Photo: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Kristine Olson/Audubon Photography Awards
Elizabeth “Libby” Lyons
I recently came across the question online, “What is the point of birdwatching?” This reminded me that when I started to bird regularly I enjoyed hearing birder Chris Cooper list his seven pleasures of birdwatching in the 2012 documentary, "Birders: the Central Park Effect." The link allows you to watch it for free.
Cooper compiled his list to explain his passion to his non-birding friends and began with his love of birds’ beauty. He went on to cite the joys of being in a natural setting, of scientific discovery, and of hunting without bloodshed. Next, he professed joy in solving the puzzle of a bird’s identity especially when glimpsing only parts of it, and of adding another item to his collection (that is, his life-list). He called his final pleasure the “unicorn effect,” the almost surreal joy of finally seeing a species of bird in real life that he had long studied via books, film, and audio.
I remember thinking at the time that I also enjoyed the almost infinite richness and novelty of birding. At one instant I witness birds that might at other times or places vary in appearance, voice, and/or behavior. I also found great joy in the social aspects of birding, for example, helping someone find a bird in a large leafy tree, teaching someone a bird’s telltale call and seeing their face light up when they heard it, and enjoying the camaraderie of others who unabashedly share the same passion. And I knew then as I know now that birdwatching was a form of escapism that can transport me to a world where birds are the sole focus, leaving behind and putting in perspective any cares and troubles.
During the pandemic I can attest that birding was essential to my mental health; millions of others, some new to the activity, clearly felt the same way. In recent years, as I used eBird, participated in Christmas Bird Counts, and worked to digitize ASNV’s citizen science surveys, I found a new appreciation for birdwatching. My efforts take on added meaning because they can help reveal larger patterns that emerge only from thousands of observations that can collectively inform conservation, education, and advocacy.
So, you might ask, what was the answer to that question I found online? The answer, from John White, highlighted the intimate connection to nature that birdwatching provides people, and so invests them with a stake in conservation.
In my work with ASNV I also value birdwatching as a way to build community. The love of birds and nature is a unifying force that can bring us together to conserve them, especially as we recognize the vulnerability of wild things and wild lands around us. I hope ASNV can nurture our common enjoyment of nature via our programs and activities. Equally important, I hope we can tap into those shared protective urges and convert the support of volunteers’ passion, time, and donations into effective conservation actions.
In that vein, let’s please remember that we all can make a difference during the next two months as songbirds are migrating southward – please turn off as many lights as possible at night! See Audubon’s website for more information on its Lights Out program.
And if you have other reasons that you love birdwatching, please let me know!
Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Kristine Olson/Audubon Photography Awards