Birdwatching
Birdwatching, birding, or amateur ornithology can be casual and unexpected enjoyment, as well as an ambitious pursuit to see the most unusual species.
Equipment
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. –Chinese proverb
- Camera: See travel photography, video recording, and wildlife photography. In particular, birding generally needs a telephoto lens.
Ideally, you want quite a long lens to photograph small or distant birds, a fast lens for stop-action shots and/or shooting in low light, and autofocus for tracking birds in flight. Image stabilisation is also useful if you shoot hand-held. A lens with all those features will be both expensive and heavy, but various compromises are possible.
- Binoculars
- Notebook or computer
- Sound recording equipment, if you want to record bird songs.
However, none of this equipment is essential if you simply want to observe birds with the naked eye and listen to their songs, and you can always take pictures or videos of birds that are not too timid around humans by using a cell phone.
On the site
The early bird is a well-known idiom. Birds are usually most active at sunrise.
Minimize sound and motions, to avoid disturbing the birds. Most birds see better than people do, and probably see you before you see them.
Stay safe
Many bird sanctuaries are in difficult terrain; wetlands, rocks or shorelines. Be sure to find safe ground, or a safe vessel.
Birds might be aggressive against intruders; see dangerous animals. Nearly all living animals have parasites on them; see pests.
Destinations
You can always observe and listen to the birds that live in your home town or wherever you are visiting. Many birds live in urban and semi-urban environments, including some that sing exquisite songs, such as the Eurasian blackbird, which has a wide range that includes the largest cities in Northern Europe and sings for several months of spring and summer, during its mating season. Robins also sing very pretty and varied songs, though not to the degree that Eurasian blackbirds do, and they are common in many US cities including New York City, particularly in parks. And even protected species are not always hard to spot; for example, if you are visiting the coast of California, you are likely to see pelicans and other large sea birds that are not at all reticent to be around people.
Birds such as pigeons and sparrows might prefer cities; however, many people regard them as pests, rather than living attractions.
Migratory birds can often be seen in great numbers where they wait for good weather to cross large bodies of water, or wait out a prolonged winter at higher latitudes. Capes stretching out into the water and wetlands in the vicinity are often good places to look for migrating birds. These places are usually well-known by local birders and not hard to find information on. Sometimes there is infrastructure, such as bird towers.
Quite often, merely a trip to a decent-sized urban park with a lot of foliage is sufficient to observe many migratory birds in season. However, for advanced birders, some of the bird sanctuaries and habitats below can be a special experience.
Africa
See also African flora and fauna.
Europe
- Camargue, France
- Hornborgasjön, Falköping, Sweden
- Istanbul, Turkey — some might be surprised to hear that the birdwatching opportunities abound in this city of 10+ million people. Since the migratory birds prefer to fly over land instead of large expanses of water, Istanbul is on a site that most migration routes between Europe and Africa converge. The easily accessible Çamlıca Hill on the Asian Side of the city is a great location to spot them, especially during the autumn migration.
- Öland, Sweden
- The isle of Skomer in Wales
Indian Subcontinent
- Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary near Panaji, India
- Karnala Bird Sanctuary in Konkan, India
- Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur Division, India
- Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary in Mandya, India
- Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary near Jamnagar in Gujarat, India
East Asia
- Nakdong River Estuary Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Busan, South Korea
- Qinghai Lake in Qinghai, China, mainly for migrating water birds
- Olango Island in the Philippines
North America
- Sierra Vista in Arizona, "the hummingbird capital of the world"
Oceania
- The exotic fauna of Australia also includes birds visitors from the rest of the world may not have seen. Even in central Sydney you may see and hear white ibises, sulphur-crested cockatoos and laughing kookaburras.
- Native birds that are neither exotic or flamboyant, but nevertheless interesting are found watchable from a range of locations in Australia known as 'Bird Observatories' - what was originally the Royal Australian Ornithological Union - but has now moved to the name of Birdlife Australia has observatories at:
- Western Australia
- Eyre (on the Nullarbor, close to the coast and the Great Australian Bight in Western Australia
- Broome Bird Observatory. The Broome area boasts a list of around 300 bird species, the most famous being the migratory waders that visit Roebuck Bay over the summer and then depart for Siberia to breed during the southern hemisphere winter.
- New Caledonia
Distant islands
Respect
- See also: Animal ethics, Ecotourism
The leave-no-trace principle is important for birdwatching. Travellers can be tempted to gather remnants such as egg shells or feathers; there are however risks to disturb the bird's natural lives. Also, bird flu can be transmitted by contact with dead birds or the wastes of live ones; the risk is small in most areas, but best avoided in any.