Posted: Aug 3, 07 4:13pm

What kind of birder are you?

Maybe you're interested in birds, or think you might get interested, or want to encourage your kids to get interested. You may already know there are many levels of birding. Just as in the spectrum from grub to cuisine, or from humming a tune to being a professional musician, there are many levels. And any one of them can be exciting and fulfilling. The first trick is to know your level and understand what the other levels entail. Most of us know we can stay close to the melody on familiar tunes at a birthday party or a concert sing-along. But we also know that to star in an opera at the Met takes talent, hard work and endless hours of practice. Same kind of scale of attention and attainment

goes for birding.

First, if you're on this website you must not be a naive little twit. You know yourself after a few decades of living with same. Are you the born dilletante? Dabble here and there? Want to know enough to know what you know,

but not spend hours waiting for some rare little 2 ounces of feathers to pop out of a bush in the rain so you can mark

a checklist? Want an excuse to travel to faraway places with interesting people? Need an obsession to replace the

job/spouse/grown kids/shopping that no longer require your attention or grab your interest?

I once made a deliberate decision to try birding because I knew I needed an obsession that required action and

learning. [See mu earlier comments at: http://www.tbd.com/content/article/basic_article.article:::other_member_favorites_fuller_birding]

I wasn't sure in the beginning if birding would fit, but I did know that any new activity would need to be challenging and present surprises.

A friend of mine and his family recently moved from a large, crowded city to a smaller city and bought a house with a large yard. I'd regaled him in advance with tales of birds seen and what they might see in his new home. I then threw kerosene on the little candle flame by giving his half-grown son a field guide. In the book I'd marked birds the son should expect in his new backyard. Like magic some of those birds began coming to their feeder. One Black-headed Grosbeak later the entire family was hooked. Now they go on Audubon outings, visit places on the weekend specifically because there's the promise of a lot of birds, or just one new one.

The son could go on to become an ornithologist, or a lawyer who loves golf. It doesn't matter, he'll always see and know birds. His life and his family's will be richer and his understanding of the natural world much deeper. When he hears "clear cut" or "strip mine," they'll not be economic terms but ecological ones.

Here are some styles of birding. But first, it's "birding." "Bird-watching" is some archaic term that indicates passivity, standing around, talking about last night's dinner or real estate prices in the 'hood. Birding's an

acitvity, involving learning, excitement, discovery and often shared enjoyment.

pre-1) Maybe a beginner. You may start to go on free field trips. You may not even own binoculars. If the trip

is interesting and the others share their bincoulars or telescope, which is to be expected, you may want to go

again. You like outdoors, plants, walking in fresh air. Beats another day in the office. You find that most birders are smart, willing to share, helpful and like the flexibility of birding. Any time, anywhere. If you've access to a field guide you find it's twenty years old, names and even range maps have changed. All the names the regular birders rattle off seem confusing. Why are there so many different birds in my city?

1) Feeder watcher. You may not even have a place for a feeder if you live in an apartment. A neighbor may have the feeder. Or you may go to the nearest park or open space and feed the birds there. Almost any picnic spot in North America will have its resident scavengers. This cateory of birder can become adept at calling in and knowing the local species. LIke the guy who feed the House Sparrows next to Charlemagne's statue in front of Notre Dame. We have San Francisco neighbors who are on first-name basis with a couple of local Ravens who daily to their home for hand-outs. You buy a field guide and binoculars. You know all the birds that come to your area during the various seasons. But you don't really care what Uncle Fred sees when he fishes in the Caribbean.

2) Hiker. If you're already a hiker, dog-walker, biker or even jogger you may simply want to know what birds you're

seeing as you move along. Warning: birding will eventually interfere with your running or jogging. Some day you'll come face-to-face with a Green Heron hanging off the end of a willow branch, or startle a covey of quail or round a corner to see a chickadee feeding upside down on a limb. That'll stop you in your tracks. If you're a hiker, you find yourself always wanting to take your binocs and maybe a field guide with you.

3) Casual. At this level you'll occasionally go on bird walks organzied by Audubon or other nature groups.Perhaps regularly circle a local park or two, maybe have a yard feeder. You may start to put little marks in your field guide. You may find a more experienced birder and pepper that person with questions about what you saw and some behavior you've noticed for the first time. If you're a good amateur photog you start getting some good shots with your great, new digital camera.

4) Regular. You bird as one of the main activites in your life. Some trips are specifically for birding. Photogs in this group are never without their camera. Worst case, "my batteries just died, and that Roadrunner is just standing there staring at us." You may have started to keep lists of what you've seen. You have joined one or more organizations that now mail you catalogs of exotic birding trips to the tropics, to Uganda, to Russia, to the Antarctic. When you travel for any other reason from business to family gatherings, you break away for some birding in this new locale.

You have now purchased the most expensive bionculars you can afford, telling yourself and any others who'll listen that's it's a small expense. "Figuring the hours I spend birding, the cost is only 50 cents per day." And you realize relatives give you birding books for birthdays or holidays.

Your birding library has its own bookshelf.

5) Avid. Now you're a member of the American Birding Association. You have your own telescope for watching

shorebirds, ducks on a lake, sparrows far from the highway. If you take pictures, the latest digital you bought

was chosen specifically to get the best possible images of small birds in treetops with lousy lighting. You set aside time and/or money for specific birding trips: Florida, lower Rio Grande, southeast Arizona, Cape May, Point Pelee, Alaska, Costa Rica, South Africa. Your world geography is now oriented toward species to be seen per day in the field. In some new city for a business meeting? What birds can you see within a half-day of your hotel? You keep lists and can be prone to list envy of other birders who've been to Churchill in Canada or the Galapagos. Hiring a local guide in a new location is just wise use of your time in the field.

6) Fanatic. Whatever time and money you have goes into birding. Everywhere. Global and continental lists.The totals runs into the hundreds, then thousands. Best binoculars and telescope you can afford. Hotel quality matters much less than nearness to good birds. You begin to collect stories of hurricanes, wind storms, vehicle breakdowns, translation problems, border crossings. Anywhere new you make local contacts, hire guides if possible, keep a list of all birds plus any lifers (new birds seen) on each day, each trip, each location. Your birding library outweighs any car you might own, and matters a lot more.

Which species of birder are you?