birds in similar poses Lund (Audubon): a long-running debate; photos "more accurately portray how a bird actually looks in the field"
Field of view figures Cornell: 5.5° to 8.5° is "290–470 feet at 1,000 yards" Mones' rule (degrees × 52.5) gives about 446 feet for 8.5°

Field guides and apps

The Cornell Lab suggests starting with a guide to all of North America, or at least to the East or the West. A state or regional guide covers most local birds, but Cornell recommends keeping a more complete one for unusual sightings. Very large books are hard to carry; very small ones may leave out local species. Cornell's advice is to compare guides at a library or bookstore by looking up birds you already know, and to check the range maps before you settle on an identification.

Apps are pocket references with songs and calls, and some suggest an ID from a photo or a sound (Cornell). Audubon's free Audubon Bird Guide app covers 810 species and draws on eBird to show birds near you. Cornell's Merlin is covered in our bird songs for beginners guide.

eBird basics

eBird is managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Its free mobile app works offline, and the data are open to anyone (eBird). Audubon's 2022 beginner guide cites more than 1.5 billion records contributed over 20 years.

To find birds rather than log them, the explore pages and bar charts show recent reports and seasonal patterns by county or hotspot.

Finding a local Audubon chapter or bird club

Birding ethics

The ABA Code of Birding Ethics, as reproduced by the Cornell Lab, rests on three principles: respect birds and their environment, respect the birding community, and respect the law and the rights of others. In practice:

Audubon's guide also suggests checking the weather, sun and insects before each outing.

For Bird-a-Day players

Each step here feeds a Bird-a-Day streak: an eBird list shows which species you can still find, and a club walk can save a slow day.

Beginner checklist

Sources