Myself, and several other members on this forum are interested in both birding and astronomy. BirdForum seems to be the best site on the internet for birding optics, while this site seems to be the best for astronomical optics:
www.cloudynights.com
While there are some things that both hobbies (obsessions?
) share, for the most part they have a lot of conflicting requirements. Birding optics tend to be ruggedized and often waterproof, expensive features that are not required of astronomical binoculars. In general, wide field of view is more important for birding than for astronomy. Many optical defects that won't bother you for astronomical use will be almost intolerable for birding use... the list goes on. Astronomical observations are often made with the assistance of steadying mounts, special chairs, etc. that you won't find birders lugging into the field for the most part, and birding telescopes tend to be a LOT smaller and more portable than the astronomical kind! Having said all that, I've personally found that a good 8x or 10x binoculars designed for birding will be VERY useful for astronomy, you will often find me at my telescope with a pair of 10x25's in my shirt pocket or 7x42's around my neck. I would say that any premium birding binocular will be VERY adequate for many kinds of astronomical observations, while the reverse is not always true. In most cases, it is of very questionable utility to pick a high power astronomical binocular (20x80 comes to mind!) and try to use it for birding.
As for specific binocular recommendations, I'll let the rest of the astro-birders on this forum take it from here...
Best wishes,
Bawko