If you are brand new to bird watching, you will soon discover
that, wherever you are, bird populations vary with the season of the year, the
time of day, and availability of cover and food—offering what Ernest Hemingway
might have called "a moveable feast." In many areas, local birding
clubs as well as regional guides and checklists offer invaluable tips on the
locations of the birds.
Season
In the spring and fall – seasons treasured by birders – you will
find migratory birds such as waterfowl, song birds and raptors moving through
the American Atlantic, Mississippi, Central and Pacific Flyway corridors, heading
north to summer nesting grounds or south to wintering sites. In the winter, some
birds may take up local residence to wait for frozen northern prairies and forests
to thaw. In the summer, local nesting birds go about the business of raising
their families.
At New Mexico's famous Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, for instance,
Snow Geese and Greater Sandhill Cranes arrive by the thousands in the fall, along
with a few Bald Eagles, often spending the winter. Various waterfowl, raptors,
wrens, thrashers, swallows, towees and other birds go about the business of nesting
through the summer.
Time of Day
Most of the bird community reaches the peak of activity in the hours just
after sunrise and just before sunset, although waterfowl and raptors keep busy
throughout the day and owls, whip-poor-wills and even mockingbirds (during the
spring mating season) issue their calls into the night. (Early morning and late
afternoon bring dramatic light for photographing the birds. See Bird Photography.)
Preferred Places
In the arid Southwestern United States, hosts of birds frequent the rivers,
lakes, wetlands and playas, but perhaps the greatest diversity of species occurs
at the intersections of environmental regimes. For instance, in southeastern
Arizona's 1000-square-mile Chiricahua Mountain range, where the Sierra Madre,
the Chihuahuan Desert, the Sonoran Desert and riverine systems converge, nearly
400 species of birds, including the Elegant Trogon and 15 species of hummingbirds,
congregate every summer. They account for nearly half the species in the continental
United States.
Birding Clubs
In communities across the United States, birding clubs hold meetings and
conferences, organize field trips, conduct seasonal bird counts, publish newsletters,
issue sightings notices, and maintain Internet sites. You will find extensive
information about U. S. birding clubs and birding at BirdingGuide.com.
Regional Guides and Checklists
Across the country, at visitor centers of federal, state and local parks,
especially those with wilderness areas, you will find field manuals and checklists
for the local bird population. These references offer guides for identifying
birds, information on species' seasonal abundance, and descriptions of species'
habitats and locations. (For additional information, see Bird Watching Basics,
A Bird Watching Journal, and A Back Yard Bird Sanctuary.)
The bird clubs, guides and checklists serve as a perfect entrée to
the adventure of birding.
For information on other aspects of birding, see Birdwatching
Basics, A
Bird Watching Journal, A Back Yard Bird Sanctuary and Bird
Photography.
