This month on Good Day Alabama on WBRC Fox 6, I talked about birding … for citizen-scientists of all ages. Because we can get closer to nature by just walking outside.
Birding has a bunch of perks—from boosting mental health to furthering scientific discovery.
It became a hot hobby during the pandemic and today, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey, 96 million Americans — more than 35% of people who are 16+ — have taken part in bird-watching or bird conservation activities. That’s more than double the numbers from the last survey in 2016. Citizen-scientists are contributing work on bird conservation, too. There are some great apps to help:
Cornell Lab of Ornithology maintains the app and the website eBird — the world’s largest citizen-scientist bird-watching project, with more than 100 million observations reported each year. Cornell also has another free and popular app, Merlin, which helps identify birds through sight and song.
Here are some books to further your interest:
Written and illustrated by Amy Tan
Who knew Amy Tan could sketch and paint as well as she writes? I didn’t until a birding friend sent me a copy of this fabulous book. It’s a beautiful, thoughtful and educational account of birding and the beauty of the world around us. The drawings and essays here reflect a deep appreciation for nature. It grew out of Tan’s feelings of being overwhelmed in a divided country where social media is rampant with hatred and misinformation. She began really tuning into the natural world in 2016—the nature world right outside her window and the birds visiting her own yard. Her search for peace became this book with its daily entries, thoughtful questions, detailed sketches and gentle message of finding solace in life’s quiet moments and natural beauty. Interestingly, the audiobook includes a downloadable PDF of images and resources from the book.
from Dylanna Press
This introduction to bird watching for kids ages 8 to 12 also includes a colorful guide to popular backyard birds in North America, and journal pages so youngsters can begin their own life lists. The guide is concise and easy to use with information on range, diet, habitat, nesting, migration patterns, conservation stats and more. Youngsters can learn about bird anatomy and lots of fun facts.
By Jennifer Ackerman
Birds are quite intelligent creatures. According to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. Ackerman, an award-winning science writer, traveled the world to explore some newly discovered and cutting-edge frontiers of brilliant avian research. She delves deeply into the latest findings about the bird brain itself that are shifting our view of what it means to be intelligent. The book is personal, scientific and beautifully written. At once personal yet scientific, richly informative and beautifully written. The description “bird brain” is forever changed.
I link to Amazon to show you exactly what book I’m talking about, but I love to shop locally at Church Street Coffee and Books, The Alabama Booksmith, Little Professor, and Thank You Books in Crestwood. And I visit my local library often in person and online!
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