Welcome back to the Entryway to Birding blog! Winter has finally caught up to us. The snow, the wind, the cold weather—it all arrived this weekend. If you’re feeling like that’s put an end to your birding for the season, I hope you think again! Winter brings a whole new set of bird species our way—and finding some of these species involves expanding your idea of how you can go birding.
There are endless ways to bird, but this week we’re going to delve into one of the most popular winter forms of birding—that is, birding by car!
Before you hit the road looking for your snowy owl or a rough-legged hawk this winter, read up on the basics so you can increase your chances of success. This week’s Entryway to Birding blog has advice for your first time road birding, including how to decide where to go, how to stay safe on the road, and best practices to make your birding adventure a fun one!
A rough-legged hawk perches on a pole at Crex Meadows, near Grantsburg, WI. Crex Meadows, though several hours of north of here, is an excellent birding hotspot for winter raptors—and what that really means is that it’s a good place to go driving around in your car. Photo by Michael Janke CC BY NC-ND
Have you missed our last few entries on winter raptors and owls? Are you wondering what on earth you might find this season? We’re lucky to have an incredibly diverse selection of winter birds that we can enjoy all season long in south-central Wisconsin. If you’d like to learn more about what you might find, check out “The Wonders of Winter Birding,” a FB Live presentation I gave last Tuesday. This event was recorded and you can watch it here on YouTube or on our Facebook page.
There’s a section specifically about birds you might find while road birding that starts at 14:07, and more tips on how to decide where to go at 40:16.
Watch, enjoy, and get excited for how you can stay busy birding all winter long!
Why Bird From Your Car?
I tend to do most of my car birding during the winter, because many of the species that I enjoy seeing in the winter are found in wide-open, expansive habitats that are difficult to traverse by foot. It means that I can look for snowy owls, rough-legged hawks, snow buntings, lapland longspurs, horned larks (and more!) without worrying about the wind chill.
But car birding isn’t exclusively a winter activity—it’s an option for anybody with a vehicle, at any time of year. For people who struggle with mobility, it’s an opportunity to get out and search for birds in a way that doesn’t require miles of walking or navigating uneven terrain.
Birding from your car can also help you get better views of certain species, since your car can function like a blind and birds are less likely to flush. Whether you’re watching wading birds and waterfowl along the dike roads at Horicon Marsh in the summer or pulling over for better looks at a raptor perched ahead on a telephone pole, car birding can afford some exciting views.
Car birding is useful in any season. I sat in my car and watched this great egret catch and eat minnows! For once I didn’t even need to zoom all the way in on my camera, since this bird was so close. I took this picture while on Ledge Rd at Horicon Marsh, a popular spot for birding by car. Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
What to Bring When You Hit the Road
Well, you’re gonna need a vehicle. A car, a truck, a van—whatever safe mode of transportation you’ve got. That part is obvious. But what else might you need to bring with you for a successful and safe outing?
Binoculars. You’re really gonna want these. There are some birding scenarios where you can manage without bins, but winter road birding really isn’t one of them. Many of the winter species you may be looking for will be fairly distant and binoculars will be a huge help.
A camera, if you’ve got one. This isn’t necessary, but might allow you to snap a photo of your first snowy owl, just for the memories. (That said, if you’ve got a cellphone and binoculars, you can test out your digibinning skills—take a photo with your cellphone through your binocular lens!)
A scope, if you’ve got one. While this will help you see a lot farther, you’ll manage fine without out too. (If you’re interested in making the investment in a scope, check out one of our earlier entries, A Beginner’s Guide to Spotting Scopes for advice on how you might choose one for your budget and needs.)
Snacks and water. Bring some snacks for fun, but also have plenty of water and some food in case of an emergency. If your car breaks down on a cold road, you’ll be grateful you planned ahead. In winter, I enjoy making road birding a “festive” experience and will bring a thermos of hot cocoa and some Christmas cookies. Just don’t choose snacks that will result in sticky fingers—your binoculars will thank you!
