I don't have much to add to the excellent advice which you've already received above, except for a few technical notes further down. But I would definitely add my voice to the endorsement of microphones using the EM172 omni capsule. No only does this have low noise (14dBA spec.) but a high output, which makes it a good match for the inputs on many small hand-held recorders. Omni mics are also ideal for ambient capture &, with a bit of ingenuity, can be arranged in a variety of configurations, depending on how much stereo spread you require. e.g. wide-spaced, baffled with Jecklyn disk, etc. Most of the commercially available mics using these capsules terminate as a pair or via an adapter into a 3 pole 3.5mm plug, suitable for a "plug-in-power" mic input.
If you're inclined towards a DIY solution, & you are good at soldering electronic components, the bare capsules can be bought online very cheaply. There shouldn't be much difference in sound quality between a capsule mounted in heatshrink sleeving and one in a machined housing, except for the fact that some manufacturers select devices for best frequency response and close matching. For outdoor use, a fur windshield is a necessity and, again, you can make or buy.
Now for the slightly more technical stuff.
A few posts back...
This site tests preamp noise for portable recorders: https://www.avisoft.com/recordertests.htm
This excellent site is almost the definitive guide amongst nature sound recordists. The table linked to is based party on manufacturers specs (where given) and partly on measurements made on single devices by Avisoft, so you should take the figures as a rough guide only. Also, for some of the recorders with both XLR & 3.5mm mic inputs, it's not clear which input is referenced (though probably XLR). Although the "best" spec devices (i.e. least noise) are at the top of the list, what you will see is a column of numbers which might themselves not be completely intuitive.
The noise which you will hear when making a recording will be the sum of the mic noise + the recorder noise + the ambient background noise. And, because you can't subtract one source of noise from another, what this means is that even the quietest recording device won't help if your mic is the dominant noise source.
OK. So how quiet is our recommended mic, the EM172? It's specified as "14dB(A) SPL", but translated into the same units as column 1 of the Avisoft table The EM172 has an equivalent noise voltage which works out at about -108dBu(A). As a general rule, the recorder needs to be around 6dB quieter than this for its own noise contribution to become relatively unimportant. So that suggests that the best recorder to use with this mic will have a noise of -114dBu or better.
That's about halfway down the table, so it appears that you have a good choice. However, annoyingly most of the smaller recommended recorders have now been discontinued: Sony PCM M10*, Roland/Edirol R-05, R-09, Olympus LS10, LS11... If you can find one of these used, this is probably the best option.
Otherwise, the higher spec units such as the Tascam DR100-III, Sony D100, are excellent but more bulky & expensive. As for the latest devices such as Roland R-07, Sony PCM-A10, they look promising, but as yet we just don't know about the noise level...
Good luck with your art project & ambience recordings: experimentation is the key!
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* As has been mentioned, the M10's internal mics are indeed EM172s. But they're mounted too closely to give much of a stereo effect. If you do end up with one of these, you'll find somewhere on TS some info I posted on making a baffle to help with this.