TIP 1
Most common shutter speed settings are between 1/1000 – 1/3000. You can obviously go faster or slower just keep in mind this will change the overall exposure and sharpness of the image. I recommend for beginners to shoot at 1/1000 and get a feel for how your camera performs.
TIP 2
Often people shoot at the widest aperture say f/2.8. This works for many photos however keep in mind the depth of field at f/2.8. You may only have a portion of the bird in focus because of this. If you shoot at f-stops around f/4 for example you will most likely have to change the ISO and or the shutter speed to expose correctly.
TIP 3
Like with so many other types of photos the lower the ISO the better. ISO ranges between 100-800 generally work well for all cameras and some can push upwards of ISO 12,000