I must clarify something. I am not a Birder – I am just a Bird Watcher! What’s the difference?
Birders normally go searching for birds and drive or fly to enigmatic places in order to find a new species. They are often driven by their life-list, their tracking of every species they have seen or heard. Most birders know bird anatomy, behaviour, habitat and species’ songs! Although there are a number of people who have lists of in access of 6,000 individual species seen during their life-time, the longest list at the moment is 9,414 species. Not a bad list given there are about 10,400 species living in the world.
[wc_row][wc_column size=”one-half” position=”first”]One person I know of was birding in the north of Scotland when he received a phone call from a friend informing him of a sighting of a very rare species only found in Antarctica which had made an appearance in California. Within a matter of hours, he had returned to London and caught a flight to California to document the sighting. Now he is a “Birder”!
[/wc_column][wc_column size=”one-half” position=”last”]“Bird watchers, on the other hand enjoy watching birds in their yards, nearby parks and woods. They may also have a fair understanding of bird biology, but not to the same extent as a birder.”
[/wc_column][/wc_row]One of the critical attributes of a birder is to be able to identify birds by their song, possibly without seeing the bird. It is known as “birding by ear”.
This is where I fail miserably. You see, there are many species of bird I have not been able to hear for many years. Some I have never heard except on a recording. For some time my ENT has been telling me that I am a good candidate for hearing aids. My wife has been echoing that, almost daily for a long time.
Friends of mine wear hearing aids, and they all sing their praises! On a field trip to Rondeau Park this past spring with members of the Orillia Naturalist Club, I walked a trail with a lady friend and her husband. I made a comment about not being able to hear most warblers. She stopped in her track and faced me (I suppose she wanted to make sure that I heard her or was able to read her lips). Then she began to tell me her story of having recently started wearing hearing aids. I had no idea she used them! She related how now she hears all the birds.
I was at last convinced, and on my return home, made an appointment to see a hearing aid professional.
Well, they are no match for great natural hearing, even though they have been set up by computer to fit my needs. I can change programs for various conditions with the touch of a remote. However, “Mumblers” at meetings still mumble, only louder! And Grandmother’s clock sure ticks loudly!
I am now very excited about the coming spring. Just maybe now I will be able to ear the very high frequency calls of most of those little warblers high in the canopy I have been missing, and not dependant on my wife to tell me.”… there is an American Redstart in that tree”.
Who knows, I may at last become a “Birder”!
[wc_button type=”primary” url=”https://couchichingconserv.ca/general-info/event-calendar/” title=”Visit Site” target=”self” position=”float”]For chances to go birding or bird watching, keep an eye on our events calendar![/wc_button]
David A. Homer is member of the Board of Directors and a volunteer at The Couchiching Conservancy, a non-profit land trust dedicated to protecting nature for future generations. To learn about the properties that we help to protect, please visit our website: www.couchichingconserv.ca