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A very interesting study.


http://www.tropicalbirding.com/2018/01/ ... ty-crisis/

Very interesting read. Over the years my wife and I have "gotten into birding" through photography. We have also met many photographers who have "gotten into photography" through birding. I think this company has it's head on correctly in recognizing the shifting trends in people's tastes.

It’s a multi million dollar business...at Lake Patagonia (Arizona), an Elegent Trogon is planted late fall so that daily vans of birders throughout the winter have a prize to see. They can be aggressive.... I’ve had birders check a bird off their list of “Birds I’ve seen” after seeing it on my camera’s LCD. On the up side, I’ve noticed a large influx of older lesbian couples entering the birding world over the last five years. Good to see.

Quite an interesting read and I would say good data presentation as well. Enjoyed it. I am both a birder and a bird photographer - different things at different times. I am sure I am represented somewhere there in those Venn diagrams

Nowadays many of the birders have cameras.  They've learned over the years that photo evidence can sometimes make or break the identification of a questionable bird they've seen in the field. Photography is just another way of "sharing a bird, a find" with others just like a bird report.  Especially now that many birders have Facebook accounts, blogs or a photography sharing site such as Flickr. They have seen the many quality bird photos taken by photographers over the years and realize they can do that too - why just rely on a photographer to snap a photo of a special bird.  Photographers rub off on birders.  And vice versa.  I know many bird photographers who have over the years become very knowledgeable bird identifiers.  Birders rub off on photographers.  Locally, birders and photographers intermingle in the field all the time.  We all go to the same places and some visit the same websites so often see each others work (bird photos, bird reports).  So, that article is not surprising at all.  But good to know.


I took this photo maybe 14 years ago.  Birders on the left and a photographer on the right looking at a great gray owl in a tree.  A photo that is kind of symbolic of the differences or divide between birders and photographers back then.  Same interests, different objectives.  Nowadays, many birders have cameras. What do you know.  An OntBirds post today on an OFO Photography Field Trip.  How times have changed.

Ian's article fully supports what I have seen at Houston Audubon's sanctuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast during the last six years, especially at High Island and the Bolivar peninsula. Bridge SLRs and crop sensor DSLRs with 70-300mm lenses are in regular use and often have replaced the binocular or are used in conjunction with one. And the sanctuary visitors are now interested in pursuing broader nature experiences beyond just birds. This is a win win for all as far as I am concerned as the greater the nature experience one can have while "birding" the better it is for the individual and the organization managing the sanctuary or habitat.