One of the things I stress with my
bird watching beginners is to always look with the
binocular and never assume that little bird down the trail or up in a tree is the same species they have been seeing all day. Doesn't take long to show them why. That little drab bird you see without the
binocular often becomes a wonderfully colored bird with the
binocular. Optics is not just about magnification, optics is also about seeing color. A birding binocular is a prime example. That rich blue of an Indigo Bunting, for instance, sometimes appears as gray and colorless to the unaided eye under certain light conditions. Get the Indigo in your bino and it takes your breath away. Indeed, more subtly colored
birds, such as the Palm Warbler rarely, if ever, reveal their color to the unaided eye, even when only a matter of several yards distance. Next time you see that little brown bird you've been seeing all day, check it out in the binocular. You may be in for a surprise.