Birdwatching or birding is the observation of
birds as a
recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a
visual enhancement device like
binoculars and
telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds.[1][2]
Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird
species are more easily detected and identified by ear than by eye. Most
birdwatchers pursue this activity mainly for recreational or social
reasons, unlike
ornithologists, who engage in the study of birds using more formal
scientific methods.[1][2]
Birding, birdwatching, and twitching
The term birdwatching was first used in 1901; bird was
introduced as a verb in 1918.[3]
The term birding was also used for the practice of fowling
or hunting with firearms as in
Shakespeare's
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1602): "She laments sir... her
husband goes this morning a-birding."[4]
The terms birding and birdwatching are today used by some
interchangeably, although many participants prefer birding, both
because it does not exclude the
auditory aspects of enjoying birds, and because it does not have
some associated negative connotations.
In North America, many birders differentiate themselves from
birdwatchers, and the term birder is unknown to most lay people.
At the most basic level, the distinction is one of dedication or
intensity. Generally, self-described birders are more versed in minutiae
like identification (aural and visual), molt, distribution, migration
timing, and habitat usage. Whereas these dedicated birders may
often travel specifically in search of birds, birdwatchers have
been described by some enthusiasts as having a more limited scope,
perhaps not venturing far from their own yards or local parks to view
birds.[1]
Indeed, in 1969 a "Birding Glossary" appeared in
Birding Volume 1, No.2, which stated the following:
Birder. The acceptable term used to describe the
person who seriously pursues the hobby or sport of birding. May be
professional or amateur.
Birding. A sport and/or hobby in which individuals
enjoy the challenge of bird study, listing, or other general activities
involving bird life.
Bird-watcher. A rather ambiguous term used both to
describe the person who watches birds for any reason at all, and, more
recently, to refer to a person who watches girls. Used mostly in fun.
Should not be used to refer to the serious birder. The word
"BIRD-WATCHING" is in the same category, of course.
Twitching is a British term used to mean "the pursuit of a
previously-located rare bird." In North America it is more often called
"chasing", though the British usage is starting to catch on there,
especially among younger birders. The term twitcher, sometimes
misapplied as a synonym for birder, is reserved for those who travel
long distances to see a rare bird that would then be ticked, or
counted on a list.[2][5]
The term originated in the 1950s, when it was used for the nervous
behaviour of Howard Medhurst, a British birdwatcher. Prior terms for
those who chased rarities were pot-hunter, tally-hunter,
or tick-hunter. The main goal of twitching is often to accumulate
species on one's lists. Some birders engage in competition to accumulate
the longest species list. The act of the pursuit itself is referred to
as a twitch or a chase. A rare bird that stays put long
enough for people to see it is twitchable or chaseable.[2][5]
Twitching is highly developed in the
United Kingdom, the
Netherlands,
Denmark,
Ireland,
Finland
and Sweden.
The size of these countries makes it possible to travel throughout them
quickly and with relative ease. The most popular twitches in the UK have
drawn large crowds; for example, a group of approximately 2,500 people
travelled to
Kent,
England, to view a
Golden-winged Warbler.[6]
Twitchers have developed
their own vocabulary. For example, a twitcher who fails to see a
rare bird has dipped out; if other twitchers do see the bird, he
may feel gripped off. Suppression is the act of concealing
news of a rare bird from other twitchers.[2]
Many birdwatchers maintain a life-list, that is, a list of all
of the species they have seen in their life, usually with details about
the sighting such as date and location. The
American Birding Association has specific rules about how a bird
species may be documented and recorded in such a list if it is submitted
to the ABA, however, the criteria for the personal recording of these
lists are very subjective. Some birdwatchers “count” species they have
identified audibly, while others only record species they’ve identified
visually. Some also maintain a country-list, state-list,
county list, yard-list, year list, or any
combination of these.
