[wisb] Re: "Birding" vs. "bird watching"
- From: "Karen Kraco" <kkraco@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2011 07:42:45 -0600
I, too, prefer the sound and connotations of birding, but with non-birding
folks often use the term birdwatching, because often I wind up needing to
clarify when I use birding.
That said, I grew up with birdwatching, and for some reason occasionally
the term birding reminds me of bird dogs and conjures an image of people
trotting toward me a bird in their mouth.
A Google search suggests that there might be something to what Al says,
about birdwatching having a more kooky connotation - - searching for
birdwatching brings up a number of cartoons, the most popular one being a
birdwatcher peering through binoculars with a bird perched on their pith
helmet or floppy hat. Birding brings up many fewer cartoons.
Karen Kraco
Minneapolis, MN
-----Original Message-----
From: wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Mike Duchek
Sent: Monday, February 07, 2011 1:41 PM
To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [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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