Your Best Binoculars for Bird Watching
1) Power. It is generally a temptation to on-line and buy the strongest binoculars for birding which you can locate. Resist! Knowledgeable birders usually use binoculars that are 7, 8, 9, or 10 power. Much less than this and they don"t genuinely deliver much. Binoculars over ten power have two difficulties. First, these are difficult to hold still. Increased magnification will mean additional jiggle. Second, the field of view for high powered binoculars is too small. This makes it difficult to locate the bird, especially when it is flying.2) Aperture. This is where the light enters the binoculars and is the second number, for instance, in 7 x 50, 50 will be the size with the front opening where light comes in. Look for a number in between 30 and 50. Compact binoculars might have a number between 20 to 25, possibly less. That"s alright for compacts, but they won"t have the same performance as a larger set. Additional light will give you a brighter and sharper image, especially when there isn"t full sunlight. Binoculars much larger than fifty are going to be heavy and you will get tired of hanging them around your neck. Search for a pair somewhere close to 8 x 40 or so and you will find the very best binoculars for bird watching.
3) Eye relief. This is how far from your eyes the lenses ought to be. This number is especially important for those who wear eyeglasses. If you wear glasses, a minimum of 14mm of eye relief will probably be required to allow for them. Actually, this just isn"t much of an concern with modern binoculars as most have plenty of eye relief. If thinking of buying old, estate sale binoculars, keep this in mind.
The excellent thing about the best binoculars for bird watching is that they are excellent all around binoculars for other purposes. The very best birding binoculars usually are not too large, not too tiny and not too strong. Later on, you may well wish to add a stronger spotting scope to your gear for nest viewing, etc., but beginning with a good set of bird watching binoculars will get you going in the right direction