The
history of birdwatching
The early interest in observing birds for their aesthetic rather than
utilitarian (mainly food) value is traced to the late-18th century in
the works of
Gilbert White,
Thomas Bewick,
George Montagu and
John Clare.[7]
Although the study of birds and natural history became fashionable in
Britain during the
Victorian Era, it was mainly
collection oriented with eggs and later skins being the artifacts of
interest. Wealthy collectors made use of their contacts in the
colonies to obtain specimens from around the world. It was only in
the late 19th century that the call for bird protection began leading to
the rising popularity of observations on living birds. The
Audubon Society was started to protect birds from the growing trade
in feathers in the United States while the
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds began in Britain.[8]
The term "birdwatching" appeared for the first time as the title of a
book "Bird Watching" by
Edmund Selous in 1901.[9]
In North America, the identification of birds, once thought possible
only by shooting was made possible by the emergence of optics and field
identification guides. The earliest field guide in the US was Birds
through an Opera Glass (1889) by
Florence Bailey.[10]
Birding in North America was focused in the early and mid-20th
century in the eastern seaboard region, and was influenced by the works
of
Ludlow Griscom and later
Roger Tory Peterson.
Bird Neighbors (1897) by
Neltje Blanchan was an early birding book which sold over 250,000
copies.[11]
It was illustrated with color photographs of stuffed birds.[12]
The organization and networking of those interested in birds began
through organizations like the Audubon Society that was against the
killing of birds and the
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). The rising popularity of the
car increased the mobility of birdwatchers and this made new locations
accessible to those interested in birds.[13]
Networks of birdwatchers in the UK began to form in the late 1930s under
the
British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). The BTO saw the potential to
produce scientific results through the networks, unlike the Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) which like the Audubon
Society originated from the bird protection movement.[14]
Like the AOU in North America, the BOU had a focus mainly in
collection based taxonomy. The BOU changed focus to ecology and
behaviour only in the 1940s.[15]
The BTO movement towards 'organized birdwatching', was opposed by the
RSPB which claimed that the 'scientification' of the pastime was
'undesirable'. This stand was to change only in 1936 when the RSPB was
taken over by
Tom Harrisson and others. Harrisson was instrumental in the
organization of pioneering surveys of the Great Crested Grebe.[16]
Increased mobility of birdwatchers ensured that books like Where
to watch birds by
John Gooders became best-sellers.[17]
By the 1960s air-travel became feasible and long distance holiday
destinations opened up with the result that by 1965, Britain's first
birding tour company, Ornitholidays was started by Lawrence
Holloway.[18]
Travelling far away also led to problems in name usage, British birds
like "Wheatear", "Heron" and "Swallow" needed adjectives to
differentiate them in places where there were several related species.[19]
The falling cost of air-travel made flying to remote birding
destinations a possibility for a large number of people towards the
1980s. The need for global guides to birds became more relevant and one
of the biggest projects that began was the "Handbook of the Birds of the
World" which started in the 1990s with Josep del Hoyo a country doctor
in Catalonia, Jordi Sargatal and ornithologist Andy Elliott.[20]
Initially, birdwatching was a hobby practised in developed countries
such as the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
Nevertheless, since the second half of the 20th century an increasing
number of people in developing countries have engaged in this activity.