A printed road atlas. If your phone dies or you lose signal, you’ll want to know where you are and how you can get home. It’s also a lot easier to get a “feel” of the surrounding area and where else you might drive by looking at a road atlas in your car, rather than draining your phone’s battery.
A phone charger. Speaking of phone batteries, if your car isn’t equipped with a phone charger, consider getting one you can plug into your car or bring a portable charger. You don’t want to be in the middle of nowhere without your phone.
A winter survival or emergency roadside kit. This is something you should add to your vehicle this time of year anyway, whether you’re birding or not. Be safe and prepared for any potential winter emergency. Here’s a guide from the Wisconsin DOT on what you might include in your winter kit.
If you are bringing a scope or a camera, you should know that they make window mounts for scopes and there are “bean bags” that you buy (or easily make!) that can sling over your window to provide a cushioned yet stable surface to lean your scope or camera, keeping it steady as you view. Neither of these are necessary, but if you’ve already got that scope or camera and want to improve your experience using it from your vehicle, they’re something to have on your radar.
No matter what you bring, you’ll want to have these items within easy reach. Your roadside kit will be fine in your trunk, but the rest of your gear won’t be of much use there or in the backseat. If you pull over for a sighting, you may risk flushing the bird if you have to get out of the car to grab something. Have everything you need handy and within reach!
If you’ve got a camera, you should have it ready to grab the moment you’re safely parked! I was thrilled to even get a semi-in-focus shot of this distant northern harrier in flight, a bird I’ve struggled to photograph. Notice that characteristic white rump! This bird caught my attention as it was swooping very, very low over an ag field adjacent to Hauser Road Prairie. Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
Choosing Where To Go
You might know what bird species you want to see, but figuring out where you might find them is the challenge. Do you just hop in the car, find some slow, quiet country roads to drive, and hope you get lucky? While you could do that, most successful road birding starts with a little bit of research and planning.
I hate to break it to ya, but your chances of driving around and stumbling across a short-eared owl are low (though not impossible…). Finding these birds requires a lot of sitting and waiting for them to come out at dusk, and you need to know to be in the right place so you can be there at the right time! Getting good intel is key … and that intel often comes from, you guessed it, the wonderful eBird! Photo by Monica Hall
There are two situations where I tend to find myself car birding, which I’ll go into below. The first is a more focused search and the second a little more exploratory. Both require a little prep on your part.
Situation #1 —You’re “chasing” a bird. You know that a bird species you want to see is out there because someone has reported seeing it, and your goal is to drive around that area to see if the bird is still hanging around.
How are you supposed to know your bird is in the area, you ask? Well, my friends, that’s where eBird comes in handy. You could wait until you hear from a friend of a friend of a friend that so-and-so’s neighbor saw a snowy owl “somewhere north of town,” or you use the Species Map page on eBird to search for snowy owl sightings in the last month to see where they have been reported in your area.
When I went looking for Columbia (who hadn’t been named at the time!), I was following in the path of those who eBirded before me. And sure enough, she was hanging far out in the ag fields, not far from where others had reported finding her too. Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
It’s not likely that a bird will be in the exact same spot that it was reported by others, but it may be close! Many of the winter raptors you might be looking for will stick around a particular habitat or area. Last year, for example, there was a rough-legged hawk that could be reliably found along a particular road north of Waunakee, short-eared owls that hunted along Bellbrook Rd, and Columbia (the snowy owl found near Goose Pond last year) frequented the farm fields near the UW Agricultural Research Station all season long.
Visit the eBird website, click “Explore” and choose “Species Map” under the “More Ways to Explore” heading. You’ll be taken to a large map. Enter the species you’re looking for and your location (i.e. Dane County, Columbia County, etc.) and it will zoom in to your area. This search defaults to showing you all the sightings reported across all years, so I would recommend adjusting the date to show you sightings over the past month. You’ll see pins appear on the screen, which you can click on to get more information or a link to the checklist. There may be photos or comments attached with more information.
Gather the details you need, see what time of day the sightings were reported, plug in some directions, and head out to explore!
