The blue arrows (above) show how to move your binoculars to find distant birds. Start at the top of a distant tree (circle) and scan the sky just above the tree line. Then raise your binoculars and look higher while scanning in the other direction. Also pay close attention to bare snags, field edges, fence posts and other likely perches. Illustration by David Allen Sibley.

The essential first step in birding is simply finding birds to watch. Proceeding to the next step – identification – is only possible once the bird has been located. Experienced birders use conscious and subconscious habits to maximize their chances of finding birds. Frequently using binoculars is a habit.

The main purpose of binoculars is to magnify distant birds, allowing you to see more details, but binoculars can also be useful for locating birds. Don’t hesitate to use your binoculars even when no birds are visible.

Whenever you find yourself in an open area, try to pause every once in a while and raise your binoculars to scan. Pay particular attention to edges – mudflats, hedges, fences, tree lines – and check for prominent perches for birds. As you gain experience, you will develop an idea of ​​where birds are likely to be found and where to put the most effort into your scan.

Scanning the sky can be particularly useful. Start at the top of a distant tree (use this to make sure your focus is set at the correct distance) and sweep left or right along the horizon. This is where you are most likely to find distant birds. Birds generally don’t fly very high, so a low-angle sweep is more likely to come across a bird. At the end of a horizon scan, raise your binoculars slightly and reverse direction, scanning the strip of sky just above your previous scan, and repeat this several times.

It is generally not cost effective to scan directly overhead with binoculars, as most birds are within range of the naked eye and tend to be scattered over a wide area, requiring a lot of scan to find them. Still, an occasional check of the sky above our heads is definitely worth it. If clouds are present, it is best to scan them. Birds will be more obvious against a cloudy background, and the cloud will provide your eyes with something to focus on.

Each time you find a bird, take a few extra seconds to scan around it, looking back and forth along its flight path to see if it has company.

If you’re watching hawks, you’ll see people following all of these steps – and no one scans more than experienced hawk watchers – but even when you’re not watching hawks, it’s worth a try. Just raise your binoculars and start scanning the sky. There’s no telling what you’ll find.

This ID Toolkit article by David Sibley appeared in the July/August 2016 issue of BirdWatching.

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