Birdwatching or birding is a form of wildlife observation in which 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.
Birdwatching 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 for
recreational or social reasons, unlike ornithologists,
who engage in the study of birds using formal scientific methods.
Birding, birdwatching, and twitching
The first recorded use of the term birdwatcher
was in 1891; bird was introduced as a verb in 1918. 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."The
terms birding and birdwatching are today used by some
interchangeably, although some participants prefer birding, partly
because it does not exclude the auditory
aspects of enjoying birds.
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
perceived as one of dedication or intensity, though this is a subjective
differentiation. Generally, self-described birders perceive themselves to be
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. Indeed, in
1969 a Birding Glossary appeared in Birding magazine which gave the following
definitions:
Birder. The acceptable term used to describe the person who seriously pursues the
hobby of birding. May be professional or amateur.
Birding. A 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 to describe the person who watches birds for
any reason at all, and should not be used to refer to the serious birder.
—Birding, Volume
1, No.2
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.
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.
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 (Vermivora
chrysoptera), which is native to North America. 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.
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.
The study of birds and natural history in general became increasingly prevalent
in the Britain during the Victorian Era, often associated with collection,
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.
The term "birdwatching"
appeared for the first time as the title of a book "Bird Watching" by
Edmund Selous
in 1901 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.
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.
It was illustrated with color photographs of stuffed birds.
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. 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.
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. 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.
Increased mobility of birdwatchers
ensured that books like Where to watch birds by John Gooders
became best-sellers. 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.
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. 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.
Initially, birdwatching was a hobby
practiced 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.
Economic and environmental impact
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.
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.
The 2000 publication of "The
Sibley Guide to Birds" sold 500,000 copies by 2002. but it was found that
the number of birdwatchers rose but there appeared to be a drop in birdwatching
in the backyard.
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.
North American birders were
estimated to have spent as much as USD 32 billion in 2001. 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. 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.
One of the expectations of ecotourism
is that the travels of birdwatchers to a place will contribute to the
improvement of the local economy which and in turn ensure that the environment
is valued and protected. Numerous positive and negative impacts of birdwatching
have been identified. Impacts include disturbance to birds, the environment,
local cultures and the economy. Methods to reduce negative impact and improve
the value to conservation are the subject of research.
Many birdwatchers occupy themselves
with observing local species (birding in their "local patch"), 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.
Migrations hotspots
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.
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.
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.
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. 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. 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). Once birds are spotted, birdwatchers can leave the circle to confirm the identity, but new birds seen may not be counted.
Equipment commonly used for birding includes binoculars,
a spotting
scope with tripod, a notepad, and one or more field guides.
A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife
(plants
or animals)
or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. minerals).
It is generally designed to be brought into the 'field' or local area.
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 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.
Communication
In the early 1950s the only way
of communicating new bird sightings 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".
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. 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. One of the
oldest, Birdchat (based in the US) probably has the most subscribers, followed by the
English-language fork of Eurobirdnet,
Birding-Aus from Australia, SABirdnet from South Africa and Orientalbirding.
Several websites allow users to
submit lists of birds seen, while others collate and produce seasonal
statistics, distribution maps.
Code of conduct
NOT THREATEN BIRDS SAFETY SPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE BREEDING OR SIMPLY ARE A THREATEN SPECIES
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. Some examples of birdwatching etiquette include promoting the welfare
of birds and their environment, limiting use of photography, pishing and playback
devices to mitigate stress caused to birds, maintaning a distance away from
nests and nesting colonies, and respecting private property.
The lack of definite evidence,
except arguably in the form of photographs, makes birding records difficult to
prove but birdwatchers strive to build trust in their identification. One of
the few major disputes was the case of the Hastings
Rarities.
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. The first person who started this is said to be Stuart Keith.
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. 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. 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. Ted Parker was killed in an air-crash in Ecuador.
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. 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.
Birdwatching literature, field
guides and television programs have been popularized by birders like Pete Dunne
and Bill Oddie.
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