Category Archives: Bird Conservation

The NOCS Field Tube 10X32 Monocular (FSB Equipment Review)

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I’m excited this week to offer our very first equipment review of a Nocs Provisions product: The Field Tube 10X32 monocular. This is the very first monocular that I’ve ever used, and I was so excited that I tore it out of the packaging and immediately set about field testing it. Before I offer my thoughts, however, I want to say a bit about Nocs.

Everything about this smaller optics company compels me to like them. For one, they take pains to send their products in sustainable packaging—a definite plus for a birder wanting to protect birds and our environment. They are a 1% for the Planet member and a Climate Neutral certified brand. To quote their PR info, “At its core, the company believes that the more we observe and understand how intricate and delicate our planet’s ecosystems are, the more motivated we are to protect them.”

The 8X32 Field Tube shown in Banana Slug (Yellow). This version also comes in Corsican (Blue), Coral (Red), and Desolation (Black). The 10X32s I tested are offered in Ponderosa (Green), Paydirt (Brown), and Oxblood (Maroon). Order by clicking here or on the image above.

Nocs, though, also offers products with super cool designs. The rubber “wave grip” coating of the Field Tube not only offers a great gripping surface, it looks way bitchin’ compared to the standard black exteriors offered by most other manufacturers. Not only that, Nocs products are offered in different colors. Need a pair of binoculars to match your powder blue tux for the Birding Academy Awards? Perhaps something to blend in with your Ferrari while visiting Tuscany? Nocs has got you covered.

But let’s get to the main point, the Field Tube 10X32 monocular itself. First let me say that for birders, this is a “next item” purchase. It’s not intended to replace your binoculars. Rather, it is designed for situations where a slim profile and super light weight are of premium concerns. With a length of only five inches and weight of half a pound—or about a third of traditional binoculars—the Field Tube easily fits into a front pocket and can barely be felt hanging around your neck. This makes it perfect for backpacking, travel, and paddle-boarding. But I can envision other ideal scenarios for this equipment, too. For instance, imagine . . .

The Field Tube is so small and light that you can take it virtually anywhere without noticing it. We call this BIRD PREPARED!

You are in an expensive Tokyo restaurant trying to close a deal with a major Japanese tech company. Suddenly, an Azure-winged Magpie lands in a tree outside the window. You do not want to offend the company president sitting across from you, but . . . as soon as he gets up to use the restroom, you whip out the Field Tube from your front pocket for a delightful look at this long-hoped-for life bird. Or . . .

You’re waiting for your perfect big wave set at Mavericks near Half Moon Bay and an intriguing small black bird lands in the water. Unfortunately, it is too far away to ID with the naked eye. BUT, you just happen to have your Nocs Field Tube stuffed inside the neck of your neoprene wetsuit and, focusing in on the bird, you discover it is a Long-billed Murrelet, just flying in from Siberia! Not only is it a life bird, it allows you to break the ABA Big Year record for surfers, earning you glory, fat promotional contracts, and a sponsorship to bird and surf the world!

You can see where I’m going with this, and I’m sure you can come up with other equally realistic scenarios where you’ll want this item close by.

The Field Tube comes with a handy wrist strap, soft protective carrying bag, and lens cloth—all packed in 100% sustainable recyclable packaging.

A couple of things I especially like about Nocs products is that they come with solid rubber stoppers that snugly pop in over the objective lenses. It’s amazing how even high-end manufacturers have not solved the problem of keeping the objective lens covers firmly in place. I also really like the strap systems for Nocs products. In fact, when you order, I recommend purchasing the woven strap versions as they are more comfortable and, again, look cool.

But back to the Field Tube, it features a fairly close (9-10 feet) minimum focal length and is waterproof down to three feet deep for up to thirty minutes, making it perfect for birders, butterfly watchers, and surfers. As you would expect, Nocs uses fully coated lenses and prisms, and has a lifetime warranty. I found light transmission quite good in these despite the relatively small 32 mm objective lens.

Just for fun, I decided to see if I could get a digiscope photo through my Field Tube. Not bad for my first effort, if I do say so myself. I mean, you can easily see both the Harpy Eagle and Imperial Woodpecker in the photo, right?

