What is Birdwatching?
Birdwatching, also called birding, is the activity of observing wild birds in their natural habitat. Birdwatching means learning to identify different species of birds and understand what they are doing. Birdwatching can be done in any natural location. Many bird watchers observe birds in their back yards, in parks, while traveling and on organized bird watching tours. Bird watchers study the sizes, colors, flight patterns and behaviors of wild birds. They also study their songs, their feeding habits and their migration habits. While studying the birds, bird watchers usually take notes and pictures to document what they find. These notes consist of the bird’s location, physical description, and behavior. To aid in identification and note taking, bird watchers usually use a field guides specific to the area they are observing. Field guides are books that include color photos and detailed descriptions of many different types of birds. Currently, over 51.3 million Americans participate in
