Identifying the birds in your area is not only fun–it’s a great way to spend some quality family time outdoors, connecting with and appreciating nature and each other. If you’re curious about bird watching and how to get started, check out these great tips, ideas, and resources.

* After you have exhausted the easily-spotted birds in your neighborhood you can invest in binoculars, but a good pair of eyes is all you need at first for backyard birding. However, you will need a field guide to the birds in your area. Many people swear by the Peterson’s Field Guides, available on Amazon or your local bookstore.

* Even the littlest children really enjoy pointing out the birds they’ve seen (and some may get quite competitive to see who can spot the most different kinds!), so you might want to keep a small journal and pencil handy to write down descriptions. Then, after you’ve consulted your field guide, you can write the name of the bird.

* On rainy days, you can play fun games to help each other correctly identify birds from photos. You can also try drawing the birds you have identified.

Check out these great Web sites about birding:

A Care2 page devoted to bird watching with many Web site suggestions.

Having trouble identifying a bird? Check out this great online visual key.