Transnational birding has played an important role in this, as citizens
from developing countries that engage in birdwatching usually develop
this pastime due to influence of foreign cultures that already practise
birding.[21]
Growth and
economics
In the 20th century most of the birding activity in North America was
done on the east coast. The publication of Roger Tory Peterson's field
guide in 1934 led to the initial increase in birding. Binoculars became
more easily available after World War II, which made this easier. The
practice of travelling long distances to see rare bird species was aided
by the rising popularity of cars.[22]
About 4% of North Americans were interested in birding In the 1970s
and in the mid 1980s at least 11% were found to watch birds at least 20
days of the year. An estimate of 61 million birders was made in the late
1980s. The income level of birders has been found to be well above
average.[23]
The 2000 publication of "The Sibley Guide to Birds" sold 500,000
copies by 2002.[24]
but it was found that the number of birdwatchers rose but there appeared
to be a drop in birdwatching in the backyard.[25]
According to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study, birdwatchers
contributed with 36 billion USD to the US economy 2006, and one fifth
(20%) of all Americans are identified as birdwatchers.[26]
North American birders were estimated to have spent as much as USD 32
billion in 2001.[25]
The spending is on the rise around the world. Kuşcenneti National Park
(KNP) at Lake Manyas, a
Ramsar site in Turkey was estimated to attract birders who spent as
much as 103,320,074 USD annually.[27]
Guided bird tours have become a major business with at least 127
companies offering tours worldwide. An average trip to a less-developed
country costs $4000 per person and includes about 12 participants for
each of 150 trips a year. It has been suggested that this economic
potential needs to be tapped for conservation.[28]
Activities
Many birdwatchers occupy themselves with observing local species
(birding in their "local patch"[29]),
but may also make specific trips to observe birds in other locales. The
most active times of the year for birding in
temperate zones are during the spring or fall
migrations when the greatest variety of birds may be seen. On these
occasions, large numbers of birds travel north or south to wintering or
nesting locations. Early mornings are typically better as the birds are
more active and vocal making them easier to spot.
Certain locations such as the local patch of forest, wetland and
coast may be favoured according to the location and season.
Seawatching is a type of birdwatching where observers based at a
coastal watch point, such as a headland, watch birds flying over the
sea. This is one form of
pelagic birding, by which pelagic bird species are viewed. Another
way birdwatchers view pelagic species is from seagoing vessels.
Weather plays an important role in the occurrence of rare birds. In
Britain, suitable wind conditions may lead to
drift migration, and an influx of birds from the east. In North
America, birds caught in the tail-end of a hurricane may be blown
inland.[30]
Monitoring
Birdwatchers may take part in censuses of bird populations and
migratory patterns which are sometimes specific to individual species.
These birdwatchers may also count all birds in a given area, as in the
Christmas Bird Count or follow carefully designed study protocols.
This kind of
citizen science can assist in identifying environmental threats to
the well-being of birds or, conversely, in assessing outcomes of
environmental management initiatives intended to ensure the survival of
at-risk species or encourage the breeding of species for aesthetic or
ecological reasons[according
to whom?].
This more scientific side of the hobby is an aspect of ornithology,
coordinated in the UK by the
British Trust for Ornithology. The
Cornell Lab of Ornithology hosts many citizen-science projects to
track the number and distribution of bird species across North America.
These surveys help scientists note major changes from year to year which
may occur as a result of climate change, disease, predation, and other
factors.[31][32]
Environmental
Education
Due to their accessibility and ubiquity, birds are a useful tool for
environmental education and awareness on environmental issues. Birds
easily transmit values on respect to nature and the fragility of
ecosystems.
Competition
Birding as a competitive event is organized in some parts of the
world. These are found to be more exciting by some.[33]
These competitions encourage individuals or teams to accumulate large
numbers of species within a specified time or area with special rules.
Some birdwatchers will also compete by attempting to increase their life
list, national list, state list, provincial list, county list, or
year
list. There have however been criticisms of such events especially
when they are claimed to aid conservation when they may actually mask
serious environmental issues.[34]
The
American Birding Association was originally started as a club for
"listers", but it now serves a much broader audience. Still, the ABA
continues to publish an official annual report of North American list
standings.
Competitive birdwatching events include:
- Big Day: teams have 24 hours to identify as many species as
possible.
-
Big
Year: like a big day, but contestants are individuals, and need
to be prepared to invest a great deal of time and money.
- Big Sit or Big Stay: birdwatchers must see birds from a circle
of prescribed diameter (e.g.: 17-foot[35]).
Once birds are spotted, birdwatchers can leave the circle to confirm
the identity, but new birds seen may not be counted.
