Whether you're looking to gain a better knowledge of the birds that visit your garden or you want to find every type of bird that visits the British Isles, this guide will provide some useful tips and tricks on getting great results.
Many birdwatchers start out by watching and feeding birds in their back garden or local park as this enables them to become familiar with frequent visitors and common species. Once you have learnt how to identify common birds, including their markings, behaviour and song, you should be able to easily spot the similarities and differences with other birds.
Start out by visiting a number of different sites, ideally different habitats such as woods, meadows, estuaries and farmland and you should soon develop a good idea of where birds can be found. As with most creatures in nature, a plentiful supply of food and water is usually a good place to start. Fields of crop, riverbanks, estuaries and lakes are all popular birdwatching sites and they can often attract many thousands of birds.
Get to know the behaviour of birds and you will be able to predict their presence at particular sites almost like clockwork. Migration makes for interesting changes in the numbers and types of birds that can be found throughout the UK and even non-migratory birds are more easily found in certain months of the year. Similarly, many waders tend to adopt patterns of activity that follow the timing of the tides and can be found in increased numbers at certain times of the day.
Each of these areas will attract different types of birds but almost all will be frequented most often during dawn and dusk, when feeding is most likely to occur. Daybreak is an especially active period of the day and it is during the first few hours of daylight on warm summer days that high numbers of birds are often recorded at prime sites. Develop an ear for birdsong as you will probably find that you can hear birds long before you can see them.
You needn't know every detail of every bird to be able to identify different species. Some birders can confidently identify hundreds, if not thousands, of birds with only the most fleeting glance, as they have learnt to quickly recognise key identifiers such as size, colour, bill shape, flight pattern and song. These key elements of information enable them to rapidly categorise the birds into prominent groups such as Bird of Prey, Waders or Finches and from there they can soon identify the exact type of bird, be it male, female or juvenile.
If you fancy keeping records, you may like to sketch the birds and produce your own guide to their specific markings, size and colour. You could also produce a log of the number of birds that you have seen and whether or not they were sharing their environment with other birds or animals. Identify where you found the birds i.e. close to water, in bushes, trees or open ground. Note when and where you saw the birds and what they were doing at that particular time i.e. feeding or gathering material to build a nest. If possible, try and make a note of the bird's song by describing what it sounds like i.e. a squeaking bicycle wheel, a metal file or the first three notes of 'God Save the Queen'.
Keep learning and practicing your knowledge if you want to become really proficient and you should soon be able to develop a wealth of knowledge about British birds. Whilst learning on your own will help you to develop confidence in identifying birds you may also like seek the help of more experienced birders as they will likely share some nuggets of information that will enable you to develop your knowledge more quickly. In addition to the numerous birdwatching clubs that may be found throughout the UK, there are also some great national organisation such as:
