INTO THE WILD:

Birding for Beginners

With millions of wild birds flying over this spring, Chicago Wilderness becomes a veritable conveyor belt of color, sound, beauty, and fun. But how to get started taking it all in?

Photo: Donna Lee

Compiled by Don Parker

Why Do It?

Anyone can go birding (aka birdwatching), virtually anywhere. It’s a fun, often unpredictable adventure that only deepens with experience, and it’s free. As light or serious as you want, birding changes with every season, every year, and every location.

Get Out There

The best way to start birding is to set up a trip with an experienced birder. You can meet some at a guided bird walk or workshop. For a list of local birding groups and a master schedule of Illinois birding events, visit bcnbirds.org.

Most birders recommend getting out early in the morning, when birds are most active. Your choice of where you go will determine which kinds of birds you’re likely to see. Two pamphlets, The Chicago Region Birding Trail Guide, (312) 744-7606, and the Chicago Lakefront Birding Trail, (312) 742-7529, give good leads on where to go and what time of year. For more locations, use A Birder’s Guide to the Chicago Region, by Lynne Carpenter and Joel Greenberg.

Birdspotting

Many beginners lose track of birds between spotting them and bringing the binoculars to their eyes. To improve this transition, practice focusing on a stationary object and smoothly bringing the binoculars up without moving your eyes.

The Next Level

Veteran birdwatchers can do things that seem almost supernatural. They can ID birds without looking. They can identify tiny dots on the horizon without binoculars. But it’s not a sixth sense — it’s a toolbox of observational skills that come with practice.

Go birding often. Pay attention to the markings and shapes of different birds, and their flight patterns. (Do they dip or fly straight? Do they flap or glide?) Sketching the bird may help you absorb more details. Listen for bird calls to reveal the identities and whereabouts of hidden birds. (To order a bird-call CD, visit birdwatching.com. These are particularly entertaining if you have cats.) Study birds in their habitats. Great birders know that a willow flycatcher is more likely to fly out of a shrub in an open prairie than a great crested flycatcher. For more tips, try The Complete Birder: A Guide to Better Birding by Jack Connor.

Manners

Especially at popular birding spots, be respectful of serious birders (and the birds themselves). Speak quietly, move slowly, leave your dog at home, and be aware of other birders so as not to scare off birds they’re viewing. Slamming the car door is the classic faux pas.

Enjoying Birds All Year

Every year, the procession of birds comes in a mostly predictable order.

Spring Look for early migrants such as red-winged blackbirds, woodcocks, and sandhill cranes in March. April brings kinglets, phoebes, and flickers. The onslaught of color really hits in May with warblers, tanagers, and orioles.

Summer A little quieter, but a good time to observe birds mating and nesting — pied-billed grebes, green herons, bluebirds. By August, birds such as nighthawks and swallows amass in preparation for migration.

Fall Look for the same species migrating as in spring, but in reverse order. September is best for the colorful warblers. Some species have different fall plumage, usually duller.

Winter Our resident birds, such as crows, woodpeckers, and short-eared owls, all stick around in the colder months. Migrants from the north such as juncos enjoy our “warm” winters. By February, owls begin to nest and cardinals start singing.

Birdbrained Lingo

Glass. To see something using a scope or binoculars. “I glassed a vireo.”

Lifer. A bird you’re seeing for the first time in your life. “I got a lifer.”

Jizz. The way a bird looks and flies. “I determined it was a goldfinch by the jizz.”

Get the Gear

Binoculars. Don’t worry about buying binoculars right away — borrow them instead. Experienced birder-friends may lend an old pair, which is a good way to preview different models. Once you’re hooked on birding, try stores such as the Wild Bird Center, Wild Birds Unlimited, Helix, or Eagle Optics.

Field guide. There are lots of choices, each with different systems of organization. Make sure the guide includes birds of central and eastern North America. Birds of Illinois, by Sheryl De Vore, Steven D. Bailey, and Gregory Kennedy gives lots of focused information on every local bird you may encounter, as does Birds of Chicago by Chris Fisher and David Johnson.

Pencil and notebook. Helpful for recording observations.