Birdwatching, or birding, is a form of wildlife observation in which the observation of birds is 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 includes the auditory aspects of enjoying birds.
He had a reverential regard for birds from an early age, and he turned it into a thriving business. “I call him the Zen master of birds,” Peter Matthiessen said ... .
Right, birder Daryl Ramrattan, hiking at Southard Pond Park in Babylon... On Long Island, one of the most famous bird enthusiasts of the past — even though we might not think of him as a “birder” per se ...
How annual bird migration could spread avian flu ... They’re all already starting to move through.” ... “It spent several months over the winter at a feeder on East Street in Petersham, and hundreds of birders came to observe it,” he said.
Featuring 50 of the absolute worst birds to fly the earth, Kracht identifies each of their most terrible qualities, details exactly why they suck, and shows you why with furious (but actually quite lovely) full-color drawings ... The horror. The horror . .