Networking and organization
Prominent national and continental organizations concerned with
birding include the
British Trust for Ornithology and
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the United Kingdom, and
the
American Birding Association and the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology in North America. Many state-wide or
local Audubon organizations are also quite active in the United States,
as are many provincial and local organizations in Canada.
BirdLife International is an important global alliance of bird
conservation organizations. Many countries and smaller regions
(states/provinces) have "rarities committees" to check, accept or reject
reports of rare birds made by birders.
Equipment
and technology
Birders using a tower hide to gain views over foreground
vegetation. Bay of Liminka, south of
Oulu,
Finland.
Equipment commonly used for birding includes
binoculars, a
spotting scope with
tripod, a notepad, and one or more
field guides. Hides (known as blinds in North America) or
observation towers are often used to conceal the observers from birds,
and/or to improve viewing conditions. Over the years optics
manufacturers have learned that birding binoculars sell, and virtually
all have specific binoculars for just that. Some have even geared their
whole brand to birders.
Sound equipment
Recognition of
bird vocalizations is an important part of a birder's toolkit. Sound
information can assist in the locating, watching, identification and
sexing of birds. Recent developments in audio technology have seen
recording and reproduction devices shrink in both size and price,
making them accessible to a greater portion of the birding community.
The non-linear nature of digital audio technology has also made
selecting and accessing the required recordings much more flexible than
tape-based models. It is now possible to take a recording of every
birdcall you are likely to encounter in a given area out into the field
stored on a device that will slip into your pocket, and to retrieve
calls for playback and comparison in any order you choose.
Photography
Photography has always been a part of birding, but in the past the
cost of cameras with
super-telephoto lenses made this a minority, often
semi-professional, interest. The advent of affordable
digital cameras, which can be used in conjunction with a spotting
scope or binoculars (using the technique of
afocal photography, referred to by the
neologism "digiscoping"
or sometimes digibinning for binoculars), have made this a much
more widespread aspect of the hobby.
Videography
As with the arrival of affordable
digital cameras, the development of more compact and affordable
digital video cameras has made them more attractive and accessible
to the birding community. Cross-over, non-linear digital models now
exist that take high quality stills at acceptable resolutions, as well
as being able to record and play audio and video. The ability to easily
capture and reproduce not only the visual characteristics of a bird, but
also its patterns of movement and its sound, has wide applications for
birders in the field.
Portable media
players
This class of product includes devices that can play (some can also
record) a range of digital media, typically video, audio and still image
files. Many modern
digital cameras,
mobile phones, and
camcorders can be classified as
portable media players. With the ability to store and play large
quantities of information, pocket-sized devices allow a full birding
multimedia library to be taken into the field and mobile Internet access
makes obtaining and transmitting information possible in near real time.
Remote
birdwatching
New technologies are allowing birdwatching activities to take place
over the Internet, using robotic camera installations and mobile phones
set up in remote wildlife areas. Projects such as CONE
[1] allow users to observe and photograph birds over the web;
similarly, robotic cameras set up in largely inhospitable areas are
being used to attempt the first photographs of the rare
Ivory-billed Woodpecker. These systems represent new technologies in
the birdwatcher's toolkit.[36]
Communication
In the early 1950s the only way of communicating new bird sighting
was through the postal system and it was generally too late for the
recipients to act on the information. In 1953 James Ferguson-Lees began
broadcasting rare bird news on the radio in Eric Simms' Countryside
program but this did not catch on. In the 1960s people began using the
telephone and some people became hubs for communication. In the 1970s
some cafes, like the one in Cley, Norfolk run by Nancy Gull became
centers for meeting and communication. This was replaced by telephone
hotline services like "Birdline" and "Bird Information Service".[37]
With the advent of the
World-Wide Web, birders have been using the
Internet to convey information; this can be via
mailing lists,
forums,
bulletin-boards, web-based
databases and other media.[38][39]
While most birding lists are geographic in scope, there are
special-interest lists that cater to bird-identification, 'twitchers',
seabirds and raptor enthusiasts to name but a few. Messages can range
from the serious to trivial, notifying others of rarities, questioning
the taxonomy or identification of a species, discussing field guides and
other resources, asking for advice and guidance, or organizing groups to
help save habitats. Occasional postings are mentioned in academic
journals and therefore can be a valuable resource for professional and
amateur birders alike.[40][41]
One of the oldest, Birdchat[42]
(based in the US) probably has the most subscribers, followed by the
English-language fork of Eurobirdnet,[43]
Birding-Aus[44]
from Australia, SABirdnet[45]
from South Africa and Orientalbirding.[46]
Several websites allow users to submit lists of birds seen,[47]
while others collate and produce seasonal statistics, distribution maps.
