About Bird Watching Binoculars

Series Summary

Observing birds and studying their behavior is what birding and bird watching is all about; to do that effectively you have to have the right birding equipment and supplies. There is a plethora of birding equipment that you could spend thousands on - from binoculars and telescopes to clothing and field journals. It does not have to be super expensive to get started in birding, but it is important to know what is essential bird watching equipment.

In this free video series, get some tips for starting to bird watch. Let our expert, Cary Salter, show you how to pick out the right bird watching binoculars. Cary gives you tips for customizing your binoculars as well. He even gives you tips for using binoculars to watch birds. Learn how to pick a bird watching field guide as well. If you are looking for a spotting scope, Cary gives you tips for picking out the right scope for your needs. So, if you are thinking of picking up a new hobby, learn about bird watching today!

Video Transcript

"If you're going to be a bird watcher, you're only going to need a couple of tools. The first is a pair of binoculars, and the second is a field guide which we'll get to in a moment. This is the classic style of binoculars, called a porro prism. This is what most avid birders use, it's called a roof prism. The difference is in how the prisms are laid out in the device. The roof prisms are actually glued in place, so they're much stronger and much able to take a beating; more so than the porro prisms. These days you can't get anybody to work on a pair of binoculars, because they're so cheap. So the stronger binoculars are better. When you first look at a pair of binoculars, you'll see a bunch of numbers, such as on this one 8.5X43. That has to do with the magnification 8.5 and the size of the objective lens 43 millimeters. That's important because you determine how much light is coming out. I don't know if you can see the little circle of light. That's called the exit prism. And, you want a good exit prism to let a good amount of light reach your retina, so that you have a crisp, clear image"