If you’d like a more thorough reminder of how to find specific birds you’re looking for, check out our earlier post on this eBird feature in A Beginner’s Guide to Finding Birds.
I was curious where short-eared owls have been reported so far this season, so here is a map of their sightings in the area during November through early December of this year only. This a species that can be hard to track down on your own, so eBird can provide you with some direction. If you click through these sightings, you’ll see they all happen around dusk—unlike snowy owls that you might find any time of day, short-eared owls are more reliably found at dusk when they begin to hunt. Screenshot from eBird Species Map
Situation #2 — You’re rolling the dice. You have no idea what you might find, but you’re curious and ready to look. You’ve got some good habitat in mind and want to scope out the area and any potential birds.
How do you know what that “good habitat” is? How do you find it? Some of this comes with experience and learning from others, some of this can be researched. For instance, I might use the same strategy as mentioned above, but look at sightings over a span of several years. If I notice clusters in particular areas on a map, that tells me there may be some “good habitat” that draws birds to that area.
That said, there’s a lot of ground out there to cover and not every bird ends up on eBird. You’ll only see the sightings that people report, after all, and just because something isn’t reported doesn’t mean it’s not out there.
One common birding tip, no matter where you find yourself, is to seek out “edge habitats.” Places where one habitat converges on another tend to have increased bird activity. This holds true for road birding, so think about focusing your efforts on wildlife areas, state natural areas, or grassland habitats that may border agricultural land. The habitat along Bellbrook Rd, near Brooklyn Wildlife Area, is a great example of an area with good “edge habitat”—the wildlife area has a creek, some woods, and some grasslands, but there are also farm fields directly adjacent. In previous years, short-eared owls have been seen there in winter, hunting over the farm fields.
If you’re up for some exploratory searching, do a little research on the preferred habitat of your target species, as well as the time of day that species is most likely to be active. Then look at a map, find a wildlife area, and cruise the side-roads in the vicinity. You may not spot any birds, but you’ll never know if you don’t look.
Looking in this direction, we’ve got some nice grassland habitat at a state natural area. If I were to flip around and take a picture of what was behind me, you’d see some wide open, harvested farm fields. Very edgy. Birds love it. (Not that I saw anything that night! Sometimes you’re not lucky, but maybe you’ll get a gorgeous sunset in lieu of birds.) Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
Be Smart, Be Safe
As with any activity that involves a vehicle, you need to be careful. Here are some best practices to keep you and others safe on the road:
Don’t go out in poor road conditions or when there’s potential for inclement weather. Choose a fair weather day to avoid any unnecessary risks. Consider that you may find yourself on a side road that isn’t as well maintained and keep road conditions in mind.
Focus your birding on quiet, low-traffic country side-roads. Birding by car means that you’ll frequently need to pull over and investigate something you see (like suspicious plastic bags shaped like snowy owls) and you want to find a road with infrequent traffic where you can do this without bothering other motorists.
Always be checking your mirrors, like constantly. You may think you’re the only vehicle on a quiet, empty road but other traffic can come up fast and you need to be paying attention.
If you’re driving slowly on a low-traffic road and another vehicle approaches behind you, pull over and let them pass. Make sure that you have enough room to safely pull over, though, so you don’t inadvertently end up stuck in a snowbank or rut.
If you approach a spot where a bird species has been reported and you find that there are already several other cars pulled over along the road, try to pull your car over on the same side of the road as the other vehicles. If there are birders pulled over on both sides in a clustered area, it makes it a lot harder for other traffic to get through and could create potential for an accident.
As you’re driving, keep in mind that other drivers do not know what you’re up to. They aren’t expecting you to start slowing down when there’s no intersection or stop sign nearby. Your actions will look unpredictable to others who aren’t also out there scanning the skies and fields, so please play it as safe as you can and always be aware of your surroundings.
Etiquette and Ethics—Be Courteous, to Others and to Birds
Beyond being safe on the road, there are some best practices that you should consider when it comes to birding etiquette and birding ethics—both of which will come into play often in road birding situations.
