Competitive Birding
Chris Rees | Article and Photos
People have been watching and observing birds for thousands of years , but birding in its modern form is less than 100 years old . Let me start by introducing some terminology .
Bird watching is the casual , low intensity observation of birds .
Birding involves observing and identifying birds , as well as studying their behaviour , ecology , and conservation .
Twitching is a specific type of birding focused on rare or unusual bird species .
Before I retired from teaching at NAIT , and while I was raising a family , I was into bird watching . Since retiring , I have progressed to being a birder . I enjoy being outdoors in nature , so birding gives me a raison d ’ etre . In support of bird watching and birding , the eBird app gives you tools for tracking your species counts for a home circle , for any particular hotspot , for monthly , yearly , or life-long lists . So far , my birding has been focused on my local eBird hotspots and region . I have an annual target of 200 species for the Edmonton region . I also have an annual target of 250 species for Alberta . The gold standard for Alberta is 300 species for a year or for a life list . I do one-day road trips to explore new areas and look for different species of birds . I am mostly trying to stay within 100 kilometres of home .
Birding , I often find , gives me the same feeling as downhill skiing or golf . In downhill skiing if I have a great run or a very good day , I am motivated to ski even better next time . The same is true in golf ; if I have a great day and shoot a low score , I want to go back the next day and beat that score , even if only by one stroke . eBird gives you options for competing with yourself or even competing with others . If you like to compete with others , there is a top 100 list for birders for a region , province , country , or the world . Currently , I am in the top 10 for the Edmonton region and the top 100 for Alberta .
Taken to the extreme , competitive birding can lead to “ twitching .” Twitching only really came to prominence in the 1950s and ’ 60s . The term originated from the nervous and twitchy behaviour of British birder Howard Medhurst , whose twitchiness heightened whenever an exceptionally rare bird was reported . It is the competitive nature of humanity that has led to the rise of twitching .
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