The equipment listed below is whatDavid Lilly Photography recommends for bird photography. Since I use Nikon equipment, I can only claim to have a better understanding of Nikon equipment. Contact me using this link if you have questions.

Nikon equipment has evolved over the years. I would recommend the Mirrorless cameras and lens. For my personal bird photography I will still be using my DLSR and lenses.

The equipment below is Nikon, but the equivalent in lens and Cameras are avaiable from Canon etc.

A lens in the focal length of 80 - 400mm would be a good combination with a camera body with an  APS sensor. This combination would give you 120 - 600mm in the Nikon line up - Canon's APS sensor is 1.6, so you would get a little longer reach. A combination of a 1.4,1.7 teleconverter and a 70 - 200mm 2.8 would be good for closer birds. 

Also, Tamron and Sigma have recently introduced a 150 - 600mm lens, the perfect bird photography lens. However, I have not tested these lens. < Tamron 150 - 600mm Review > <Sigms 150 - 600mm Review >

Induro CT314

David Lilly Photography recommends a good tripod. There are many excellent tripod brands on the market Induro, Gitzo, Feisol, and Manfrotto. Also, it is important to have a good tripod head. The David Lilly Photography uses a Benro Video head for the simple reason, it is light, quick mounting for the lens. The most popular heads are made by Wimberley, but are expensive. Inaddition you will need mounting plates for the brand of tripod head and flash bracks with cables, see below. Some other spealized equipment you might want to consider is a Blind, Camo clothing, and a good book on bird identification or better still an App for your phone or I pad.

For more information to help you pick a tripod  < Click here >

To extend the distance on your flash you may want to consider buying a Better Beamer flash extender. For birds at a distance it is a must buy.

Hairy Woodpecker by David Lilly

Common Merganzer by David Lilly