Top 5+ Bird-Watching Secrets of a Wildlife TV Show Host

Bird-watching is a hobby that’s been on the rise in recent years. And given the popularity of wildlife cams like the Friends of Big Bear Valley’s eagle nest cam in California—which recently had audiences everywhere, from kindergarten classes to a rock legend, glued to the journey of young bald eagles Sunny and Gizmo—it doesn’t look like the trend is going anywhere soon. So, when I had the chance to ask lifelong wildlife expert and educator Peter Gros about his bird-watching tips, I said yes, of course!

Peter Gros

Peter is a co-host of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild on NBC. As longtime fans know, in the ’80s he was also a co-host of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, the original iconic series that started it all in 1963.

Ahead, he shares five bird-watching tips that will up your game, whether you’re a backyard birder who’s branching out or were recently inspired by Sunny and Gizmo to give the hobby a go.

Ask your local experts for advice.

American goldfinch

“First, talk to your local Audubon Society or nature and science centers and find out what they recommend locally,” Peter says. If you plan to put out feeders, they can give you advice on what kind of food to put out, how to present it, and how to avoid unintentionally attracting other local wildlife, like squirrels or—depending on where you live—bears. These organizations can even give you tips on whether there’s something that’s helpful for bird species during a long winter.

To watch, first listen—and walk in that direction.

Pileated woodpecker

“I’m fortunate that I travel to places where there’s wildlife,” Peter says. “So if you happen to be in the Peruvian rainforest and you can have a local guide with you who will recognize the sounds and the calls, you can walk in that direction. And if you’re quiet and you have a good set of binoculars, you can start identifying certain types of macaws or toucans or bird life as it’s up in the canopy of the forest.”

But you don’t have to be a wildlife expert traveling the globe to use this tactic. “You can do the same thing in our national parks here in the United States,” Peter says. “An awful lot of people who visit national parks drive through to see the magnificent waterfalls and the scenery. A smaller percentage will park and hike a few miles into the wilderness. And then if you’re a backpacker and you quietly walk through the woods, you'll get a chance to see all kinds of birds as well.”

Whether you hope to spot songbirds and birds of prey, “the key is to go as quietly as you can. Listen to them calling.” The being quiet part can be hard to do if you’re taking a young family with you, Peter concedes, though he is a huge advocate for exposing children to nature at an early age. It’s a learning process!

Familiarize yourself with their habitats.

Red-winged blackbird

This goes hand in hand with knowing the call of specific birds species. For instance, Peter says, “If you wanted to see red winged blackbirds and there’s a swampy area in the park and you have foxtails growing—that’s their favorite habitat and they have this very shrill call that you can immediately identify—then you quietly walk and you can see them there usually in abundance.”

Set your sights on birds of prey.

Turkey vulture

“I love to watch birds of prey and vultures circling nearby canyons where they are just a beautiful, beautiful sight to see,” Peter says, noting that they’ve learned to hunt along highways and at other farm properties around him. “These are wonderful masters of the sky with their 5 to 7 foot wingspans that can go as high as 10,000 to 15,000 feet in the air.”

If you spot birds of prey feeding in the morning and are patient, you might get to observe this impressive behavior from the beginning. Peter explains: “As the ground heats up and the thermals [pockets of warm air] start to rise, they spread their wings.” Then, they hitch a ride—or in, this case, “a lift” is more appropriate. Flying around a thermal, they’re able to spiral upward and soar without much effort as the rising air beneath their wings does part of the work.

From this vantage point, birds of prey have a good view to look and hunt for food, but, Peter says, “to anthropomorphize a little bit, you see them up there with their wings locked in place, thousands of feet in the air, just tracing circles, I have to think that there’s more to it than just hunting for food. It’s just a magnificent sight.”

Don’t overthink it.

“I just sort of keep my eyes open wherever. Go talk to local experts and see what they recommend and then grab your binoculars and start hiking,” Peter says.

The Daytime Emmy-nominated Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild, airs weekends on NBC’s The More You Know time block. Starting July 6, Mutual of Omaha’s classic episodes of Wild Kingdom will air on MeTV from 7-10 a.m. Eastern Time/Pacific Time on Sunday mornings.