At a price of $129.95, you wouldn’t expect perfection from the Field Tube, and I did notice a couple of things that could use improvement. While the focus is quite sharp at close and medium ranges, it gets a bit softer at distance. I’d also like to see fewer turns of the knob required to bring the focus from close to far distance. However, most people will find these minor issues acceptable trade-offs for the incredibly small profile and convenience the Field Tube offers.

Nocs has recently unveiled a monocular upgrade called the Zero Tube which is even smaller and lighter than the Field Tube, and uses a different focusing mechanism. Hopefully, I’ll get to test that one in the future. Next up, though, will be my review of the Nocs Pro Issue 10X42 binoculars, which I am taking to Costa Rica on my trip with Braden next week. My initial impressions of the Pro Issues are extremely positive and I look forward to giving them a full tropical workout. Stay tuned!

The Social Lives of Birds (Book Review)

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If you’re enjoying FatherSonBirding, why not take the leap and subscribe by filling out the box below and to the right? We will never share your information. Also, a reminder that all content on FSB is fully protected under copyright law. Please share this post—but don’t use it for other purposes without permission.

With single-digit temperatures in Montana this week, it is still very much book reading season, a time when all birders can—and should—beef up our birding resumés by tapping into the vast wealth of research and experience of the global birding and scientific communities. This past week, I delved into a topic that intrigues most birders by picking up Joan E. Strassmann’s The Social Lives of Birds: Flocks, Communes, and Families (Tarcher, 2025).

Joan Strassmann’s The Social Lives of Birds is packed with delightful revelations for beginning and experienced birders alike. (Click on the cover for ordering info.)

A well-regarded professor and scientist, Strassmann has created a comprehensive resource that introduces readers to almost every aspect of bird society. She begins by answering the simple question “Are Birds Social?” (You can probably guess the answer to that!) Then, chapter by chapter, she explores topics that fascinate beginning birders as much as they do veteran scientists. These include flocking behavior, mixed-species flocks, the predilection of many birds to roost and/or nest in colonies, the pros and cons of nesting and/or roosting together, lekking behavior, and more.

The author devotes an entire chapter to the fascinating and intriguing world of seabird colonies, such as those of one of the world’s most popular birds, the Blue-footed Booby.

I learned something fascinating with each chapter. For instance, I was first drawn to the book because the cover showed a line of six Long-tailed Tits packed tightly together on a branch. I had had the pleasure of observing these birds in the Netherlands (see our post Layover Birding in Amsterdam), Japan (see our post Birding Japan: Kyoto), and Spain (see our post Birding Barcelona, Part 1: The Urban Core), but had no idea that they lived and foraged in stable flocks that are often built around a main breeding pair and its offspring. In her book, Strassmann recounts a study that showed that on chilly nights, the tits nestle tightly together to stay warm, and that often it is the lowest birds on the “tit totem pole” that have to endure the chillier end positions. This is no trivial matter since the birds lose about 9 percent of their total body mass in a single, chilly night.

After observing Long-tailed Tits in Europe and Asia, I was fascinated to learn more details of their highly social behavior in The Social Lives of Birds.

Similar revelations emerge with every chapter, examining birds from a wide variety of terrestrial and aquatic habitats. My favorite chapter was the last, “Supersocial Groups: Birds That Are Always Together.” That’s probably because it featured one of my favorite birds, the Acorn Woodpecker (see our post College Search Birding in California), and three other species I was fascinated to learn more about: White-winged Choughs, Sociable Weavers, and a bird Braden and I are always delighted to see, Pinyon Jays. Regarding the latter, Braden and I have seen Pinyon Jays only a handful of times here in Montana, and I had wondered why they aren’t more common. Strassmann explains that the birds need extremely large territories to guarantee a dependable food supply. Unfortunately, their main food source, the pinyon pine, has suffered extreme losses from clearing for agriculture and other reasons. Warmer temperatures driven by climate change have also impacted the production of pinyon pine seeds, leading to large-scale die-offs of these beautiful, dynamic, gregarious birds.

Strassmann devotes much of the final chapter on one of Braden’s and my favorite birds, Pinyon Jays, shown here in a cemetery in Helena, Montana.

