“Melbourne has great eateries and you can go birdwatching.”
Bill Bailey, Comedian
Advantages & Disadvantages of Birdwatching
Birdwatching (also sometimes referred to as birding) has become increasingly popular over the past years.
Many people want to spend more time in nature and want to learn more about our local birds.
Although birding has many advantages, there are also some issues related to this hobby.
In this article, the pros and cons of birdwatching are discussed.
Audio Lesson
Advantages of Birdwatching
- Birdwatching gives you the opportunity to spend time in nature
- Birding can be quite interesting
- Nice hobby in case you have kids
- Birdwatching is a rather inexpensive hobby
- Birdwatching can help to raise awareness of environmental problems
- Birding can be an activity for school excursions
- You can unplug from your daily life
- Birdwatching can lower your stress level
- Birdwatching can get you back to the roots
- You can enjoy the fresh air
Birdwatching gives you the opportunity to spend time in nature
One advantage of birdwatching is that it gives you the opportunity to spend more time in nature.
In fact, many people in our current state of the world have completely lost their connection to nature and feel that there is something missing in their lives.
In fact, people have never been meant to just work in office jobs and we evolved in nature for a quite long time.
Hence, birdwatching can give you a great opportunity to spend more time in nature and to enjoy the beautiful natural environments in your local region.
Birding can be quite interesting
Many people also find birding quite interesting.
In fact, in many regions of our planet, there are many different birds around and it can be quite interesting to search and find most of them sooner or later.
Thus, over time, you can also become a real expert in your field and may also start blogging or joining birding communities to share your knowledge and to learn from other birding experts.
In turn, you will be able to make really good friends over time since those people will share similar interests with you and it will likely be easy for you to connect to those people on a mental level.
Nice hobby in case you have kids
Birding can be especially nice in case you have smaller kids.
In fact, birdwatching can be considered as family activity and your children will likely have quite a lot of fun.
Moreover, birdwatching can not only be quite enjoyable for your kids, it can also give you the opportunity to educate your children about nature.
In turn, your children will become more aware of the beauty of nature and will also likely try to behave eco-friendlier when they turn into grownups.
Birdwatching is a rather inexpensive hobby
Another benefit of birdwatching is that it is a rather cheap hobby.
In fact, you don’t need plenty of equipment for birding.
In the beginning, you can just go to your local forest and start birdwatching there.
If you want to get more advanced, you can get yourself field classes so you will be better able to spot birds even if you are not right next to them.
Birdwatching can help to raise awareness of environmental problems
Birding can not only be quite interesting, it can also help to raise awareness of people on our environmental problems.
In fact, many people in our current state of the world still know little to nothing about how important it is to protect our environment as best as possible.
Moreover, even people who realize this will often not take action in their daily lives.
Thus, by taking them out on a birdwatching trip, people will see the true beauty of nature and will therefore be more willing to behave eco-friendlier in their daily life back home.
Birding can be an activity for school excursions
In order to solve our environmental problems, we have to teach children from an early age how important it is to protect our planet.
Thus, in order to raise awareness of kids, birding can also be a great idea for school excursions since children will learn about our environment in a natural manner.
You can unplug from your daily life
Another upside of birding is that you can also unplug from your daily life. Let’s be honest.
We all have plenty of things to do in our lives and from time to time, we just need a break.
Birdwatching can be a great way to get this break since you will be in the middle of nature and can experience something completely different compared to your normal city life.
If you want to really unplug, you can also turn off your phone so that you are not available for any calls or messages.
In turn, your brain can also relax and you will really be able to recharge your batteries.
Birdwatching can lower your stress level
In our current state of the world, many people in our society also feel quite stressed.
Many of us work in demanding jobs for long hours while we also have to take care of our families somehow.
Combining all those tasks can lead to significant stress over time and it is therefore crucial that you get a break from time to time.
Birding can be a great way to reduce your stress since you can spend time in nature and can just have some time off from your stressful daily tasks you have to accomplish.
Birdwatching can get you back to the roots
We all know that our ancestors lived in natural environments for many thousands of years.
In fact, some tribes still live in the middle of nature far remote from any civilization.
Thus, it can be considered as natural to go back to the roots since it is deep inside our DNA to spend time in nature as our remote ancestors did over the course of history.
Consequently, if you feel the urge to spend more time in nature, it is probably due to the fact that nature calls you back and birdwatching can be a great way to make those natural experiences.
You can enjoy the fresh air
Bird watching can also help you get fresh and clean air from time to time.
In fact, if you live in a big city, you will suffer from rather poor air quality and particulate matter quite often.
In such a case, it can be quite beneficial for your health to spend time in nature and birding can be a great way to increase the incentive for you to actually go back to the roots.
