There is no better way to witness the small details of our backyard birds than to view their lives through binoculars. The most important considerations in binocular shopping are 1) magnification power and 2) light-gathering capability. You will see bird watching binoculars described with numbers such as 7x18 or 10x42. What does this mean? The first number “7” or “10” tells the shopper the magnifying power of the binoculars. A 7x18 pair of binoculars will multiply your vision by seven times. The second number in the description tells the shopper the diameter of the large lens. In the above example, the 7x18 pair of binoculars has an outer lens of 18 millimeters across. The larger the diameter of the larger lens, the more light that enters the glasses; the more light that enters the glasses the brighter the target image will be.
