With the Wild Things: Birding

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|a With the Wild Things: Birding |h [electronic resource].

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|a Ft. Myers, Florida : |b Whitaker Center in the College of Arts and Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University.

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|a 5 podcasts, approximately 1 minute each in length

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|a Please contact the owning institution for licensing and permissions. It is the users responsibility to ensure use does not violate any third party rights.

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|a Source: Birding 1 Length of Segment: 00:01:11 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Being a birder begins at home, and it's infectious. Watch out! Before long your kids, spouse, and friends will be birders, too. There's a lot going on in your backyard and birding often begins there. Keeping a yard list of birds can reveal a surprising diversity of visitors and the annual patterns of their appearance. It can also begin to show you how changes in neighborhood habitats and the feeders, bird houses, and bird baths you provide influence local birds. You don't have to hike miles of trails to be a birder, but you may soon find yourself following the lure of the list as you visit such birding hot-spots as Corkscrew Sanctuary or Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Once you've become acquainted with backyard regulars, you're going to want to see some of those brilliant colors and watch some of their fascinating behavior a bit more closely. You're going to want some binoculars. You're also going to want to be able to identify new birds as they appear; you'll need a field guide. On this week's 'With the Wild Things' we'll focus on the things to look for before purchasing a pair of binoculars or a field guide.

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|a Source: Birding 2 Length of Segment: 00:01:15 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the Wild Things. Selecting binoculars for birding can be a taunting task. There's an incredible diversity of binoculars available and the diversity begins with prices ranging from $20 to more than $1,500. Although binocular quality generally goes up with a price, a pair of $50 binoculars can serve you well. Once beyond price, there are more important things to consider. Two numbers appear on every pair of binoculars in what looks like an algebraic formula, something like 7 X 35. The first number tells you that the image you view with the binoculars is magnified seven times. The best magnification for birding binoculars is between 7X and 10X, but if you go for the higher magnification, remember that every shake of your hand is magnified, too. You've got to find the bird with your binoculars first. With lesser magnification, you will have a broad field of view, and lifting the binoculars to your eyes and pointing them in the general direction usually assures that you see the bird. With high magnification, you'll have a smaller field of view and may have to hunt for the bird before you can look at it, and by then, it may be winging its way elsewhere.

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|a Source: Birding 3 Length of Segment: 00:01:15 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Two numbers appear on every pair of binoculars in what looks like an algebraic formula, something like 7 X 50. The first number tells you that the image you view with the binoculars is magnified seven times. The second number, the 50, tells you that each front lens is 50 millimeters, about two inches, across. With larger lenses, more light can enter the binoculars and your view will be brighter. Larger diameter front lenses are important if you have difficulty seeing things in dim light. However, there is a downside to large lenses: they require a larger supporting frame. I get headaches from wearing heavy binoculars around my neck for long periods. I recommend front lenses as large as 50 millimeters for binoculars you might want to keep on the kitchen table to view birds in your backyard. If you're planning to make an occasional foray to a nearby park or wildlife refuge, you may want some lighter-weight binoculars. For general birding, I recommend front lenses in the range from 35 to 42 millimeters. If you have difficulty with the weight of binoculars around your neck, look into some of the harnesses that are available to replace your binocular strap. These work great, and distribute the weight onto your shoulders.

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|a Source: Birding 4 Length of Segment: 00:01:15 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. There used to be only one really good choice when seeking a field guide to identify birds: Roger Tory Peterson's A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America came to be known as 'the birders’ bible'. Today, we have a wide array of guides to choose from. Some, like Peterson's, are limited to eastern or western North America, others span the continent. Although each has its fans, what's great for one person may not be the best field guide for another, so check them out. When you select a field guide, read the introductory pages. These will introduce you to some of the vocabulary used to point out identifying characteristics. Before you know it, you'll be familiar with terms like 'wing bars,’ 'tail coverts,’ and 'eye ring,’ and will be discussing the finer points of birding. In doing so, you may also learn that the ‘gizz’ of a bird is the general impression you get of a bird that helps you identify it the next time you see it. And you'll also pick up the jargon for birds that elude quick identification. Those sparrows that pop up and then dive quickly into the grass become 'LBJs,’ little brown jobs, and those small non-descript sandpipers covering a mud flap become simply 'peeps'.

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|a Source: Birding 5 Length of Segment: 00:01:07 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Field guides for the identification of birds vary greatly in scope and in the way birds are presented. Some birders prefer photographs to artwork in a field guide because they show real birds. Other birders prefer artwork. One of the problems with the use of photos is that under different lighting conditions, plumage colors can appear different. A white breast may appear yellow in an early morning or late afternoon photo. Artwork can present the usual color and pattern, but often does not present the pose or habitat context that a photo can present. Most guides have range maps that are color-coded to let you know where birds are in winter, summer, or during migration. Range maps are important and most useful if they appear on the same page as the illustration of the bird. There is no best guide for all birders. In truth, if you really get into birding, you're going to want to own two or more guides. When you select a field guide, read the introductory pages; these introduce you to the vocabulary used to point out identifying characteristics.

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