The Social Lives of Birds struggles a bit over whether it wants to be a comprehensive resource or an engaging narrative in the vein of the recently reviewed The Great Auk or A World on the Wing. The author mentions her personal connections to many of the topics, but I found these more distracting than engaging. Still, that will not prevent readers from enjoying the book and harvesting a wealth of information—knowledge that will help you look at birds with greater understanding and appreciation each time you head out to bird.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

A World on the Wing (Book Review)

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With fewer birds around, winter is an excellent chance to catch up on bird-related reading, both for enjoyment and education. I find this a perfect time to check out both new bird-related titles, and older books that I have somehow overlooked. Speaking of the latter, during the December holiday my father-in-law handed me Scott Weidensaul’s remarkable 2021 release, A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds (W. W. Norton). I’m so glad that he did!

An easy reading style, engaging storytelling, and fascinating information render A WORLD ON THE WING one of a handful of required reading books for birders. (Click on the image for ordering information.)

In A World on the Wing, Weidensaul manages to take an overwhelming body of global information about bird migration and distill it into a series of stories that give the reader a captivating picture of what’s going on out there. The book’s first chapter hooked me immediately with the author’s visit to one of the world’s most vital shorebird stopover sites—and one I knew almost nothing about—the mudflats surrounding the Yellow Sea. These mudflats are nothing less than the linchpin to the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), a vast, complicated series of routes used by millions of birds migrating from the Southern Hemisphere to breeding grounds in the far north. According to an online UNESCO article, about ten percent of all migrating birds on the EAAF depend on the Yellow Sea stopover area. They include two of the planet’s rarest shorebirds, the “Spoonie”, or Spoon-billed Sandpiper, with a population estimate of about 500 or fewer, and Nordman’s Greenshank with fewer than 2,000 individuals. Beyond that, the area provides critical support to 400 other bird species, including 45 considered threatened.

My 2023 visit to Japan highlighted how extensively crucial habitats for migrating birds have been gobbled up and polluted by development across the globe.
These two Little Ringed Plovers were the only shorebirds I saw on this beach visit to Kanazawa, Japan. I suspect severe habitat degratdation had at least something to do with it.

This first chapter sets the tone for a global, diverse journey through myriad aspects of bird migration. One chapter focuses on the incredible physiological adaptations of migrating birds, including their abilities to sleep on the wing, reduce or increase the size of internal organs to optimize weight and function, and navigate by taking advantage of quantum physics. Other chapters focus on species or groups of migrating birds across the globe. Some of these birds, such as the Kirtland’s Warbler and Snowy Owl, will be familiar to many readers while others, such as Bar-tailed Godwits and Amur Falcons, are less so. Every chapter, though, is filled not only with revelations, but personal anecdotes and experiences that make the stories come alive.

While many key stopover sites have been protected in North America, our own migrating bird numbers continue to plummet. Shorebird species have been especially hard-hit. (Shown here: Dunlins at Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon.)

Taken as a whole, the book serves as an impassioned plea to protect migratory birds and, well, just do things better on this planet. The crucial mudflats of the Yellow Sea, for instance, are critically imperiled by industrial development, pollution, and interruption of sediment flow caused by thousands of dams across China’s rivers. It’s not that the loss of these mudflats would put a dent in bird populations. It could wipe them out. The author quotes one scientist as saying, “There is no more buffer. There is no more ‘somewhere else’ for these migrants.” The threats to migrating birds are multiple and widespread, varying only in their particulars. In some places, pesticides take terrible tolls. In other places, it’s illegal hunting for local culinary specialties. Almost everywhere, habitat loss and climate change loom large.

In Cyprus, Italy, France, and other countries, millions of migrating songbirds are needlessly and illegally slaughtered to satisfy traditional and/or eccentric culinary tastes. According to an Audubon article, at least 157 species are caught, including 90 species of conservation concern. (Shown here: European Robin.)

Somehow, the author manages to balance these threats with the overarching wonder of bird migration and leaves the reader feeling hopeful—or at least determined—along with being much better informed. This balance, along with the engaging writing style and storytelling make this one of a handful of bird-related books that I consider required reading for anyone interested in birds and conservation.

Order this book at your local independent bookstore!

Birding 2025: It’s a Wrap

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As always, we encourage you to share and link to this post. We absolutely do not give permission to use it to train AI models or for other purposes without permission. Happy New Year, Everyone!

