How to start your bird-watching journey.

A pigeon bobs up and down my balcony as I sit down to write this. She seems as eager as me to get you started on your birdwatching journey. When a baby is about 3 -6 months old, they start looking closely and moving objects naturally catch their eyes first. Take them outdoors and you will see them staring at the rustling leaves and the flying birds. At this age humans are naturally drawn towards birds. As the ‘artificial’ interaction with the world increases and they move towards highly stimulated environments, the touch is lost although the innate biological interest never truly disappears. Evidence lies in the inventions inspired by birds. The Flyer invented by Wright Brothers copied the bird’s movements, Leonardo da Vinci modelled his flying machines after studying the bird anatomy and wing structures. So, it’s not so bad after all to keep that interest of bird watching alive that is already present inside you.

Here are a few ways to get you started:

1. Visit places with high bird density

The easiest way to disappoint yourself is to stand in the middle of Lapland in cold December expecting birds to flyby. So, think large canopies, biodiversity parks, big green areas and trees. Delhi is ranked second in the world for the greatest number of bird species amongst global capitals. First is Nairobi, Kenya. Some other destinations are Sattal, Bharatpur, Corbett in India and Serengeti, Colombia or Peru outside India. Make it easy for yourself. Show up at a place that has easy access to birds and you will not be disappointed.

2. Start where you are

This is contradictory to my first advice but hear me out. When Covid struck, I, like most of us was stuck at home. But I was blessed to have a terrace. I was obviously missing the birds I saw in Serengeti couple of years ago and I thought it would take a lot of time before I meet my winged friends again. I went up to my terrace for a short walk and I saw a big bird swoop by. This was early in my bird watching journey. I clicked a few pictures and tried to figure out the bird. Turns out it was a black kite. I was so fascinated that this quickly became my routine and I kid you not, over a period of next thirty days I spotted about 35 bird species simply from my balcony or terrace. The Brahminy Starlings, the Silver billed Munias, a pair of hornbills, chattering Rosy Starlings, Purple Sunbird, Parakeets, Rufous Treepies, Laughing Doves and many more. They were all there around me while I had had lived in oblivion. So yes, maybe don’t try it if you live in Antarctica, but if you stay some place with a decent bird density, chances are that your balcony at 6 am in the morning is holding a treasure.

3. Get a bird watching guide to get you started

I prefer a physical guide book; many prefer the apps. You can take your pick. I am planning on writing about the best guides and sources to reach out for on this topic. Do watch this space for more on that. Yes, you do need a bird guide and no you cannot just do bird watching randomly without knowing their names. Watching without knowing the name is like living in ignorance and oblivion. If you don’t have an ID guide you will think you have been visited by a Russian Steppe Eagle rather than the black kite that house in hundreds in the city. Not knowing names makes you wonder why this Red-vented Bulbul seems to have a red-whisker sometimes and not other times. It’s because it’s a Red-whiskered Bulbul. They are two different birds. You can save yourself a lot of confusion and embarrassment by having a bird watching guide. Till the time I didn’t have a bird guide I used to ask my fellow birdwatchers. You can try that as well.

4. Early human gets the early bird

Rise early! Unless you are fine watching bats waking up from slumber and spotting a lone owl in action somewhere. 5:30 am to 7:30 am is your golden time to watch birds. In the morning the birds literally break their fast and are in a feeding frenzy. This leads to lots of activity, bathing, loud vocal hints. All of these make it that much easier to spot the birds. You will be surprised at how many of them will simply disappear by the time its 8:30 am. Although, that’s a good time for butterflies and garden lizards but that is for another post. Also, this is the time when human activity and sounds are low. So just wake up early but quietly and watch feathered friends come alive.

5. Maintain a life list

Simply note down the species that you saw and watch yourself gape as you count species after species in what you thought was a humble neighbourhood. This is a lot of fun to check progress. You can make it as detailed as you want, maybe you want to add time stamps, add behavioural details or maintain a daily log. You can make this life list as interesting you want.

6. Click pictures

This is my most favourite tool for bird watching especially those sneaky superfast ones. Get any camera and keep it handy. Phone camera works best for impromptu spottings. When identifying a new species, your quick click even if blurry will act as the best aid than relying on your memory. The picture will give you relative size, colours, ability to zoom in, repeat viewing to jog memory and discover things later on that you couldn’t in those fleeting seconds that the bird was in front of you. This along with your chosen ID guide will make you a confident bird watcher.

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