-----Original Message-----
From: Lauren
To:
Subject: why bird watch

Hi, I'm an advertising student at Northern Arizona University. I am doing a project on Bird Watchers. I was wondering if you could give me some insight in to bird watchers.

Why do you bird watch, what attracts you to this past time?

How did you get started bird watching and how do most people decide they want to bird watch?

When is the best time to watch?

Do a lot of people take trips to bird watch specifically and why?

You have a great website. Thank you for your time. This will really help me out.

Our Reply...

Lauren:

Listed below are our reasons for bird watching. Of course, I can not speak for all people that are attracted to bird watching, but I think I am close to the norm.

Why do you bird watch, what attracts you to this past time?

1. Birding can be done in every community - big city to farm community - seaside to mountain top
2. Ease of skill mastery
3. Low cost: Less than $20 buys a birding field guide that can last for years
4. Does not require great physical stamina or endurance
5. Offers frequent positive rewards
6. The simple joy of learning something new
7. The challenge of problem solving

Bird watching is a relaxing hobby that can be done by just about everyone. Many state parks, national parks and recreation areas offer birding opportunities that are accessible to persons with limited mobility in addition to great hiking, kayaking and canoe trips. Some areas offer excellent birding without ever leaving your car.

A beginning birder can get started with an investment of less than $20, the cost of a birding field guide. As the birder becomes more skilled and ventures out into the wild, a pair of binoculars is bought, or for the serious birder a small, spotting telescope and tripod are added to the equipment list.

Here is an equipment hint: Buy the best you can afford to get the most out of your experience. Take care of it and it will return years of great service.

One of the greatest rewards is identifying a bird that you have not seen or noticed before. In psychology this infrequent reward system is called "variable positive reinforcement". It is one of the reasons that golfers often become repeat players. Every so often even the worst duffer hits a great shot.

Birding can be done successfully by all ages from children to the elderly. I have even seen blind bird watchers. These folks, with the aid of sighted birders, develop the ability to identify birds by their song or call. This is a skill that is developed by many sighted birders as well.

Bird Watching is a relatively easy skill to develop. Usually it starts out by just trying to identify an interesting bird seen in the backyard by matching what you have seen to a picture in a field guide. Then through practice and repetition you develop the ability to identify the distinctive anatomical features at a glance and identification becomes more rapid and precise.

There are literally thousands of bird species worldwide, each with distinct silhouettes, markings, colorations, habits and habitats. In fact, the colorations and habits change throughout the course of a year. This wide variety offers the birder the opportunity to develop skills in identification that may take years to master. Each new species identified is usually added to your personal "Life List", an ongoing diary of bird sightings.

How did you get started bird watching and how do most people decide they want to bird watch?

I started by simply trying to supplement the availability of food for our resident birds during the winter. I bought a small bird feeder for the back yard. Then I began to notice the number of different birds. Many I had never noticed before. I bought a bird guide to help me identify these visitors and 15 years later I am still at it.

Deciding what to watch is usually determined by the birder's geographical location. This determines the availability of bird species. For example, I live near a vast wetlands, so I concentrate on wading birds, shorebirds, waterfowl, raptors and migratory songbirds.

Along the coast of Oregon, for example, the birder may concentrate on seabirds and ocean waterfowl, while the eastern Oregon resident concentrates on birds found in the high desert and on farms and ranches.

Many birders will plan their entire vacation around a location that offers the opportunity to see birds that are not present around their home. In fact, this is the heart of our Birding and Photographic Guide Service business.

Many of the birders that take advantage of our guide services are from the United Kingdom and Europe and want to see bird species found only in North America. Because we live in Florida, they also want to see alligators up close but not too personal.

When is the best time to watch?

The best times of the day are from dawn to about 9AM or 10AM and again from late afternoon to dusk. However, I know of a tour service that offers nighttime birding in addition to their daily schedules.

Do a lot of people take trips to bird watch specifically and why?

There is a great business in organizing birding tours both on the local level and internationally. Many progressive locales and countries are beginning to understand the value of Ecotourism and birding in particular. There is an influx of new money into the local economy, little or no added pollution, and the new monies are a great way to pay for the preservation of natural lands.

Just about every birding publication has numerous pages offering birding trips and safaris. There are numerous vendors of birding supplies, manuals and books, recorded bird identification tapes and compact disks, optics, cameras and lenses, clothing etc. Birding - Ecotourism is becoming big business.

I have taken a birding tour to Costa Rica and have taken numerous vacations to great birding locations in the USA. Any time we plan a trip, we look into the possibility of birding while visiting that area.

Thank you for visiting our website and good luck with your study.

Regards...