As 2025 rapidly winds up, Braden and I want to thank you for your continuing interest in FatherSonBirding and all that you do for birds. We can’t believe that it’s been almost EIGHT YEARS since we published our very first post, A Quest for Snowy Owls! We certainly wouldn’t have kept at it without your interest and support.

We’re thrilled to report that 2025 has been FSB’s biggest year yet. We published a record 49 posts this year, including our 250th post, “Binoculars and Scopes for the Happy Holiday Birder”. Speaking of that, we also launched FSB equipment reviews—articles we do NOT get paid for, but which have attracted a ton of viewer interest.

FSB received a record 20,000 views in 2025, greatly helped by our equipment and travel reviews!

And speaking of viewers, our site attracted 20,000 views this year, shattering last year’s record of 14,000—with the caveat that about a thousand of those views were likely from AI bots stealing our content without permission (Grrrr…). Still, the vast majority of those extra visitors were legitimate—and from an astounding variety of places. More than 15,000 viewers from 104 countries visited our site this year! Huge gracias, arigatos, mercis, and many more thank yous to our international visitors!

By now, we can hear you pleading, “But please, Sneed and Braden, tell us your Top 5 most popular posts!” Astoundingly, four of our five top posts were equipment review posts:

1) Vortex Triumph 10X42 Binoculars: Entry Level Excellence with 1,425 views. (View post here!)

2) Nikon Monarch HG Binoculars: FSB’s First Equipment Review with 950 views (View post here!)

3) Vortex Razor HD 13-39X56 spotting scope with Mountain Pass tripod: A Perfect Travel Combo? With 580 views (View post here!)

4) Birding Barcelona, Part 1: The Urban Core with 510 views (View post here!)

5) Vortex Viper HD Binoculars (Equipment Review, and/or Texas 2025 Part 2-½) with 480 views (View post here!)

Our 2024 blog about birding downtown Barcelona snuck into the Top 5 for 2025—with several of our Japan and Costa Rica posts close behind!

The numbers reveal some clear trends: with rare exceptions, our most popular posts have been our equipment reviews and reports from travel destinations. Our posts from Japan, Spain, Colombia, Mexico, and Costa Rica have been especially popular—as have posts about very birdy domestic locales such as Texas and San Diego. Our book reviews also have done well, but a decline in America’s literacy rate is clearly evident, as our statistics reveal that many more viewers are interested in buying gear than in reading books.

On a personal level, Braden and I are grateful for the many wonderful birding experiences we got to share, both together and separately. Braden was fortunate to visit both Mexico and Costa Rica in 2025 as well as take an epic cross-continent trip from Maine to Montana following his graduation from the University of Maine. He also birded the heck out of Arizona while on his way to his current job in California, where he’s racking up all kinds of new birding experiences.

As for Sneed, I kicked off the year with a trip to Victoria, Canada, thanks to my wife, Amy—and, honestly, the year never seemed to slow down. As soon as we returned, my buddy Roger Kohn invited me on an epic last-minute trip to Colombia. There followed journeys to Texas, Maine, eastern Montana, California (twice!), and most recently, Georgia and Oregon. Most of the latter were not planned as birding trips, but you won’t be surprised to learn that we saw a ton ‘o birds along the way.

Thanks in great part to trips to California with my friend Scott and . . .
an epic trip to Colombia with mi amigo Roger, I “accidentally” shattered my world one-year species count record.

You also won’t be surprised to learn that, quite unintentionally, Braden and I shattered most of our own birding records. Braden finished out his birding year with a remarkable 867 species while I smashed my own previous record with 551 species!

One of the low points for the year was having to say goodbye to our wonderful “birding dog” Lola. She left us far too soon and we still miss her terribly. (See this post.)

Besides finding birds, Lola proved adept at finding marine mammals such as this whale. We miss you Lola!

Moving forward, we hope to continue to publish a wide variety of posts for your reading pleasure, including those about everyday birding experiences that are at the heart of a birder’s joy and wonder. Just a few adventures that we have lined up for 2026 include trips to Costa Rica and Germany, along with visits to birding festivals in Colorado, Arizona, and Montana. Meanwhile, it is our sincerest wish that the next year brings you all good things, including many incredible birding experiences and a brighter outlook for birders, birds, and the planet we all share.

