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The Best Best Birding Binoculars, According to an Expert
We've narrowed down the best binoculars for every experience level and budget.
For many of us, there's nothing quite as meditative and relaxing as spending a day in the great outdoors, taking in all nature has to offer (you are Country Living readers, after all!). And the more time you spend soaking up that pastoral peacefulness, the easier it is to find yourself completely entranced by one of Mother Nature's daintiest but most fierce species: the bird.
The Best Birding Binoculars
So, it's no surprise you've found yourself here, researching the best way to spot and observe those winged beauties. It's no doubt that a good pair of binoculars will completely transform your bird watching experience, but if you've done the research and gotten completely overwhelmed, we totally understand. There are a lot of birding binoculars on the options, and the choices can range wildly in price, from under $100 to thousands. Not to mention the technical aspects of birding binoculars. There are plenty of terms you'll want to be familiar with when buying, whether you're shopping for yourself or finding a gift for a family member!
With all of this in mind, we reached out to Andrew Dreelin, a PhD candidate at Northern Illinois University and a Smithsonian Fellow who's currently doing research with the Smithsonian’s Great Plains Science Program on the Montana prairie, one of America’s last intact grasslands. Put in more basic terms: he uses birding binoculars almost every day, so, needless to say, he's an expert in what to look for.
Andrew took some time away from his research with the Smithsonian to give us all the intel on exactly what to look for when shopping for birding binoculars and to help us determine the best of the best on the market.
The Best Binoculars for Bird Watching
Hannah Jones is the Commerce Editor for Country Living. Her eye is always on the next up-and-coming products to include in gift guides and she's ready to test everything from dog beds to garden tools for product reviews. When she’s not scoping out the latest and greatest items on the market, you can find her hanging with her two rescue dogs.
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