Authored by Gary Eugene in Outdoors
Published on 12-08-2008

One of the most important tools you will need for bird watching is a good set of binoculars. Longer range and clarity will give you more enjoyment in pursuing this hobby. If you are really serious, it may be a good choice to invest in many well-known brands which you can either buy though online stores, sport equipment shops, or through outdoor mail-order magazines.

Bird watching is a hobby that requires a lot of patience and very particular observation. As a beginner, you want to increase your skills by trying to observe common birds. Try to get used to training your binoculars on them. This is not one those hobbies that you rush into to get to your objective right away. Most of these lies in patience and waiting, sometimes even end up empty-handed by not finding the birds. But do not get distraught for it really pays off the moment you get a glimpse of the much coveted target.

Since most of the time you will get to observe the bird while in flight, you will need to carefully select your binoculars. You might consider getting a well-made brand because they have good quality lenses. This should increase your enjoyment as you are getting a clear view of the subject. If you are under budget constraints or perhaps want to find out if this hobby is for you, you just have to find binoculars which have some of these qualities:

1. They should have ample range and magnification so you need not have trouble finding and tracking the birds. Try to get a minimum of at least a 7×35. Of course, the higher the magnification, the better. And they will cost a little more. They will give you a bigger view of the subject you are watching.

2. In choosing lenses, the larger the lens, the greater the illumination and clarity. This will make the image much clearer and sharper. Binoculars that use bigger lenses and have higher magnification are larger and heavier. But there are some that you can find in the market that are made of lighter materials, so this will not be much of a burden to lug around.

3. Good Focusing is another thing you have to look into. You might want to test this out in a brighter area so you can check if it can give good clarity. If you try to do this in dark areas, you may not be able to determine this quality of the binoculars.