How to Keep Bird Lists

Good birders are absolutely positive of an identification before adding a bird to their lists. This is called keeping "clean" lists.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Birding Checklists
• Notebooks
• Pens
• Binoculars
• Binoculars
• Spotting Scopes
• Pens
• Notebooks

1. Get familiar with the birds around you and be able to identify them accurately.

2. Decide on the kind of list you want to keep.

3. Make a note of the birds you see that qualify for your list; use a notebook, a local checklist, or the checklist in your field guide,

4. Add the date you saw the bird, the location, the names of observers, and other details.

5. Add to the list each time you see another species that qualifies, and keep a running total of the number of species on each list.

Tips & Warnings

• The variety of bird lists you can keep is endless. Some of the more popular lists are: North American list, state list, county list, yard list, year list and trip list - that is, recording all the birds seen on a particular trip.
• Listing software for your computer is available.
• Most field guides contain checklists.
• Most popular birding areas have their own checklists, often available for a small fee from the local chapter of the Audubon Society or from a local bird club.

on 11/22/2005 Stop at the tourist information center in the area you will be bird watching - they usually provide a checklist of local or migratory birds to watch for. The migration at Corpus Christi, Texas is a great place for bird watching.

on 11/22/2005 When you're just beginning to be able to identify birds or feed birds in your back yard, you might not think that you'll see enough different birds to keep a list. Try it for a year! You'll be amazed - especially when you see an uncommon one.