Code of conduct
As the numbers of birdwatchers increases, there is growing concern
about the impact of birdwatching on the birds and their habitat.
Birdwatching etiquette is evolving in response to this concern.[48]
Some examples of birdwatching etiquette include promoting the welfare of
birds and their environment; avoiding stressing the birds by limiting
use of photography,
pishing and
playback devices; keeping back from nests and nesting colonies; and
respecting private property.[49]
The lack of definite evidence, except arguably in the form of
photographs makes birding records very difficult to prove but
birdwatchers strive to build trust in their identification.[50]
One of the few major disputes is the case of the
Hastings Rarities.
Socio-psychology
Ethologist
Nikolaas Tinbergen considers birdwatching to be an expression of the
male hunting instinct while
Simon Baron-Cohen links it with the male tendency for "systemizing".[51]
There have been suggestion that identification of birds may be a form of
gaining status which has been compared with
Kula
valuables noted in Papua New Guinean cultures.[52]
A study of the motivations for birdwatching in New York concluded
that initial motivations were largely similar in males and females, but
males who participate actively in birding are more motivated by "sharing
knowledge" with others, and active female birders are more motivated by
their "intellectual" interest in studying birds, and by the "challenge"
of identifying new and rare birds and improving their skills.[53]
A study suggests that males leaned towards competitive birding while
females preferred recreational birdwatching.[54]
While the representation of women has always been low,[55]
it has been pointed out that nearly 90% of all birdwatchers in the
United States are white with only a few African Americans.[56]
Other minority groups have formed organizations to support fellow
birders and these include the Gay birders[57]
and the Disabled Birders Association.[55][58]
The study of birdwatching has been of interest to students of the
sociology of science.[59]
Famous
birdwatchers
There are about 10,000 species of bird and only a small number of
people have seen more than 7000. Many birdwatchers have spent their
entire lives trying to see all the bird species of the world.[60]
The first person who started this is said to be
Stuart Keith.[61]
Some birders have been known to go to great lengths and many have
lost their lives in the process.
Phoebe Snetsinger spent her family inheritance travelling to various
parts of the world while suffering from a malignant melanoma, surviving
an attack and rape in New Guinea before dying in a road accident in
Madagascar.[62]
She saw as many as 8,400 species. The birdwatcher
David Hunt who was leading a bird tour in
Corbett National Park was killed by a tiger in February 1985.[63][64]
In 1971
Ted Parker travelled around North America and saw 626 species in a
year. This record was beaten by
Kenn Kaufman in 1973 who travelled 69,000 miles and saw 671 species
and spent less than a thousand dollars.[65]
Ted Parker was killed in an air-crash in Ecuador.[66]
From 2008 the top life-list has been held by Tom Gullick, an
Englishman who lives in Spain. In 2012 he became the first birdwatcher
to log over 9,000 species.[67]
In 2008 two British birders, Alan Davies and Ruth Miller, gave up their
jobs, sold their home and put everything they owned into a year-long
global birdwatching adventure about which they a wrote a book called
"The Biggest Twitch". They logged their 4431th species on 31 October
2008.[68]
Birdwatching literature, field guides and television programs have
been popularized by birders like
Pete Dunne and
Bill Oddie.
In media
The 2011 movie,
The Big Year, depicts three birders competing in an
ABA Area
big
year.
See also
Institutions: