Bird Discussion

[caseyotis]

I'm pretty sure that this is the best bird ...

[size=1]l[/size] (Click to Show Hidden Text)

[img]http://www.fossilmuseum.net/fossilpictures-wpd/Archaeopteryx/Archaeopteryx.jpg[/img]

That's cool!
I also like Ospreys.

[zerasaw]

Shucks, missed a red-throated loon at the lakefront. Also a Fish Crow and Pine Grosbeak.

[Tiktaalik]

Or this ...

[hexagonaria]

Hey everyone!
I want to get into bird watching this summer, and I was wondering what the best procedure is to keep track of all the birds I see. Do you guys use any special websites or apps, or do you just write them down?

[caseyotis]

Hey everyone!
I want to get into bird watching this summer, and I was wondering what the best procedure is to keep track of all the birds I see. Do you guys use any special websites or apps, or do you just write them down?

If I were you, I'd keep a journal or something. If you want a recording device that doubles as an ID guide, the Audubon app is really good. It has a Life List feature where you can add birds that you see. I think it's limited to America, though.

[PacificGoldenPlover]

I think http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ is one of the best resources. Not only can you update your life list and view what you have seen at particular locations, you can choose a location almost anywhere, and see checklists that have been submitted by other people in the past.

To actually learn birds, I can recommend the allaboutbirds website, powered by Cornell. Also, if you plan mostly to do local birding, purchase a local field guide containing just those species in your region. To become a good birdwatcher though, nothing beats just watching the birds.

[zerasaw]

I think http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ is one of the best resources. Not only can you update your life list and view what you have seen at particular locations, you can choose a location almost anywhere, and see checklists that have been submitted by other people in the past.

To actually learn birds, I can recommend the allaboutbirds website, powered by Cornell. Also, if you plan mostly to do local birding, purchase a local field guide containing just those species in your region. To become a good birdwatcher though, nothing beats just watching the birds.

Ebird is wonderful, but kind of slow, somehow. And since I started using it when I was like 11, it kind of has an incomplete life list.

[zerasaw]

And you should purchase a good FIELD guide. Not a very detailed one (a Science Olympiad guide) like the NWF because they are bulky and impractical. I would recommend Kaufman's. It's very concise, very detailed, and probably the smallest good one out there.

[PacificGoldenPlover]

What I have found helpful in that case is to get one of the big name field guides (I really like Sibley's) but just for region-East or West. You are in Ohio, so you would probably use the Eastern book.

I used to really like the Kaufman, but I think it just stuffs too many birds into too few pages; there are many plumages that are scantily covered, if at all, in the Kaufman. That doesn't happen as often with Sibley, I feel.

[Tiktaalik]

The Sibley Guide is by far the best bird guide. I don't think there's a single species or variety of plumage of any bird you could ever hope to see in North America that's been excluded from the Sibley Guide.