The Many Ways We Enjoy Birding
Pursuing a Greater Appreciation of Nature and Personal Fulfillment

During the 1990s, birding was the fastest growing outdoor activity, and today, about 70 million Americans enjoy birds and birding in some way. People feed birds in their yards and travel distances from home to search for birds, they photograph birds and they appreciate getting in touch with nature through birds.

Why are so many millions of people interested in birds?

Birds are colorful, abundant, and they come in a multitude of varieties, each with interesting behaviors to study; each species has unique songs and calls, and, of course, birds can fly! Who wouldn’t want to fly like a bird? Ultimately, birds get us in touch with the natural world around us, whether we live in an urban landscape or a country haven. Birds attract us to travel to new locations, whether down the road, or across the continent. Some birders even travel from country to country in search of new birds and new experiences beyond our borders.

Birders collectively spend billions of dollars each year (yes, billions!) in the United States alone, and birding is also very popular among residents of England, Holland, Germany, and Canada, as well as many other nations. We buy feeders and food; landscape our property to attract birds; buy equipment such as binoculars, spotting scopes, field guides and other books, cameras and film, computer programs, and field clothing; we travel near and far, and join clubs – all in our quest for birds and information about birds, and to keep in touch with the great outdoors.

Are you a birder? Are you interested in birds? Below is a descriptive outline of the many ways Americans enjoy birds and birding, divided into the two primary birding heads: Field Birding and Backyard Birding. Perhaps you will be inspired to begin birding, or if you are already a birder, perhaps this outline will inspire you to expand the realm of your personal joy of birding.

Field Birding
Birding afield requires habitat that attracts birds, as well as access to the area – either visually or physically. It also requires some special basic equipment. But beyond these simple requirements, there is an exciting assortment of ways to enjoy birding, one of America’s most popular outdoor activities.

Click here for the details on the following topics.

Basic Birding Equipment
Birding by Ear
Field Notes
Listing
Rare Bird Hotlines
Censusing
Behavioral Observations
Birding in the Great Outdoors
Individual and Social Birding
Birding Clubs
Citizen Science
Conservation
Ornithology
Professional Careers
Photography
Travel
Guided Tours
Birding Drives and Birding Trails
Birding Festivals
Competitive Birding
Conservation Events

More than 50 million Americans feed birds, so if you are not 1 in 5, join the fun. If you are already feeding birds, we offer a wealth of information about the ways you can attract birds and help them to prosper in your yard, and at school, work, and community centers.

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Bird Feeding
Feeders
Watering
Cavity Nest Sites
Other Nesting Structures
Landscaping

Birding at Home
In addition to observing and photographing birds out the windows of home, there are a few activities you can enjoy from an easy chair or at your home computer that will help to improve your birding skills, advance your interest levels, and increase your knowledge of birds, birding, and birding locations, while learning how these topics fit into the grand scheme of ecology and conservation. Birding at home may also include accumulating a library of bird books, using computer programs, and even collecting bird art in its many modes.

Click here for the details on the following topics.

Birder’s Library
Computer Activities
Bird Art
Workshop Birding

Birding – A Lifetime Experience
Once a birder, always a birder! There are a lot of birders in the world, but I’ve never met a former birder. Birding is one of those activities that adds a new level of interest and a heightened level of awareness to your life. It’s an activity that seemingly has no bounds; one that you continue to learn about day after day, year after year.

Some people dedicate their lives to studying birds or providing safe havens for birds. Birds help to define them and their focus in life. Most people enjoy birds and birding as a nice escape from the trappings of modern-day life – a way to get in touch with nature, to feel the earth beneath your feet, and the wind in your face, and marvel at the beauty and wonders of the nature.

There are few better feelings than the quiet sense of euphoria you can feel surrounded by the natural world. Enjoy birds, revel in many ways we enjoy birding, and embrace the efforts to protect and improve the world around us for wildlife and people as one.

Paul M. Konrad 2003