For this final blog post for the course, I’d like to switch gears a bit and talk about a problem facing today’s children and youth. That problem is called Nature-Deficit Disorder. I think from the title, we can all make a solid guess as to what this means.

In 2005, Richard Louv published “Last Child in the Woods”. I remember picking the book up from a used book sale at my local library. It was an interesting and eye-opening read about an issue I knew existed, but never had a name for.

With this book, Louv coined the term Nature-Deficit Disorder to explain the costs of human’s increasing distance from nature. Louv describes the disorder as the following;

“Nature-deficit disorder describes the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illness. This disorder can be detected in individuals, families, and communities.”

~ Richard Louv, “Last Child in the Woods”

According to the Children and Nature Network,

“An expanding body of scientific evidence suggests that nature-deficit disorder contributes to a diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, conditions of obesity, and higher rates of emotional and physical illnesses. Research also suggests that the nature-deficit weakens ecological literacy and stewardship of the natural world.”

Children and Nature Network

Now, you may be thinking. Where do birds fit in? Well, birds are one of the venues that can help children (and adults too!) with NDD by helping them find interest in the natural world.

Ways to Introduce Children to Birding

• The great thing about birding, is that it requires very little equipment (depending on how serious into birding you want to get). To get started birding with children, all you need is a pair of binoculars and an identification book.

• Start in your own backyard. Set up a bird feeder for your child/children that will attract common backyard birds such as Northern Cardinals, Black-capped Chickadees, Chipping Sparrows, Mourning Doves, and Blue Jays. Once your child is able to identify these birds, try venturing out to local forest trails, ponds, parks, etc where your child could encounter these same birds and maybe even spot a new species. Seeing the same types of birds at their home as well as out and about in the world around them will hopefully spark their fascination with birds and the natural world in general.

• Find local nature groups and clubs that organize birding walks. Getting exposure to other people, especially other kids, who are interested in birds will help grow their appreciation for nature.

• Kids love games! Try to make birding into an engaging and rewarding scavenger hunt. You could set a goal for the number of different species your child should try to find. Or you could make a specific list of species you can check off when you see them, or even try to find a bird for every color of the rainbow.

The Benefits of Birding for Children

• Birding grows a sense of wonder and appreciation for nature. This may seem obvious, but it is vital. Birds are the most easily observable type of wildlife. If kids are able to observe and learn about birds, this could spark an appreciation for birds, which grows to an appreciation of nature in general.

• Increased mindfulness and peace. In our fast-paced technology dominated world, time to breathe and live in the moment becomes harder and harder to come by. Especially for children with growing minds, having time to relax and recharge is vital to healthy development. Birding is great because you never know what you’ll see. You could go to the same woodland trail every day and see different bird behaviors on display. It is ever changing and engaging.

• Improvement of physical and mental health. Walking and hiking outdoors to find birds to observe can help fight a great deal of negative health impacts kids face from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Some of these health impacts are heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and depression. Furthermore, being exposed to the natural world, such as when birding, decreases ADHD symptoms.

As you can see, there are clear benefits for children to engage in birding in the natural world. Birding can take place at any time of the year, in any season. The fun part about birding throughout the seasons (depending on where you live), is that you see different birds throughout the year.

I have been focusing my blogs on a lot of bird conservation topics such as protection of endangered species, decreasing window bird strikes, and spreading awareness of the dangers of outdoor cats. However, all of these topics are null and void if no one cares about birds. Sure, you can develop a love and passion for birds and the natural world at an older age, however, think about how much good the human population could do for birds if children grow up learning about them. By the time they are adults, they could change the world for birds and for our planet.

Calling someone a bird brain has been used as an insult for many years.  However, I have never liked this saying.  Being a human fascinated by animal behavior, especially birds, I never understood why it was used in a negative way.  Sure, some bird species aren’t the most intelligent creatures on the planet (looking at you Emu), but there are some incredible behaviors and lifestyles exhibited in many species that brings them to the top of the most intelligent animals list right alongside apes and dolphins.

