Birding

Destinations: Antarctic Peninsula, Greenland, Svalbard, Falkland Islands, South Georgia

Bird Watching

Plenty of our cruises offer the chance to take in a wide variety of birds. Already an accomplished ornithologist? Then we’ll take you where you want to go – off to see feathered friends you can’t reach any other way, as well as the scores of migratory species you may be more familiar with.

As for you budding bird-watchers, it will be our great pleasure to help you take your first bird-watching footsteps. Our trained staff consists often of ornithologists or keen birders and they are there to help you and point out the different species. On-board lectures will help you to gain knowledge of the birdlife. We’ve collected the following bird watching tips to help get you started.

Dress for Success

Your bird watching holiday is going to be a largely sedentary activity, so make sure you dress warm enough to combat the cold of the Polar Regions. Having to do jumping jacks to warm yourself tends to scare birds away (except for certain species of penguins who will find you fascinating). Dress in layers so you can regulate your temperature. At the same time, you’re also likely to be exposed to a lot of sun. So pack both sunglasses and sunscreen, and maybe a hat with a wide enough brim to protect your ears and neck if your cold-weather clothing isn’t already doing the job.

Binoculars for bird watching

Experts are all going to have their own opinions when it comes to equipment. If you stick with your bird watching you’ll get the chance to try out different types of gear in order to finally settle on which pieces best suit you.

There are two big factors to consider in the quality of image in binoculars – the magnification (how close the bird will appear – the higher the number the closer they’ll appear) and the quality of the image. It’s a bit of a balancing act between the two at the more affordable end of binoculars. However, generally speaking, the extra magnification isn’t necessarily worth the loss of quality of the image (the grinding of the higher magnification lenses isn’t particularly great at lower price levels).

As for pocket binoculars, they’re usually not that great a quality optics-wise. If you’re worried about how much weight you’ll be carrying you can get standard-sized binoculars (around 7 X 32mm or 8X32) that aren’t all that much bigger than pocket binos, but give a much better view.

Identification of birds

So now that you can see the birds you’re probably going to want to know what they are. The Sibley Guide is generally considered the king of guidebooks. The National Geographic’s Field Guides are also worth investigating. Know the habitats. If you know that a certain kind of bird nests, for example, within rocky cliff crevices then you’ll have a much easier time making a spotting. Also, watch the bird for a while. Don’t be in a rush to flip through your guidebook’s pages in order to nail that identification. After all, the goal of bird watching is to enjoy the bird itself. Besides, the more you watch the bird, the more points you’ll pick up that you can use for picking it out in your guide.

Here are the general steps you take for identification:

Song – Songs and calls are a great way to identify a particular species of bird. Watch the bills in particular to make sure the song you’re hearing is coming from the bird you’re actually watching.
Size and Shape – How big is the bird? Set some general item – like a football – as your mental comparison tool, and then compare all birds to that. Or become really familiar with one kind of bird and then measure all other birds against it. Also, what is the bird’s general configuration? Does it generally resemble a gull, a duck, or something smaller like a robin?
Faces – Now it’s time to zoom in and get more specific. Are there any distinctive patches of colour around the eyes? Does it have any sort of display feathering off the top of its head? Does it have a coloured cap or a band of colour around the nape of the neck? How about the bill – what colour is it? Is it blunt or long? Straight or curved?
Wings and Tails – Are the wings short and stubby (like penguins) or are they built to soar with long wide wings that don’t flap very often? Do the wings have the same colour as the back and underbelly? Do they have their own patches of colour? How about the tail – short or long? Are there streamers (extra-long middle tail feathers)?
Feet – Webbed? Talons? How far forward or back on the body are they located? Short or long? Are there backward-facing toes?
Flight and Movement – In flight, do the wings beat rapidly or does it soar for long periods of time? Does it have an easy time taking off from land or does it prefer to get in the water first so it has a long “runway” for take-off? If it’s a penguin does it hop or waddle? Does it like to slide along the ice on its belly?
Eating Habits – What does the bird eat? How does it hunt or feed? Does it capture its own food or does it harass other birds to steal theirs?
Area – Many of the birds you’ll see on our cruises are pelagic, meaning that they live most of their lives at sea. When you spot them on land chances are that they are in their mating season. So what kind of area are they nesting in? Do they build actual nests (if they do, what materials are they using?) or do they just use scrapes in the ground? Are both parents present or is one off hunting?