For some ideas about how to help birds this coming year, please visit our last post, Giving Back to Birds—with Great Breaking News! As always, if you would like to help support FatherSonBirding, consider buying new copies of some of Sneed’s books by clicking on the book jackets to the right.

Giving Back to Birds—with Great Breaking News! (FSB Holiday Shopping Guide, Part 3)

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Holiday Joy! Back in August, we alerted FSB readers to Houston Audubon’s effort to buy a critical piece of land for their globally-important Bolivar Flats refuge. (See this post!) This is a refuge Braden and I have visited and is a vital habitat and staging area for hundreds of thousands of birds annually. When a developer planned to build a housing development smack in the middle of it, Houston Audubon negotiated an option to buy and protect the property. The problem? A $3 million price tag! We were skeptical that it could be done, but guess what? GUESS WHAT??? Thanks to donations by 1,127 donors from 47 states and 8 different countries, Houston Audubon achieved its goal! Donations included a huge check from Roku CEO/Founder Anthony Wood and his wife Susan. (I knew I loved Roku for a reason!) Everyone who donated—and those who didn’t—should be immensely pleased, because this is not only a crucial win for birds, it is a win for all of us. It also is the perfect lead into today’s blog topic—End-of-the-Year giving for birds!

Especially near the end of the year, when tax deadlines are looming, we know that a lot of you are asking yourselves, “What can I do to help birds?” We all know that birds are in big trouble, but it can feel overwhelming to figure out just how to spend our donation dollars most effectively. Today, in order to make your lives a bit easier, we are pleased to present a short list of Braden’s and my favorite groups that are helping birds, and yes, we have donated to every one of them. To find out more, just click on the underlined names below. Then, please, please break out that credit or debit card! We truly are at a global crossroads in the fight to save birds, and we guarantee that every dollar you spend will make you feel just a little bit better. While you’re at it, you might want to join your local Audubon chapter and/or the American Birding Association to help connect you to other birds, share information, and expand the love of birds!

Groups Working Internationally

Cornell Lab of Ornithology—the maker of eBird and Merlin makes huge investments in science and education to raise awareness of birds and promote conservation.

Bird Life International—Braden’s favorite group works on the entire international spectrum of bird threats, and also works with local communities to help protect birds and habitats. (Andean Cock-of-the-rock photo courtesy of Roger Kohn!)

Union of Concerned Scientists—one of Sneed’s favorite groups, we make monthly contributions to this group working to fight rampant disinformation and promote rational, scientific solutions to a host of environmental problems facing us.

Groups Focused Mainly on North America

Audubon—still the biggest name in birding, Audubon promotes bird conservation and education, and works on legislation to protect birds. (Note: the national, state, and local chapters are all independent entities. Donations to national do not trickle down, so consider donating to all three.)

Owl Research Institute—one of the few groups focused on one of the world’s most charismatic groups of birds, ORI has been collecting data on owls for more than thirty years, sharing it with many different entities to shape science and conservation priorities. They especially work to decipher the causes behind the decline of many owl populations—including those of this Short-eared Owl.

American Bird Conservancy—also works on a wide range of bird-related issues including the urgent problem of outdoor cats.

State and Local Groups

Montana Audubon—besides putting on the wonderful Wings Across the Big Sky birding festival every year (and yes, Braden and I plan to be there in 2026!), Montana Audubon works to educate birders, identify the Treasure State’s bird conservation priorities, conduct research on endangered species, and carry out many, many other activities that benefit birds and birders.

Houston Audubon Society—a regional bird powerhouse, promoting bird education and conservation, and protection of vital habitats, especially for migrating birds. Think High Island from the movie The Big Year! (Roseate Spoonbill shown.)

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies—another regional powerhouse with widespread activities including vital research into wintering grounds of grassland birds in the Southwest and Mexico.

University of Montana Bird Ecology Lab (UMBEL)—conducts important research, monitoring, and outreach activities around the region!

Montana Bird Advocacy—a grassroots research organization started by well-known Montana birding legends Jeff Marks and Paul Hendricks, MBA conducts research on little-known Montana birds such as the Gray Flycatcher. (See our post Gray Flycatcher Science.)

An unbanded adult Gray Flycatcher implores: “Donate Now!”