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What is the difference is between a 'birder' and a 'twitcher'? Sarah Webb, Nottingham

All birdwatchers are birders, though use of the term implies a certain amount of commitment. Twitchers are a very specific type of birder. The aim of the twitcher is to see rare birds: generally, to build a list. It is a branch of collection mania, but instead of stuffed heads in the trophy room, they have ticks on a list. When a rare bird, generally a lost waif and stray, is blown onto these shores, the twitchers will arrive in their hundreds. Me, I wouldn't cross the road for that kind of rarity. It is all in the way these things take you.

What makes a "bad" birdwatcher? Staying indoors watching Bill Oddie or dropping your binoculars at a crucial moment? Paul Macintyre, London

I called the book How To Be A Bad Birdwatcher because so many people are put off by the idea that birdwatching is a specialised activity, and that it necessarily involves becoming a twitcher. A "bad" birdwatcher is anybody who enjoys birds without any pretension of expertise. It is my belief that birds hold a latent fascination over us all: and that we are all at heart bad birdwatchers. The aim of my book is to allow people to set free the birdwatcher within.

What is the correct etiquette inside a hide? Should one talk to neighbouring birdwatchers in the dark or is that too personal, too intimate, in those enclosed spaces? David Noble, Huddersfield

I was at Elmley the other weekend, with the site's owner, who was loudly appalled at the embarrassed cathedral hush of a hide. It is his ambition to design a sociable hide, in which conversation and misidentification can be amiably swapped. A great idea: current hide etiquette is an embarrassed silence - one that comes, I think, less from consideration of other birdwatchers or even birds, but from fear of making an ass of oneself with a duff bit of identification. But most birdwatchers will be delighted and flattered if you ask them advice.

I would like to get a friend some recorded birdsong as a Christmas gift. Can you suggest which songs might be most appreciated, and whose recordings you consider the best? Heather Telford, Surrey

There are three main types of recording: "atmosphere" recordings, instructional recordings, and recordings for the purposes of identification. I suggest you contact Wildsounds, and they will give you the advice you need: 01263 741100 or www.wildsounds.com

Are birds colourblind? If so, why do birdwatchers tend to wear camouflage and have their monoculars and binoculars clad in military green? Mark Gilligan, Manchester

A robin would scarcely trouble to have a red breast if robins were colour blind. Birds respond very strongly to colour: that is why so many birds are so spectacularly colourful. But birds also respond to threat and movement: the best way not to see a bird is to move towards it. Bright colours exaggerate movement: the worst colour to wear is white - white is a traditional alarm signal, many birds and mammals have white bums. Blending into the countryside makes sense.