Everything you need for backyard bird-watching
From a feeder to a field guide

1. Brome Squirrel Buster Standard ($43)
Bring the birds to your backyard with this best-selling squirrel-proof feeder. A squirrel's weight will lower a shroud, blocking access to the seeds. Brome offers several versions, including a finch feeder and one for suet. Buy it at Amazon.
2. Peterson Field Guide to Birds ($26)
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Roger Tory Peterson's field guide to the birds of North America deserves a spot on your windowsill. Range maps help simplify identification, and the "sharp and detailed" illustrations point to species' distinguishing features. Buy it at Amazon.
3. Nikon Prostaff 3S ($120)
High-end binoculars often cost more than $2,000, but you can find a great pair for less than $200. Nikon's lightweight 8x42 binoculars "blew reviewers away," offering unmatched clarity, brightness, and color rendition in this price range. They're also fog- and waterproof. Buy it at Amazon.
4. Field Notes Original Kraft Notebook ($10 for 3)
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You'll want a logbook for recording bird sightings, and Field Notes' classic memo book offers "the best combination of paper quality, durability, style, and ruling options that will actually fit in your pocket," writes Kevin Purdy at The Wirecutter. Buy it at Amazon.
5. Swarovski Optik dG ($2,310)
To be free of binoculars, a field guide, and a camera, consider investing in this new high-tech monocular. It sends photos of the birds you spot to Cornell University's Merlin Bird ID app for automatic identification and logging. Buy it at Swarovski Optik.
Editor's note: Every week The Week's editors survey product reviews and articles in websites, newspapers, and magazines, to find cool and useful new items we think you'll like. We're now making it easier to purchase these selections through affiliate partnerships with certain retailers. The Week may get a share of the revenue from these purchases.
-
Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly Tuttle
Feature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!
Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
-
Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitions
Feature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American cities
Under the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctions
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?
today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month