Subramania Bharati was a great poet. He remains great even after a century because he could condense a lifetime of learning into few lines in his poem. One such poem is "song for a child" (பாப்பாப் பாட்டு) where he describes the art of living to a child. Among many things in life, he singles out bird watching for fun- "வன்னப் பறவைகளைக் கண்டு- நீ மனதில் மகிழ்ச்சி கொள்ளு பாப்பா” Looking at the colorful birds around –you Have all joy ever in your mind my child! Bird watchers all around the world would agree with Bharati because they have experienced the joy of watching the birds. Bird watching is a popular hobby for many people in USA . It is also gaining popularity in India. The term "bird watcher" generally means a beginner and the "birder" means an advanced bird watcher. It is humorously said, " if you see birds while travelling you're a bird watcher and if you travel to see birds you're a birder". Another definition- "a bird watcher can identify birds by their looks and a birder can do that by their sound (simply by listening to their songs and calls)". In this album, I'll address the simple equipment and resources needed for bird watching in the backyard and also mention some of the guide books and websites for USA and India. I will show few pictures of common birds I see in my backyard without getting into details. The essential equipment and resources for backyard bird watching are: 1. Feeding station (pole and hooks for feeders) 2. Bird feeders (song bird feeders, suet cages, humming bird feeders) 3. Water tray 4. Torpedo hardware to prevent squirrels climbing up the feeders 5. Bird seed 6. In USA, a visual pocket guide for birds pertaining to the particular state 7. A field guide for details of the birds ( In USA, Peterson's field guide is a classic) 8. Cornell Lab website for more details on birds, their calls and songs 9. Cell phone app (several available. I use Audubon app) 10. A binocular. I have a few e.g. Bushnell (10x50). Normally the feeding station for song birds will be far from the house and a binocular is useful to see the birds. If we get closer, they will fly away. Humming birds are not so afraid of humans and so their feeders can be closer to the house. Binocular is not a necessity. 10. A camera for taking photo (10X zoom, not higher) and video. A zoom camera is useful for taking close up shots but too high a zoom will affect the quality of pictures due to shaking sensitivity. Tripods are needed under those circumstances. I use a feeder called Squirrel buster" for song birds. It has a locking mechanism to prevent heavy birds such as grackles and squirrels accessing the bird seed. The door will shut by their own weight if they try to sit on the feeder ring. Bird seed comes in bags of 20 and 40 lb. Stores like Costco, Target, Shop-rite, Walmart carry them. For humming bird, a feeder that looks like a tubular flower with red color is used. It is available in many stores such as Walmart. The nectar can be prepared at home by making 20% sugar solution (one part sugar to four parts hot water). Suet cage is available in all stores mentioned above. Woodpeckers prefer suet cakes which contain lots of fat. Shop rite and local grocery stores will carry them. Water tray usually comes with feeding stations. If not it can be purchased separately. Though there are hundreds of bird species, you will only get few in your backyard. The pocket guide gives pictures of 150-200 for easy identification. The song birds that visit my backyard are: several variety of sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Grey Catbird, American Goldfinch, Tufted Titmouse, American Robin, Common Grackle, European Starling, Mourning Dove, Red winged black bird, House Finch and House Wren. Other birds- Geese, Red bellied Hawk, Cooper Hawk and Great Blue Heron Humming birds- Ruby throated humming bird . They fly from Mexico to USA during migratory season by crossing the Gulf of Mexico in a single flight. They arrive New Jersey at the end of April and returns to Mexico in September. Exact date of arrival is forecast by experts in the field by carefully monitoring its first arrival in Louisiana and its speed and migratory path. Websites carry the info. These birds are my favorites. An average weight of the bird is 4 gm. It can fly normal and backwards too. It beats its wings at 70 beats /sec and produces the hum sound. Its heart beats at 1200 beats/min. It hovers in air. If it gets angry, it can hit you at 50 mph speed. if it wants to impress the mate, it can fly even faster. It can recognize you. It is a miraculous bird! India does not have humming birds. Sun bird in India comes close to a humming bird but it is much bigger in size and features are different. Woodpeckers- Downy woodpecker, Red bellied woodpecker For India several books on birds are available. I use the following- 1. The book of Indian Birds- Salim Ali, 13th edition, Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford Press, 2012 ( a classic) 2. Birds of Tamilnadu, Ratnam, Manivasagar Pathippakam, 2004 ( In English and Tamil). Dr Ratnam is my friend. He lives in Coimbatore. His books are the first books on birds of Tamilnadu, written in the style of Salim Ali, the father of ornithology in India. Bird watching requires less money and more time. The investment in bird watching will beat the returns of wall street any day. It's lot of fun. Philosophically it unites the world. If you identify a bird in a new place, the place is no longer new to you. Birds (of the same region) follow the Tamil adage (யாதும் ஊரே! யாவரும் கேளிர்)- "Every town our home town , every man, a kinsman". After bird watching in your backyard, you can go to the so called "preserves, woods" in your area. Bird clubs (local chapter of National Audubon Society) will have the listing of such places. There are also wild life refuges shown in a map in the pocket naturalist guide for each state. You can see water birds and sometimes, rare migratory birds such as snowy owls in these refuges. By doing all these, you become a birder. It is a promotion accompanied by a big raise in happiness!