What Birding Taught Me: Lessons From a First-Year Birdwatcher

Last year, I took my first steps into birdwatching, and it changed me. Birdwatching emphasizes precision, wonder, and mindfulness - being fully present. Birdwatching is more than observing birds; it's about learning their behavior patterns, identifying species, and understanding the ecosystem they inhabit.

Most importantly, it’s careful reflection of the ecosystem, structure, and interaction. The blue jay commanding its territory. The chickadee’s community of song and friendship. The hawk solitary and high.

Starting out, I was asked why bird watching. I answered that upon walks and hikes, large animals are quite rare, but every time I walk I see birds. I had an inkling that this world is more complex than what is immediately known.

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I struggled to classify my first bird, a small, white-throated sparrow. It was sitting on the power lines across from my apartment.

As I got more comfortable with birdwatching, I started naming other species like Blue Jays, Sparrows, Herons, Egrets, and Woodpeckers as I walked.

Birdwatching brought about several changes in my life. Firstly, it helped me appreciate the world around me. Birds represent so many aspects of the natural environment: flight patterns, habitat requirements, and their unique behaviors. Understanding these behaviors can help us better protect them, which is crucial for maintaining the health and beauty of our ecosystem. I felt that I was engaging with nature on a deeper level.

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Secondly, birdwatching has given me a source of beauty. I find many things drab - cookie cutter architecture, concrete, the same twenty designs everywhere, people hunched over their phones. Birds give reason to look up. Birds are different every day, invoke grace with flight and song. They are changing, living, not decaying

Aside from the beauty of watching birds fly, birdwatching has taught me a lot about their ecosystems, the importance of conservation, and the value of taking care of nature. Birds keep me more engaged in the seasons and living naturally. I notice migrations, and reflect on what these seasons mean to our species. Much of human history has been the pursuit of the victory of nature, the ability to be indifferent to the natural world around us, but this is wrong, and bird watching is proof.

Joshua Zubik