[wisb] Re: "Birding" vs. "bird watching"
- From: Chris West <little_blue_birdie@xxxxxxx>
- To: Mike Duchek <mikeduchek@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "[Wisb]" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2011 14:22:27 -0600
I tend to take the two words to either end of the spectrum, but most consider
the two words interchangeable.
To me, a Bird-watcher is someone who does just that. Watches birds. The word
Birder, takes the sport to a whole different level. Not just watching birds,
but actively finding them, traveling thousands of miles to see new species,
visiting other countries, photographing them, taking field notes, drawing them,
picking apart molt limits, feather details, etc
Essentially, a Bird-watcher is passive and a Birder is active, and much more
detailed.
I also (and I know a lot of you might disagree with me on this) tend to think
of the word Birder meaning someone who is far more skilled than a
"bird-watcher." Someone rather than just watching birds can ID many many
species by sight and sound and generally knows far more about how to identify
birds than a "bird-watcher. Now, just to clarify, that's my own personal use of
the word. I know many people who are superb birders who use the term
Bird-watcher to define themselves.
I also prefer the term Birder because it's a cleaner, simpler, easier to
understand use of the verb (and yes, we have turned it into a verb) "To Bird."
"I am a Birder and I go Birding." Much easier than saying "I'm a bird-watcher
and I go bird-watching." "you do what?"
Of course, when you say you go birding, this almost always has to be clarified
with non-birders. I'm sure a lot of people still think I go out and Burn
things......
Happy Birding! --Chris W, Richland County
http://swallowtailedkite.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swallowtailphoto
"The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first
material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire the
composer; but when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no
more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be
again."
(From William Beebe's "The Bird: Its Form and Function," 1906)
> From: mikeduchek@xxxxxxxxxxx
> To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [wisb] "Birding" vs. "bird watching"
> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2011 13:40:58 -0600
>
> 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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