Reddit reviews Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America

I use my Grandfather’s binoculars, they’re an old model but they still have modern versions of it available.

http://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/jason-binoculars.html

This is a great book for beginners

https://www.amazon.com/Kaufman-Field-Guide-Birds-America/dp/0618574239

I prefer Kaufman's field guide for carrying with me while I'm birding. It's well organized and has a lot of great info/illustrations:

http://www.amazon.com/Kaufman-Field-Guide-Birds-America/dp/0618574239/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382709486&sr=8-1&keywords=kaufman

At home, I like to use Sibley's book (which is far too large to carry with as a field guide). It has even more illustrations and is a bit more in depth than Kaufman's field guide due to its size:

http://www.amazon.com/Sibley-Guide-Birds-David-Allen/dp/0679451226/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382709539&sr=8-1&keywords=sibley+guide+to+birds

I carry a Kaufman personally.

I would always reccommend an actual field guide over an app, they are just more useful, but apps can be a good complement. For field guides, Sibley just came out with his new guide, which is probably the best one you can get.

You could also try National Geographic or Peterson's Guides, they are good. Kaufman has a really good guide that is geared more towards beginners, but has as much info as a full-sized guide.

As for Apps, there is Sibley, National Geographic, Peterson's, and iBird PRO, all of which are decent and have bird songs on them, which is probably the best feature. Its mostly personal preference between these.

I'd recommend getting Kenn Kaufman's guide, it isn't huge and is good for comparing birds. There are some good apps out there too, if you'd rather bring a phone or tablet. I usually just use the Sibley app on my phone.
Binoculars are pretty important. I started with a pair of $50 ones from a sports store and they were junk. and then I got a pair of big Nikons for around a $100, and they were better, but too big. I finally have a pair of Eagle Optics Rangers, they are $300 and I really like them. But I've looked through a pair of $1000+ Swarovskis and wow, those are great, but not much better than mine. I have 10x42s, which I would recommend. But get these Atlas binoculars for $100. They are really nice, I bought my dad a pair for Christmas and they felt as good as my other pair, for a third of the price. They would treat you really good for a long time. Plus they are water and fog proof, important for Florida.

Crap, I just saw that those Atlas binoculars are out of stock, sorry.

Here's my recommendations for a new birder starter kit:

1. Binoculars: Nature DX 8x32 are solid and affordable.
   If you have the extra dough, the Vortex are a great step up from there.
   
   
2. Field guide: People will have varying opinions but as a beginner, I found the Kaufman guide the easiest to learn with and use everyday. It doesn't provide as in-depth of detail as other guides but it is laid out in a way that makes it easy to approach an unknown ID as a novice, and highlights the most important distinguishing features to tell different birds apart.
   
   
3. A good app: Merlin Bird ID is a fantastic app for quickly IDing birds on the go. It's free too! I use it everyday, along with eBird to log my sightings.
   
   Hope that helps and happy birding!!