INTRODUCTION
Imagine yourself lying in your bed. The morning sun is just peeking
through your window. Along with the sun, you hear the melodious
song of birds chirping their “good mornings” to each
other --- and to you! Have you ever wondered what those birds looked
like? Why they are close enough for you to hear? What interesting
characteristics they have about them?
Bird watching is a sport that has been around for years. In fact,
today, bird
watching is the second fastest growing hobby in America, bested
only by gardening. A whole new language has emerged along with it.
Those in the know also refer to bird watching simply as “birding”
and the people who do it as “birders”.
People of all ages enjoy seeking out the birds of their region,
watching them in their natural habitat, and enjoying the songs they
have to offer. Birds
can be fascinating creatures with much to offer those who care to
study their lives. Much can be learned from where they roost, how
they fly, and what they sing. We can even go so far as to say that
watching birds can reveal things about nature and the beauty that
exists in nature.
“I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment,
while I was hoeing in a village garden,
and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that
I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.”
~Henry David Thoreau
Birding can be done anywhere. You can find all kinds
of species in your local
park, any forest, and even in your own backyard!
No one knows the sights and sounds of nature quite like a bird
watcher. By taking a half-second look at a small darting assemblage
of black, yellow, and white feathers and adding a musical note that
sounds something like "chirp”, a birder can tell you,
not only the general species of that bird, but he or she can narrow
it down to the exact bird.
To distinguish among the 900+ species of birds found in the U.S.,
birders must quickly process a great deal of information on color
patterns, call notes, and even the shapes of bills. They have to
know what to key in on when they see a strange bird, noting its
overall shape, how it moves through a bush or tree, and the shape
of its wings. Such sensory work-outs help to develop great visual
and hearing acuity among birders. In fact, birders are generally
much more observant than the average person.
To the beginning bird watcher, this might seem like an unbelievable
task that they might never be able to achieve. Trying to identify
even common species can be extremely frustrating, and many people
give up before they ever actually begin.
Finding birds and identifying them can happen in an instance. A
small black bird flashes up to the top of a bush. You grab your
binoculars and start flipping through your field guide. You take
another look at the bird, flip back a page or two... suddenly the
bird is gone, but there is a different one lower in the bush. All
that page riffling and binocular
lifting begins anew.
Birding can make you more familiar with the natural beauty of the
world and perhaps will lead you to appreciate how quickly that beauty
is being lost. Birding can coax you into new country and enables
you to take in all the fresh air and impressive scenery that you
can hold. Most important, though, is the fact that birding is simply
too much fun to be missed.
The type of information presented here is second nature to an experienced
birder, but it can take many months of hard toil for the beginning
bird watcher to grasp these concepts and techniques. Even with the
information spelled out here, you still have to supply a good bit
of patience and sweat to become one of the truly tuned-in nature
watchers.
We have tried to strip away some of the mystique of Bird watching
and expose the bare essentials, but practice and patience are just
as important to Bird watching as they are to sports, music, and
other recreational activities. You can't expect to record 150 different
species on your first outing (though this will be possible later
on) or to identify all those confusing birds. You'll have to work
at it.
This book is intended to
help you get beyond the frustrating early stage. It's a crash course
in the basics of bird watching or “birding”. Hopefully,
with the guidance of this book, you'll be well on your way to greater
enjoyment of the world around you since birding focuses on some
of the most spectacular creatures on earth.
Birds are highly visual creatures - just like people - and some
species wear breathtaking combinations of yellows, blues, reds,
blacks, and greens to making them more obvious to the naked eye.
They also come in a wide variety of shapes and forms, which adds
considerably to the pleasures of Bird watching.
You just might find that bird watching isn’t only fun, it’s
a learning experience as well! Birding gets you outdoors, gives
you exercise, makes you think, and hones your observational skills.
Read on and join us as we look at bird
watching for beginners!
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