Sibley – Birdwatching 101

Ambience: bird calls, birds singing, warblers, thrush, bird watcher, park sounds outdoors, joggers

JM: So you decided you want to go bird watching. Well this is a great month to give it a try. But before you grab your binoculars and head out the door, here’s few tips from a master birder. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

DS: “What you’re hearing is a Swainson’s Thrush singing back in the woods behind us.”

JM: Artist and ornithologist David Allen Sibley is the author of Sibley’s Guide to Birds.

DS: “That’s a yellow-rumped warbler. Some of the challenges of bird watching involve just seeing the birds to begin with — that’s a pretty big challenge even to an experience birder. That’s one of the great things about bird watching — I think is the, basically the beginner and the expert are facing the same challenges. You just have to find the birds and see them well enough to identify them. Some of the tricks that the beginner needs to practice with are looking for movement – that’s the best way to locate a bird. Sometimes you’ll walk up to a tree that seems to have nothing in it, and just stand and watch it for a minute, and you’ll see something move. You’ll see a shadow or you’ll see a twig shake, and you know there’s a bird in there somewhere. The other trick is following sounds. If you hear a bird singing or calling or you hear a scratching in the leaves, you can track that down and hope that you’ll find a bird at the end of it. A starling.

JM: Pulse of the Planet is presented with support provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.

Sibley - Birdwatching 101

As any expert would tell you, the first step to bird watching, is well, finding the birds. Here are some tips.

Air Date:05/15/2008

Scientist:

Transcript:

Sibley - Birdwatching 101

Ambience: bird calls, birds singing, warblers, thrush, bird watcher, park sounds outdoors, joggers

JM: So you decided you want to go bird watching. Well this is a great month to give it a try. But before you grab your binoculars and head out the door, here's few tips from a master birder. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

DS: "What you're hearing is a Swainson's Thrush singing back in the woods behind us."

JM: Artist and ornithologist David Allen Sibley is the author of Sibley's Guide to Birds.

DS: "That's a yellow-rumped warbler. Some of the challenges of bird watching involve just seeing the birds to begin with -- that's a pretty big challenge even to an experience birder. That's one of the great things about bird watching -- I think is the, basically the beginner and the expert are facing the same challenges. You just have to find the birds and see them well enough to identify them. Some of the tricks that the beginner needs to practice with are looking for movement - that's the best way to locate a bird. Sometimes you'll walk up to a tree that seems to have nothing in it, and just stand and watch it for a minute, and you'll see something move. You'll see a shadow or you'll see a twig shake, and you know there's a bird in there somewhere. The other trick is following sounds. If you hear a bird singing or calling or you hear a scratching in the leaves, you can track that down and hope that you'll find a bird at the end of it. A starling.

JM: Pulse of the Planet is presented with support provided by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner.