Introduction Birds work very hard at making a living, but they usually appear to us to be having a good time – flitting about in trees, “making lazy circles in the sky,” or merrily singing. It seems to me that perhaps those of us who spend time watching birds could take a cue from them and make this pastime as enjoyable and stress-free as possible. That theme runs throughout this book. If you enjoy birds but don’t consider yourself a birder, it would please me if this book were to move you to accept this “calling.” Birding is a delightful, healthy, social, non-fattening avocation. All in all, birders are friendly, environmentally conscious, altogether nice people – joys to be around. But some of us tend to work so hard at it that it has become a lot like just that – work. For those of you for whom birding is recreation and relaxation, sit back and enjoy this lighter look at this part of your life. Light (or “Lite”) birding does not mean that there is no learning involved. I feel emotionally and spiritually younger than I did ten years ago because of the many opportunities I have had to learn new things in recent years. In fact, the process of learning new information about birds and birding while writing this book has been very rewarding for me. I have also discovered in my advanced years that learning is something that comes from within, not something inoculated by others. I hope that the learning you achieve by reading this book will far surpass the meager teaching contained in these pages. Along the route of our journey there are several paths branching off to the side – some of them well marked and others that even the author doesn’t know about. If you take some of these paths, you will be rewarded with knowledge that will

enrich your birding experience – and maybe your life. I hope you will. This book is not intended to be the be-all-and-end-all of birding. The vast majority of the facts about birds (except, or course, for the ones I made up), and advice on how to identify them, can be found in more erudite treatises. There are references to some of these books at the end of this one. But my hope is that you will have more fun learning them here. The book is written primarily for birders in the early stages of developing their skills. If you have been at it for a while, you may find that much of the information in this book is “old hat” to you. But scattered about there are hints that will also be helpful even to more advanced birders. If I think an idea is something that birders of all levels may find useful, it will be highlighted with this symbol: Also scattered about the book are Fun Facts, little morsels of information intended to amuse you and possibly add to your birding prowess. Of course, I hope you run across many “aha’s” – new information, new approaches, new ways of doing or thinking about things – that haven’t been highlighted. And I hope that you enjoy laughing at yourself and the stuffy birders you have or will inevitably meet when you are out spying on birds. All you really need to do to become a successful birder is look at, listen to, and emulate the real experts – the ones that are flitting about, soaring, singing, scolding, and just having a grand old time. Back to Contents Page