Blind birding: Listen and name that bird

Courtesy University of Michigan-Dearborn

Binoculars and cameras are standard equipment for many bird enthusiasts, but not the Michigan Bird Brains youth birding team. Sightless, these birders rely solely on their ears to identify the cardinals, bluebirds, titmouses and other species native to the Dearborn Michigan Woods.

Group leader Donna Posont, who is also blind, discovered "birding by ear" when she began hiking solo four years ago. She uses recordings to learn the calls and songs that help her identify different species, and has taught her young students to do the same. Once a month, Posont leads her students on a trail, where they put their knowledge to work.

Read on to see if you can identify bird species by their calls alone and learn more about the Michigan Bird Brains from CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.

Bird photos and recordings are provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.