Breeding Birds of Antarctica

The variety of birds available for bird watching depend on where in Antarctica you are and at what time of year. While we can’t promise you’ll see them all, here are a couple of lists naming the birds where Oceanwide Expeditions operate:

Birds of South Georgia

Antarctic Prion
Antarctic Tern
Black-bellied Storm Petrel
Black-browed Albatross
Blue Petrel
Chinstrap Penguin
Common Diving Petrel
Fairy Prion
Gentoo Penguin
Grey-backed Storm Petrel
Grey-headed Albatross
Kelp Gull
King Penguin
Light Mantled Albatross
Macaroni Penguin
Pale-faced Sheatbill
Snow Petrel
South Georgia Diving Petrel
South Georgia Pintail
South Georgia Pipit
South Georgia Shag
Sub-Antarctic (Brown) Skua
Wandering Albatross
White-chinned Petrel
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel

Picture by Meike Sjoer

Birds of the Falkland Islands

Barn Owl
Black-browed Albatross
Black-chinned siskin
Black-crowned Night Heron
Blackish Cinclodes (Tussack Bird)
Blackish Oystercatcher
Black-necked Swan
Black-throated Finch/Canary-winged Finch
Brown-hooded Gull
Chilean Swallow
Chiloe Wigion
Cinnamon Teal
Cobb's Wren
Common Diving Petrel
Coscoroba Swan
Crested Caracara
Crested Duck
Dark-faced ground tyrant
Dolphin Gull
Fairy Prion
Falkland Flightless Steamer Duck
Falkland Grass Wren
Falkland Pipit
Falkland Thrush
Flying Steamer Duck
Great Shearwater
Grey-backed Storm Petrel
House Sparrow
Imperial (Blue Eyed) Shag
Kelp Goose
Kelp Gull
King Penguin
Long-tailed Meadow Lark
Macaroni Penguin
Magellanic Oystercatcher
Magellanic Snipe
Peregrine Falcon
Red-backed Hawk/Variable Hawk
Rock Shag
Rockhopper Penguin
Ruddy-headed Goose
Rufous-chested Dotterel
Short-eared Owl
Silver Teal
Silvery Grebe
Slender-billed Prion
Sooty Shearwater
South American Tern
Southern Giant Petrel
Specled Teal
Striated Caracara
Sub-Antarctic (Brown) Skua
Turkey Vulture
Two-banded Plover
Upland Goose
White-chinned Petrel
White-tufted Grebe
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
Yellow-billed pintail

Birds Tristan da Cunha group of Islands

Antarctic Prion
Antarctic Tern
Arctic Tern
Atlantic Petrel
Barn Swallow
Black-bellied Storm Petrel
Black-browed Albatross
Broad-billed Prion
Brown Noddy
Brown or Southern Skua
Cape Petrel
Cattle Egret
Cocoi Heron
Common Diving Petrel
Common Greenshank
Common Nighthawk
Common Ringed Plover
Cory's Shearwater
Eastern Kingbird
Franklin's Gull
Gough Island Finch
Great Egret
Great Shearwater
Great-winged Petrel
Grey Petrel
Grey Phalarope/Red Phalarope
Grey-backed Storm Petrel
Grey-headed Albatross
Inaccessible Rail
Kelp Gull
Kerguelen Petrel
Leach's Storm Petrel
Light-mantled Albatross
Little Blue Heron
Little Shearwater
Long-tailed Jaeger
Macaroni Penguin
Nightingale Island Finch
Northern Giant Petrel
Paint-billed Crake
Parasitic Jaeger/Arctic Skua
Pectoral Sandpiper
Purple Gallinule
Red-gartered Coot
Rockhopper Penguin
Royal Albatross
Ruddy Turnstone
Rufous-chested Dotterel
Sanderling
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Shy Albatross
Slender-billed Prion
Snowy Egret
Snowy Sheathbill
Soft-plumaged Petrel
Solitary Sandpiper
Sooty Albatross
Sooty Shearwater
Southern Fulmar
Southern Giant Petrel
Speckled Teal
Spotted Sandpiper
Striated Heron
Tristan da Cunha Moorhen
Tristan da Cunha Thrush
Upland Sandpiper
Wandering Albatross
Whimbrel
White-bellied Storm Petrel
White-chinned Petrel
White-faced Storm Petrel
White-rumped Sandpiper
Wilkins's Finch
Willow Warbler
Wilson's Storm Petrel
Yellow-nosed Albatross

Ascension Island Birds

Allen's Gallinule
Antarctic Tern
Ascension Frigatebird
Band-rumped Storm Petrel
Black Noddy
Brown Booby
Brown Noddy
Common Myna
Common Swift
Common Waxbill
Lesser Noddy
Little Shearwater
Masked Booby
Northern House Martin
Parasitic Jaeger/Arctic Skua
Purple Gallinule
Red-billed Tropicbird
Red-footed Booby
Red-necked Francolin
Ruddy Turnstone
Sooty Tern
White Tern
White-tailed Tropicbird
Yellow Canary

