Watching Birds

Within the birding community there are different type of birders. Some are twitchers. Birders who will go to extraordinary lengths to see as many bird species as possible within a specific region - that region sometimes being the world! Others do atlassing, count water birds, do bird ringing etc.

Others will study the behaviour of birds in great detail as for instance the different flight patterns of birds or the contact calls and interaction between a family of Arrowmarked Babblers. Noting such details as to how they move (walking or jumping or a combination), fly (wing beats continuous or interspersed with glides), clean (preening themselves or others, dust bathing or water bathing) and eat or drink.

Your garden provides a wonderful opportunity to spend lots of time really watching birds. Take a chair outside, maybe not too far from your bird feeder or a nest in the garden, and really study the birds. It will not only provide you with tons of fun (and relaxation!!) but if you carefully document your observations it can become a very valuable source of information.

So what are the behavioural traits that you can look for and how to record them? For more information please follow the links at the right hand side of this page.