I thought several times how to start this
blog. Shall I start with something that bares the philosophical overview
regarding “birding”? Then thought no. we, the “birder” are very much clear
regarding “Birding”. We love watching our winged friends flying free in the
sky. We are happy to watch them , protect them and do not claim any award in
doing so as this is quite normal for friends in helping each other . So we are
very much clear in our consciousness and no need to discuss any “philosophical
overview”. So it is better to start with some “historical information”, a
boring one as it always has been with me.
Birding
and Bird watching, the long going battle
Bird watching or birding is nothing but a new
form of wildlife observation in which the observation is only limited with
“Birds”. One can observe the birds by the naked eyes or through the “binoculars
and telescopes” or by listening to the bird’s voice and recording it for future
purpose. It is not mandatory that “Bird watchers” must do the scientific
approach like “ornithologists”. Rather they simply enjoy watching them, but of
course, with a greater responsibility to make our society realizing the
importance of protection of our “Feathered Friend” so that “Mother Nature” can
maintain her balance.
I cannot simply able to resist myself from
quoting some lines from “Wikipedia” found while searching the origination of
the term “Bird watching” are as follow.
The first recorded use of the term
birdwatcher was in 1891; bird was introduced as a verb. The term birding was
also used for the practice of fowling or hunting with firearms as in
Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor: "She laments sir... her husband
goes this morning a-birding.”
Now
my dear friends, I would like to draw your kind attention in a battle that has
been continuing for a long time over two terms. One is “Birding” and the other
is “Bird watching”.
The terms “Birding”
and “Bird watching” may appear same to us and can be thought to use
interchangeably. But, some participants nourish different idea, though may
appear to someone a subjective difference, as “Birders”, according to them, are
not only more versed in aural and visual identification of birds but also found
ready to travel in distant states and countries for the searching of birds what
birdwatchers are lacking not venturing far from their local sites. Regarding
this discussion, another term sometimes floats and catches our attention that
is “Twitching”, a British term, what is used to mean "the pursuit of a
previously located rare bird."
There are some “terms” come up regarding
“Bird-Watching” when duration of the survey is concerned are as follow
Big Day: It is a team game. Each team has 24
hours to identify as many species as possible.
Big Year: like a big day, but contestants are
individuals, and rest of the rules are same that is need to identify as many
species as possible.
Big Sit or Big Stay: birdwatchers must see
birds from a circle of prescribed diameter. Once birds are spotted,
birdwatchers can leave the circle to confirm the identity, but new birds seen
may not be counted.
