Binoculars are to birders as a glove is to a baseball player. While you could catch a fly ball without a glove, you'd do it better and much easier with one.

Most birders use 7x35 or 10x40 binoculars. What do those numbers mean? Check out this site for information about binoculars:

An Introduction to Binoculars from the ABA

www.eagleoptics.com - Basic info about binoculars from a dealer specializing in them.

Requirement 4