I love birds, but have never done any official birdwatching. A few questions...

[Ruby Reason]

I have a nice set of binoculars and am out often in the summer, but have two tightly schedule jobs spring through fall. I can't really travel, so it would mostly be backyard watching. We don't have feeders, tried a nesting box for a few years, but it had to come down. We do have birdbaths which I love to watch and plenty of veggies, seeds, worms, and a few fruits that attract birds. I'm not sure how to get started, but with spring coming up this group has peaked my interest.

I wanted to know if anybody has recommendations for starting up. Also, what exactly does one put into a "life log" (I'm assuming time, kind and place), and what seems to be the best way to keep it? Do people scrap book, computer log, other? Viewing suggestions given my limitations? I'm in PA.

Thanks ahead of time.

[MuseRider]

1. Find out what birds you do get at home

and put out feeders for them. Other birds will also come to add to the excitement, birds you have heard but not seen and birds you did not ever expect to see but are around. I put my feeders close to a window where I spend most of my sitting time so I can look out when not working. I have several books I use as reference and when I can accurately ID a bird I write next to the description of it where I saw it, when I saw it and what it was doing. There are some great programs where you can download lists but I would probably lose them and there are programs, I think, that will let you post your sightings there. I like IBird, there is an Android App if you have an Android. It is not as good as the books for ID purposes sometimes but you can hear their calls and sometimes ID something you don't see but hear. <----from what I have been told that does not count on a life list but I could be wrong. I only add birds I am positive are correct by IDing lots of little characteristics to be certain. It also helps me to have several books. Some are drawings and some photos.

As you see what you have there you will begin to ID migrating patterns. We are in a wonderful place for migration so each year in the early spring I put out things the migrating birds love or the birds that are not seen much after breeding season. It just takes time and lists to get all of that right, I am not all the way there yet

Whenever I travel I carry an ID book and have seen several birds I never hoped to see. Whenever I see them in the book and see where and when I saw them it takes me back to a wonderful memory. Birding is truly fun.

[XemaSab]

2. For starting up I would get two of the following books:

National Geographic Guide
Peterson Guide
Sibley
Kaufman Guide
American Bird Conservancy Guide

These should all be in your local bookstore. The Kaufman guide is the only guide with photos that isn't terrible.

Each guide has strengths and weaknesses, and sometimes where one guide will leave you confused, another guide will come through for you.

At first when you see an unfamiliar bird, you're going to spend a lot of time flipping through the book. This is OK, and this is how you get good. There are also going to be some birds that you're confused by. This is also OK, and even experts see birds that they can't ID.

Get a checklist that has your local species. If you go on ebird.com, you can create a checklist of birds for your state or county that shows seasonal abundance. Also pay attention to the range maps in your book. If you can't figure out whether a bird is a Western Bluebird or an Eastern Bluebird and only one of them lives in your area, you've saved yourself a lot of hassle.

I think the hardest part for a real beginner is figuring out whether a bird is a sparrow or a finch or a grosbeak or a pipit or a blackbird or some creature from Mars. Time spent flipping through the book will help you a lot, but be patient and this will all come to you.

Like many things, even a little time spent working at it will teach you quite a bit.

Good luck!

[fadedrose]

3. You need a feeder - or two - or three

You'll want a hummingbird feeder. Starting May 1 or so, they'll be back. They've been on the decline, but you'll get a few if you have trees and blossoms nearby.. l/4 cup sugar to 1 cup water. Start with a small feeder, if you get a lot of hummers, you can always run out and get another one. Buy annuals that they like - scarlet salvia, impatiens, or flowering shrubs - butterfly bush is good and rose of sharon are good...The birds leave in Sept.

Orioles - Attach a small (l/3 cup) plastic cup to a tree branch where it's handy to reach, and put some grape jelly in it. You may attract an oriole - sometimes you can attract them with a hummingbird feeder, but you need the jelly or oranges to keep them around. I have an oriole liquid feeder (same recipe as hummingbird feeder), but they son't seem to use it much after a month). Two types of orioles - orchard (darker orange, more black) and orchard or Baltimore - (brighter orange, less black). Females are more apricot or gold toned...Grosbeaks and flickers eat it too..They all leave about September...

A platform feeder is nice because a lot of birds are shy of feeders. We cater to blue jays and buy a lot of peanuts.

A regular feeder is good for nuthatches, cardinals, titmice, chickadees, red-winged blackbirds, and others because it keeps the seeds dry.

You'll want to get a book after the birds start coming because you'll want to know what they are.

Oh, if you like goldfinches - they're brownish (males) and greenish(females) now, but turn gold (except the females) soon, and they eat thistle. If you want to feed them, get a thistle feeder. They are sociable and tend to live in groups..

Robins may come, but only if you have fruit in the yard, good shrubs or small trees, or a roof where they can nest. They love berries, grapes, and sometimes take jelly...They love serviceberries - I have 2 trees, and mulberries - I have 2 trees....cedar waxwings like fruit trees too.

Get a couple of square wire cages for suet if you want woodpeckers, flickers and grosbeaks...Stores sell them all the time, but good sales in spring. About $1.98 now...suet cakes vary, cheap ones last a long time.

I lived in PA all my life, near Pittsburgh and near Indiana PA....now in MI.

Start watching the ads in the paper for feeders & seeds on sale. Be prepared to spend money. The best things in life, my life anyway, sure aint' t free...

PS I'm sure you don't want starlings - but a fascinating thing about them is that now, they're all kinds of mixed browns and speckles, and have very dark beaks. In spring, they turn black and their beaks turn gold. Quite a transformation...

Sorry you asked?

[Ruby Reason]

4. Super, I didn't expect a response so soon.

Great info. Thanks. I'm actually ok with lots of the little birds. My mom was an unofficial birder. She could name them with ease. "Oh look at that gross beak" "That is a black capped chick-a-dee sitting on your father's boot." (yes, that did happen, as he was hammering up a bird feeder) "Look at that little song sparrow, she is just full of eggs." I guess I have a reason I'm still interested!

Anyway, thanks again. Anything else you can add will be appreciated.

[csziggy]

5. Cornell has great information about birds, most for free

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1478&ac=ac

They have videos on learning to identify birds, samples of bird songs and videos of birds that can help you learn their body movements which help identify some species, and loads more. Their All About Birds feature Browse a Bird is one tool to identify sightings.

What Bird http://www.whatbird.com/ is a good place to start learning how to identify birds but their pictures aren't too great.

eBird.com http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ is a way to keep track of your sightings, but I find it cumbersome to fill out all the data they want.

[semillama]

6. I'd also suggest searching on Amazon for books ton backyard bird habitats

By choosing a few good types of shrubs, trees and flowers, you can have your own personal hotspot in your backyard. My friend here in Columbus is a great example. We live in the same neighborhood, which is a densely-packed with 1920s-era housing with small yards. Yet because he manages his yard for birds, he's had birds like Eastern Screech-Owl, White-winged Crossbill and Western Tanager show up in his yard!

[Ruby Reason]

7. Thank you again!

We have a butterfly bush, rose of Sharon, cherry tree, some blueberry and strawberry bushes. We also have a young mamosa tree and last summer was the first I saw humming bird. We do have a nice selection of birds so all this information will help me identify them and draw more in. I have one field guide, but I can see that maybe it isn't always me that is the problem in identifying the birds. I'll try to pick up another book or two you recommended and also take a look at the on line links. As spring is approaching I'm getting very excited about being prepared to identify and record our visitors.

Hopefully I'll have lots to share as the days unfold!