Disadvantages of Birding
- You may disturb the local wildlife
- You have to be quiet
- Birding needs some patience
- Birdwatching can lead to plenty of disappointment
- Birdwatching may be boring
- Birding can be time-consuming
- Efficiency of birdwatching depends on the respective region
- Birdwatching needs some experience
- Littering related to birdwatching can be a problem
- Popular birding places may be quite crowded
- It can be quite discouraging at the beginning
- Many people may give up birding over time
You may disturb the local wildlife
Even though birding can have many upsides, there are still some issues related to this hobby.
For instance, one problem with birding is that you may disturb the local wildlife.
In fact, birdwatching is often done in rather remote areas and the local wildlife may not be used to humans yet.
In turn, if you are not careful and too noisy, chances are that you will disturb many animals and those animals may also behave in a rather unnatural manner.
Thus, if you go birdwatching, make sure that you are quiet so that you don’t disturb the local wildlife too much.
You have to be quiet
In general, you will also have to be quiet while birdwatching so that you don’t deter local birds.
In fact, if you are too noisy, birds will often hide and you will not see too much.
Therefore, birdwatching can be problematic, especially if you have kids who often don’t understand why they should be quiet.
Birding needs some patience
Another downside of birdwatching is that it also needs plenty of patience.
In fact, similar to hunting and fishing, you will often have to wait several hours until something happens and therefore, if you don’t have a certain level of patience, birding may not be the way to go for you.
Birdwatching can lead to plenty of disappointment
In fact, birding can also lead to high levels of disappointment.
You may wait for several hours and see basically nothing.
In turn, many people may also feel like they wasted their time in such a case.
Birdwatching may be boring
Some people may also consider birdwatching to be quite boring.
In fact, there is not too much action involved in birding. It is a rather quiet and slow hobby and if you search for a real thrill, chances are that birding will not be the right hobby for you.
Birding can be time-consuming
Another disadvantage of birdwatching is that it can also be quite time-consuming to search and find birds in their natural environments.
Quite often, birds will try to hide from you and you will often have to search for a quite long time until you finally make any progress.
Therefore, make sure that you have enough time for birdwatching before you decide to go for this hobby.
Efficiency of birdwatching depends on the respective region
The efficiency and the level of joy related to birdwatching also greatly depends on the respective region.
If you live close to a nature reserve, you will find optimal conditions for birding.
However, if you live in a big city and the next nature reserve is many miles away from your home, chances are that birding will not be a suitable hobby for you.
Birdwatching needs some experience
If you want to succeed in birding, you will also have to acquire some knowledge and experience.
Quite often, when you start out with birdwatching, you will not see too many birds since you will simply not know where you have to look for the respective bird species.
However, over time, chances are that you will get much better and you should not be discouraged if you don’t see too many birds at the beginning of your birding career.
Littering related to birdwatching can be a problem
While most people who go birding love nature and take great care in order not to leave a trace, birders will leave plenty of trash in forests and other natural environments, which in turn destroys natural habitats and also leads to all sorts of pollution.
Hence, when you go birding, make sure that you don’t litter in order to protect our natural ecosystems.
Popular birding places may be quite crowded
Since birding has become increasingly popular over the past years and birders share their experiences on the internet, popular birding places may also become quite crowded.
Thus, you should go for rather remote and unknown places if you really want to experience true nature instead of mass tourism.
It can be quite discouraging at the beginning
Since you will not see too many birds at the beginning, birdwatching may become rather exhausting.
Especially kids often don’t have the necessary patience and may get bored by birdwatching in a rather short period of time.
Many people may give up birding over time
Also many adults quit birdwatching over time.
In fact, while it can be quite interesting to watch birds in their natural environment, many people lose interest in it and go for other more exciting hobbies instead.
Top 10 Birdwatching Pros & Cons – Summary List
| Birdwatching Pros | Birdwatching Cons |
|---|---|
| Birdwatching can be fun | Birdwatching can be boring |
| Can raise awareness on eco-problems | Birding needs patience |
| Birding can be interesting with kids | You need some level of experience |
| Birding can bring you back to the roots | Birdwatching can be time-consuming |
| Birdwatching is rather inexpensive | Birding may disturb local wildlife |
| May reconnect you to nature | Birding can be quite disappointing |
| Birding can reduce your stress level | Birdwatching can be discouraging |
| You can unplug from your daily life | Many people just give up over time |
| Birding as nice school excursion activity | Birding is not possible everywhere |
| You can enjoy the fresh air through birding | Littering can be a serious issue |
Should You Go Birding?
As we have seen before, there are numerous advantages and disadvantages to birding.
In the end, you have to decide for yourself whether you want to go birdwatching or if you rather want to go for other nature hobbies like fishing or hunting instead.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdwatching
https://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/bwdsite/connect/youngbirders/how-to-find-birds.php
https://birdwatchinghq.com/birdwatchingtips/
About the author
My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.
As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.
After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.
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