Many people are fascinated by birds. Some are colorful, some are majestic, and most of all – they have the ability to fly. It’s always exciting to see a bird that you’ve never seen before, and it’s easy to see them in a variety of environments. If you want to start bird watching as a hobby, there are some easy ways to get started.

Get the Tools

You don’t necessarily need any equipment to watch birds, as long as you just want to watch without knowing the type of bird or see them too closely. If you want to make the hobby official, though, you can start with just a few things. A field guide or birding book is useful so that you can identify the birds you see. You can even look birds up online to identify them. There are apps you can use to both track your bird watching experiences and identify birds on your adventures.

In addition to a way to identify the birds, you’ll want to get a notebook (weather-proof is best) to track your birdwatching. This way, you can list the birds you see and where you see them as well as write down what birds you want to see! Binoculars are useful so that you can see birds more closely. The more detail you see about a bird, the better you can classify it.

Learn About Types of Birds

Your birding guide – or even sources online- can help you learn about the types or families of birds. This can help you when you start to identify them. Most people know what a hummingbird looks like, but did you know that there are over 200 species of finches around the world, and 20 of those can be found in the United States?

Start by learning the five major groups of birds and their features. Ducks, geese, and waterfowl are in one family, and hawks and eagles are in another. Once you learn the general shape and characteristics of bird families, you can more quickly identify the birds you see.

Learn Where to Find Birds

Birds are everywhere, and sometimes watching them is as simple as sitting in your yard. Even in the city, you can find pigeons, finches, sparrows, and many other birds. If you want to see herons or pelicans, though, you’ll need to be close to their home – the water. To see a variety of birds, start your birdwatching in different places. You may go to the forest on one outing and to a marsh on another.

For specific birds, you may have to travel further. The greater prairie chicken, a rare bird, is found in certain reserves in Texas. You can often find flamingos in the zoo, but if you want to see them in their natural habitat, you need to travel to the Caribbean or even South America or Africa.

Nature Bridges specializes in boardwalk construction through sensitive areas, like national parks and wildlife reserves. You can take a stroll on a boardwalk through one of these parks to see many native birds and other animals. If you’re a birdwatcher who wants to get a close look at birds, one of these bridges may be the best way to see them in their environment. And if you don’t have a walkway already, we can even build a treetop pathway to help you see them even more clearly. Contact us for a quote now!