Why Everyone Is Suddenly Getting Into Bird-Watching and How Beginners Can Get Started
Roughly 96 million Americans now call themselves birders, and birding is no longer the quiet province of retirees with binoculars. The hobby has become a mainstream pastime, especially among Millennials and Gen Z, fueled by smartphone apps, social media communities and a pandemic-era hunger for free outdoor recreation.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Merlin Bird ID app added 7.5 million new users in 2024 alone. That kind of growth helps explain why your coworker, your neighbor and your group chat seem to be suddenly trading photos of warblers.
How birding became America’s quiet obsession
The most comprehensive look at the trend comes from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2022 demographic and economic survey on birding, which found that 37% of Americans ages 16 and older identify as birders. About 91 million are backyard birders. Another 43 million, or 16% of the population, took trips of at least a mile specifically to watch birds.
The pandemic lit the fuse. Calls to Mass Audubon exploded in 2020 as newly remote workers, starved for safe outdoor activity, started paying attention to what was outside their windows.
“There’s lots of drama. This connection we have with nature is a lot like being in love. I don’t know how else to describe it other than attachment,” Joan Walsh, chair of field ornithology and natural history at Mass Audubon, told TIME.
Apps and online communities kept the momentum going after lockdowns ended. A 2021 update to Merlin added the ability to identify birds by their songs and calls, a feature that turned casual walkers into amateur ornithologists.
“It’s like Shazam, but for birds,” Steve Hale, founder of Open World Explorers, told Reader’s Digest of Merlin Bird ID.
The hobby remains stubbornly analog at its core. As nature cartoonist Rosemary Mosco wrote in her book, “The Birding Dictionary,” anyone who watches birds qualifies, regardless of experience or expertise.
Why birding is good for your brain and mood
The benefits go beyond fresh air. A study of bird-identification experts published in the Journal of Neuroscience found distinct structural and functional differences in brain regions involved in memory, attention and visual processing, suggesting that hobbies like birding may boost overall brain health. The findings do not definitively prove that birding halts cognitive decline, but the evidence is promising.
Mental wellbeing benefits are easier to pin down. An October 2023 study published by Nature.com found that simply seeing or hearing birds improved people’s mental wellbeing.
How to get started with birding
The barrier to entry is low, and most of the best tools are free.
- Merlin Bird ID identifies birds by photos and songs.
- eBird logs your sightings and turns amateur birders into citizen scientists.
- Audubon Bird Guide builds identification skills through filters and pointers.
- Larkwire teaches birdsong through interactive quizzes.
Pair the apps with a paperback field guide, which offers a broader picture than apps that tend to funnel you toward just one or two likely matches.
To attract birds to your yard, plant trees for nesting and insects. Shrubs offer cover and berries. Wildflowers and grasses provide seeds and attract pollinators. Vines feed birds and soften fences.
Timing matters even in urban areas, where city parks and green spaces often sit along key migratory routes. Skills build the more often you get outside. Birding is also social, and many cities have clubs that organize walks, lectures and events. The opportunities are often more abundant than newcomers expect.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
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