[wisb] "Birding" vs. "bird watching"

I just got an email from "Birder's World" magazine that they are changing the 
name to "Birdwatching" magazine.  I assume the decision is already final, but I 
thought it was interesting and just thought I'd ask what term people prefer 
here.
 
As the Wikipedia article on the subject kind of mentions, the term birding can 
be preferred because birdwatching is a term that excludes not only the auditory 
aspects of birding, but also things you could include like "bird finding," 
"bird learning," "bird photohraphing," "bird counting," etc... So "birding" is 
a nice useful term that encompasses all these ideas in one term.  That and 
"bird watching" can have a negative connotation, in part because it suggests 
something very passive and boring (i.e., standing still and watching birds).  
As people know, this is often a very small part of what I would consider 
"birding" to encompass, and "birding" to me is much more than that and can be 
both physically active (i.e., going to Devil's Lake to look for solitaires) and 
exciting (i.e., seeing something rare), and allows us to contribute to science 
in a way that most other hobbies don't.
 
Just wanted to hear other people's thoughts about the two terms.  Don't mean to 
criticize a decision made to draw more people or get into a discussion of 
anything specific to the magazine, but to me "bird watching" is often the term 
that turns people off, not the other way around and I prefer "birding" instead.
 
So, what term do you prefer?
 
-Mike Duchek, Waukesha, Waukesha Co.                                      
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