Birding, ornithology

Bird watching, also known as birding, involves observation of birds either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. It can take the form of spotting birds by eye, cameras, binoculars or telescopes, or listening for bird sounds, watching webcams, or viewing smart bird feeder cameras. Most birdwatchers engage in the activity for recreation or social reasons. It therefor differs from ornithology, which uses formal scientific methods to study and classify birds and their interactions with nature.

Some birders maintain life lists, country lists, or year lists, often aiming to document species they have seen, sometimes competing to accumulate the longest list. The pursuit of rare birds is known as “twitching” in the UK and “chasing” in North America, where enthusiasts travel long distances to see and record rare species.

The classic line-up

The other day, I came across this line-up in the local park. You see this occasionally especially during the times of day the birds are resting. I could hear their specialized vocabulary, including terms like “dipped out” (failed to see a bird) or “gripped off” (others saw the bird). If this lineup of people, together with the cameras and other gear, stays in information for a number of minutes, you’ve got the classic sign: they struck gold, or at least a worthwhile sighting opportunity.

A yard fest

It reminds me of years ago when a bird (which turned out to be a rarity) decided to make its temporary home in one of the many trees in the large yard of the house we were living in at that time. One of the neighbors spotted it from afar and ask if they could enter the yard to get a better look. That neighbor confirmed the sighting and got excited.

Unbeknown to us, such excitement starts a protocol which includes alerting your birder friends via a mailing list and text messages with pictures, descriptions and a precise location. And sure enough, within a few hours we had 15 or so folks with all sort of gear in the yard, strictly focussed on that bird, discussing all the in and outs of the particular species. They didn’t move much and spoke softly, not so much to avoid annoying their hosts, but rather to avoid scaring the bird away.

All I could do is brew pots of tea and coffee, cook up a hearty soup and make some sandwiches to keep the troops fed. As the sun went down they, reluctantly, left.

The bird stayed for about 3 days, so this ritual repeated twice. We must have had some 50 folks visit to see the bird during those days, with some travelling long distances for the occasion. My memory fails me, so I can’t remember what bird it was, but they assured me it was a rare sighting.

Pokémon galore

Turns out birders are nice people, even though their occasional obsession might seem strange to the rest of us. For some, it’s akin to collecting, similar to hobbies like Pokémon, stamps or even car collecting. For others, it fosters a deeper connection with the environment, promoting awareness of ecological health, as bird populations can serve as indicators of environmental change.