Binoculars are a birder's eyes on the world, and they can greatly affect the quality of a bird outing. Good binoculars make for good birding, while bad binoculars can lead to missed birds and severe headaches induced by blurred images, double vision, and eye strain.

There is much to know about buying birding binoculars, and you can easily spend thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, many of us don't have the time, energy, or money.  Buy the best binoculars that you can afford and  keep a few basics in mind.  Spend what you can to start.  Magnification of between 7 and 10 are the most common for birding.  Higher magnifications require an extremely steady hand or a tripod.  The field of vision (the second number; "35" for a "7 X 35" pair of glasses) should be approximately 5 times the magnification allowing the best bird observation.  You can spend more money buying  better lenses, coatings, sturdier bodies, water proofing, better prisms, smaller size and less weight as your expertise and enthusiam grow.  Click below for more detailed information.