Well the best binoculars for birding are probably Swarovski or Zeiss, but both of these are very expensive and if you want to get really close to the same quality but for a third of the price I highly recommend Savannah Phase-Coated Waterproof Binoculars from Orion. The Savannah comes in at less then $400 vs over $1000.
Don’t get me wrong, a good friend of mine has a pair of Swarovski and they are excellent! The key difference is in low light conditions the Swarovski do out perform the Orions but for most of the birding I do the Orions do the job and do it well. I have been using the 10x50 for over 4 years now and they are great for birding from the car, a smaller pair would be more ideal for hiking or other on the move activities.
Not sure why they name those two models differently they are both Phase-Coated and waterproof - they are the exactly the same just different size. Also, looking around on Orions site I do not see the 10x50 available anymore (one pair left over at Amazon)? hopefully they have not discontinued those. There is the Savannah Porro 10x50 but I am not familiar with that model, it appears to be less expensive and might be great buy for the money?