Birding 101: Where to Find Birds

BirdNote®
Birding 101: Where to Find Birds
Written by Conor Gearin

This is BirdNote.

As a brand new birder, one of the first questions you might have is where to find birds. Well, they live just about everywhere people do, so there’s really no wrong answer. Looking out the window and listening for calls and songs can make birding a part of your daily routine. 

    [American Goldfinch song]

But you might be curious where else to look. So here are some quick tips. Think about what birds need: food, water, shelter. If you can find a nearby green space that also features a stream or pond, it probably has a few birds hanging out. Coastlines almost always have some gulls, like this Laughing Gull.

    [Laughing Gull calls]

Birds often congregate in urban parks because they’re the best habitats to be found for miles, especially during spring and fall migration, when travelers like this White-eyed Vireo stop to refuel.

    [White-eyed Vireo song]

And try asking local birders for ideas, on social media groups or at club meetings. You might learn that somewhere you never expected is a birding hotspot: a cemetery, a popular beach, even a landfill.

    [Common Raven calls]

It’s just one of the ways birds can give you a new perspective on the place you call home. For BirdNote, I’m Jonese Franklin.

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Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. American Goldfinch ML111054 recorded by Thomas G. Sander, Laughing Gull ML63374891 recorded by Tom Johnson, White-eyed Vireo ML73887 recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller, and Common Raven ML137574 recorded by Gerrit Vyn.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote June 2024
Narrator: Jonese Franklin

ID# birding-36-2024-06-26        birding-36