Birds of Greenland

Arctic Redpoll
Arctic Skua
Arctic Tern
Barn Swallow
Barnacle Goose
Black Guillemot
Brent Goose
Brunnich’s Guillemot
Common Eider
Common Guillemot
Common Gull
Common Scoter
Common Snipe
Dunlin
Eurasian Oystercatcher
European Shag
European Storm Petrel
Glaucous Gull
Golden Plover
Great black-backed Gull
Great Cormorant
Great Northern Diver
Great Skua
Grey Phalarope
Greylag Goose
Gyrfalcon
Harlequin Duck
Herring Gull
Ivory Gull
King eider
Kittiwake
Lesser black-backed Gull
Little Auk
Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Skua
Manx Shearwater
Meadow Pipit
Merlin
Northern Fulmar
Peregrine
Pink-footed Goose
Pomarine Skua
Puffin
Purple Sandpiper
Raven
Red Knot
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-necked Phalarope
Redpoll
Red-throated diver
Redwing
Ringed Plover
Rock Pipit
Rock Ptarmigan
Ross’ Gull
Ruddy Turnstone
Sabine’s Gull
Sanderling
Skylark
Snow Bunting
Snowy Owl
Starling
Wheatear
Whimbrel
White Wagtail
White-fronted Goose
White-tailed Eagle
Whooper Swan
Wren

Birds of Svalbard and Franz Joseph Land

Arctic Skua
Arctic Tern
Barn Swallow
Barnacle Goose
Bean Goose
Black Guillemot
Black Scooter
Blackbird
Black-headed Gull
Brambling
Brent Goose
Brunnich’s Guillemot
Common Eider
Common Goldeneye
Common Guillemot
Common Redshank
Common/Mew Gull
Dunlin
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Eurasian Teal
Eurasian Wigeon
European Golden Plover
Fieldfare
Glaucous Gull
Great black-backed Gull
Great Northern Diver
Great Skua
Grey Phalarope
Greylag Goose
Gyrfalcon
Herring Gull
Iceland gull
Ivory Gull
King Eider
Kittiwake
Lapland longspur
Lesser black-backed Gull
Little Auk
Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Skua
Mallard
Meadow Pipit
Northern Fulmar
Northern Gannet
Northern Pintail
Pectoral Sandpiper
Pink-footed Goose
Pomarine Skua
Puffin
Purple Sandpiper
Red Knot
Red-necked Phalarope
Redpoll
Red-throated diver
Redwing
Ringed Plover
Rock Ptarmigan
Ross’ Gull
Ruddy Turnstone
Sabine’s Gull
Sanderling
Snow Bunting
Snow Goose
Steller's Eider
Tufted Duck
Wheatear
Whimbrel
White Wagtail
White-fronted Goose
Whopper Swan

Bird photography tips

Except for some species of curious penguins you’re going to need a long lens for your camera. You’re also going to want a camera that has a fast focus system (if you’re not handling the focus manually). As you get more professional you might want to concern yourself with additional considerations like shutter speed and the frames per second speed – but for beginners the lens length and the focus are good first steps.

If you don’t want to break the bank you can try a zoom lens in the 80-400mm range. These aren’t going to provide images as crisp as fixed-length lenses, but it allows you to resize your image without having to swap lenses out, lets you carry less equipment, and will cost less.

At these longer lens lengths stabilisation is going to become an issue – the images can blur from the motion caused by you handholding the camera. So you might want to invest in a tripod, or at least a monopod.

In terms of shutter speed, if you’re just snapping pictures of the birds on the ground or the water then you should be fine with regular speeds. However if you intend to try to get some shots of the birds in flight then you’re going to want to ramp your camera’s shutter speeds up. Try speeds anywhere from 1/800 to 1/1600 in order to reduce motion blur.

At the very least, the general rule of thumb is to have your shutter speed set to at least match your lens length. So if you’re using a lens at 450mm, then set your shutter speed for 1/450 as well.

RAW photographs always provides a better image than shooting .jpg frames, but you’ll have to remember to bring along lots of extra storage disks or cards, and be prepared to do some extra image post processing at home.

Some birds are fairly small and hard to judge in terms of whether or not you have them in focus. In this case try to set your focus on the eye closest to you. This way, even if other parts of the bird like the tail are slightly blurred then the most captivating part – the face – will still be clear.

Try to have the sun at your back. If the light is coming past the bird into your lens chances are it will wash the bird out.

Above all else, practice! Birds can be tricky little subjects to capture, so the better you know your gear before you join your cruise the better chance you’ll have at taking home some pictures you can be proud of. Head out around your neighbourhood (early morning and late afternoon are the best times) and get some experience snapping frames of the local bird life.

What Bird Watching Tours Should I Take?

Although many birds can be seen on all of our Polar voyages some voyages and destinations have more birds to offer than others. For the keen birders and bird enthusiasts special itineraries or birding groups are sometimes arranged to offer a better bird-watching experience. Enjoy birding together with fellow birders and visit remote places with rare bird-species such as South Georgia where the Wandering Albatross breeds, the Weddell Sea and Ross Sea with Emperor Penguin rookeries or Spitsbergen with the elusive Ivory Gull.