Selecting a Pair of Bird Watching Binoculars

With a closer look you have a better chance of identifying the bird you spotted.

If you are just starting out, and unsure about investing in a pair of binoculars, I suggest you borrow a pair for a few days. Take them outside and practice with them. Start with focusing on stationary objects. Once you've mastered that, focus in on the birds.

After using your neighbor's binoculars for a day or two, one of three things will happen. Your interest in birds will quadruple. Not only will you want a pair of binoculars, you want a scope and camera as well. Or, you will decide that identifying a bird is not as much fun as you thought it would be. After returning your neighbors binoculars, you take up chess or join a midnight bowling league. There is one other possibility. After returning the binoculars, you never buy a pair of your own, but keep feeding the birds and enjoying their antics at a distance. As you are reading this article, I am assuming you are part of the first group.

Armoring: The outer coating on a pair of binoculars. It is usually synthetic, which makes the binoculars more water-resistant, durable, and easy to hold.

Close Focus: We use binoculars to focus on objects at a distance, but sometimes we need to focus on object close by. Many high-powered binoculars cannot focus on object closer than 20 feet. For birders wishing for a closer look at nearby birds, this can be a disadvantage. The ideal close focus is between 8 and 12 feet. To determine the close focus of a pair of binoculars, try focusing on your feet or a nearby object. The distance to the closest object upon which you can focus is the close focus value of your binoculars.

Eye relief: The eye relief is the distance from your eyes to the outer surface of the eyepiece. Your eyelashes should not brush against the lenses, but if the distance is too great, you lose more of the field of view. Imagine looking though a hole in a fence. The closer you get to the hole, the more area you can see beyond the fence.

Eyepieces: The lenses nearest your eyes.

Field of view: The amount of area that can be seen when looking through a pair of binoculars. A larger field of view makes spotting the bird through your binoculars easier. Generally speaking, the higher the power on your binoculars, the smaller your field of view.

Lens coating: Lenses are treated to increase clarity, brightness, and color quality. The better treatments add to the cost of the binoculars, but it's worth it.

Objective lens: The lens closest to the object you are looking at. The diameter of the objective lens is measured in millimeters and is the second of the two numbers used to describe optics. If a pair of binoculars has a magnification of 10x35, the objective lens has a diameter of 35 millimeters. The larger the objective lens, the more light entering your binoculars. More light means a clearer, brighter image.

Power: The amount of magnification provided by the binoculars. It is usually listed as 7x, 8x, or 10x.

Model designation: 7x35 and 10x40, pronounced 7 by 35 or 10 by 40, are common model designations. The first number is the power or magnification. A pair of binoculars with a model designation of 10x40 will magnify a distant bird 10 times. The second number is the diameter of the objective lens.

Remember, there is no one pair of Binoculars that is the best for every situation. What will you be using them for? Is your bird watching limited to your backyard, or are you planning a birding trip half way around the world? Are you a serious birder or a casual observer? How much are you willing to spend?

Weigh all the pro's and con's, make a decision and go from there. With or without a pair of binoculars, the birds are fun to watch.

The Bold and Beautiful
The American Goldfinch
The Blue Jay
The Northern Cardinal

Cheerful Singers
The European Starling
The Northern Mockingbird
The American Robin

The Shy Ones
The Eastern Bluebird
The Carolina Wren