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Birding 101: The Fear of Getting Started
Learning about birds is the work of a lifetime
© Phil Hauck
For folks looking to try birding for the first time, getting started can be daunting. Should you learn every species’ call, every subtle feather pattern before you head out to look for birds? While it’s good to prepare, there’s a risk of scaring yourself out of starting, and preventing the kind of hands-on experiential learning that’s one of the best parts of birding. So when you have the time and energy, just go for it! Learning about birds is the work of a lifetime — that’s why it’s so rewarding.
Listen to this show in Spanish here.
BirdNote®
Birding 101: The Fear of Getting Started
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[Indigo Bunting]
For folks looking to try birding for the first time, getting started can be daunting. Should you learn every species’ call, every subtle feather pattern before you head out to look for birds?
While it’s good to prepare, there’s a risk of scaring yourself out of starting, and preventing the kind of hands-on experiential learning that’s one of the best parts of birding. So when you have the time and energy, just go for it! Learning about birds is the work of a lifetime — that’s why it’s so rewarding.
And there are great tools to help you out. Bringing a field guide with you is a time-tested approach. Even the experts turn to a field guide when they’re stumped. Newer tools like the Merlin Bird ID app help identify which species you’re seeing or hearing right on your phone.
[Carolina Wren duet]
And if you can find another birder or a group to tag along with, all the better. You can learn from people with more experience, and share the joys and struggles with fellow newbies. For many people, talking to other birders is nearly as fun as finding the birds.
For BirdNote, I’m Jonese Franklin.
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
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. Indigo Bunting ML534512 recorded by Wil Hershberger, and Carolina Wren ML315882451 recorded by Jefferson Shank.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2023 BirdNote December 2023
Narrator: Jonese Franklin
ID# birding-32-2023-12-22 birding-32