Many of the species you might be looking for can be easily disturbed by human presence. Even if they are “just sitting there,” they are still busy. They are conserving much needed energy to hunt and survive. Do your absolute best to not flush them, stress them, or interfere with their activities.
What does that look like? It looks like keeping your distance and staying in your car. I mentioned earlier that your car can be a great blind and afford you some closer looks at birds, and that is true! But at the same time, your car is not invisible and being in it does not give you an excuse to get that close. Don’t be that person who parks right under the telephone pole a snowy owl is perched on—that’s a bad move. Even when you are in your car, if there is a close bird nearby, you should still be keeping a respectful distance. This is why you brought binoculars.
There was a big tall security fence and a highway between this snowy owl and anyone who wanted to view it—now that’s what I call a safe distance! After hearing about the harassment snowy owls can face, it made me wish they all had their own security fences. (Snowy owls love airports, by the way, though airports aren’t always safe places for them. Learn about an organization called Project SOAR, or Snowy Owl Airport Rescue, and why airports and snowies may not always mix.) Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
If the bird you’re looking at is far away, you can definitely hop out and set up a scope, or simply stretch your legs as you get an unobscured-by-windows view. (I didn’t hesitate to get out and set up my scope to view the airport snowy, pictured above—there was a large stretch of highway between us!) It can be hard to describe what an appropriate distance looks like, but I think you’ll know if you’re too close to safely get out. When in doubt, err on the side of caution. The well-being of a bird always comes before your good looks at it.
You might run across other birders while you’re out and about. (They may be the only other car driving slowly on an empty road!) If someone rolls down their window as they approach, you can consider checking in with them—they may have a tip about something they’ve seen or wonder if you’ve seen anything. Though, of course, you’re under no obligation to chat, especially if you feel at all uncomfortable.
There’s also the potential you might encounter property owners, who might be curious why you pulled over by their field. Be a good birding ambassador—be kind and polite as you tell them about how you are birding and what you may have seen. Most folks will be genuinely curious, though it’s possible someone will want you to move elsewhere. While the road is public property, I’d encourage you to be considerate and respectful of their wishes and find a new area.
Remember, There are No Guarantees in Birding
I can’t guarantee you’ll find birds, but I can guarantee the sun will go down and it will be pretty. Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
My biggest piece of advice for new birders who are setting out road birding for the first time is to adjust your expectations. While there’s a lot of birds you may potentially see, sometimes you aren’t able to spot anything at all. Or if you do, it may be too far away to enjoy good looks or even get a solid ID. And that’s okay. That’s normal. That’s expected.
It’s easy to feel frustrated or disappointed by this, especially if you were looking for something in particular that you couldn’t find. But consider it a birding lesson in patience and perseverance—we can’t control birds, we can only hope to be graced by their presence.
The last thing I’ll say, since this post is getting far too long, is that car birding—despite all the fun and good birds it affords—doesn’t come without a cost. That cost is reflected in one’s carbon footprint. That cost is fossil fuels, whose production threatens bird habitats and conservation efforts. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it in today’s post, as here I am encouraging you all to go out driving many miles for birds.
As birders, we need to grapple with that. We can’t ignore it. We should consider how we might offset our actions, should we choose to indulge in this type of birding. Maybe we make a commitment to green birding (birding without the use of fossil fuels) in the seasons that allow it. Maybe we donate our time or money to organizations whose work may help mitigate the damage. There are many possible responses, none necessarily right or wrong, but all worth considering.
Seeing a sought-after winter bird—like your first snowy owl—is a wondrous experience. It can spark a passion for birds that can truly change one’s life. There are always pros and cons—but it’s up to each of us to weigh them.
That’s all for this week. Happy road birding!
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Caitlyn is the Communications and Outreach Assistant at Madison Audubon. She’s crazy for birds because they changed her life. She’ll be back next Monday with some tips and tools for birders, new and experienced! Between now and then, she’d love to hear about the birds you’re seeing and hearing. Leave a comment below or email to drop her a line!