When birders or ornithologists are asked about bird intelligence, the corvids first come to mind. Corvidae is a family of passerines (perching birds/songbirds) that encompasses crows, ravens, jays, magpies, jackdaws, and more. The corvids are incredibly interesting and complex birds that are the basis of many animal behavior studies and I will focus on examples of their intelligence for this post. However, before we dive into the fascinating world of Corvids, I wanted to throw some other cool examples of bird intelligence at you.

• Roadrunners have been observed waiting underneath or above hummingbird feeders to snag the small birds as they come to feed. 

• The great Skua, a large sea bird, has been observed hiding among newborn seal pups to sneak milk from their mothers

• Green-backed Herons catch insects to use as bait to lure fish to the surface of the water

• Vultures in Zimbabwe staked out spots along barbed wire fences near minefields and waited for gazelles to trigger the explosives.

Also, keep in mind that labeling behavior as intelligence in birds is a bit complex. There are some seemingly incredible behaviors that birds exhibit, and while they are pretty impressive, they are innate rather than learned. A bird that then takes an innate or learned behavior and applies it to a novel situation is where intelligence begins to be examined in that species. For example, many bird species know instinctively that sticks are good for best building (depending on the species), but an intelligent species might realize that the stick could be useful in other ways such as a tool to forage for grubs.

Examples of Corvid Intelligence

(I could write a whole textbook on corvid intelligence, so I selected a few of my favorite examples to ensure this blog doesn’t turn into a book.)

Caching – This behavior is defined as the act of foraging and storing food at cache sites in an individual’s home range for future retrieval. Several bird species other than members of the corvid family display caching behaviors such as chickadees and woodpeckers. However, Crows and Ravens are especially intelligent in this regard. Other species may forget the location of some of their caches, but crows and ravens are much more skilled and methodical in their caching. They not only bury food at specific sites, but they also incorporate an object to the site like a twig or leaf to help them remember where their food cache is. The individual creates a mental image of their cache so they will not forget its location.

Furthermore, individuals will pay attention to others in the area and will try to only cache their food when no one is looking. If another individual spied on their caching site, they will take advantage of the opportunity for an easy snack and dig up other their neighbors caches. They can also exhibit deception by pretending to bury a food item in a fake cache if they are in the presence of others that are spying on them!

Here is a great video showcasing caching behavior!

Funerals – Many people might have heard the fact tossed around the crows and ravens have funerals for members in their community that have died. Like most wild animal facts that spread around social media, the fact is somewhat true. However, it is not exactly as it seems at surface level. While many people view it as mourning behavior, crows will flock to dead individuals in order to gain intel. It is risky to approach a corpse, however. That is why researchers believe that crows who approach dead individuals are trying to figure out what killed the bird and if the threat is still in the area.

Human facial recognition – Through a fascinating study at the University of Washington, it was found that crows can actually recognize human faces and remember the threat level of the individual. Researchers wore unique masks and then trapped, banded, and released young crows at different sites. Over the next five years, researchers walked down paths near these release sites with either a neutral mask (one that wasn’t worn when the young were banded) or one of the “dangerous” masks that the researchers wore when banding the young crows. At first, around a quarter of the crows scolded and dive-bombed the people wearing the dangerous masks.

This % of individuals recognizing the humans increased, and at the three-year mark, 66% of the area crows were now scolding and dive-bombing the dangerous mask wearing researchers. This is an indicator that crows were communicating the threat of the specific masks to other crows. The passing down of knowledge to conspecifics and future generations is a sign of intelligence of a species and the possibility of culture.

If this blog was interesting to you and you want to learn more about bird intelligence, I highly suggest the book “The Genius of Birds” by Jennifer Ackerman. It is an incredible read chock full of examples of fascinating bird behavior. In addition to the book, below is the link to a great documentary about corvid intelligence.

Information presented in this blog was a combination of my own knowledge in the field of animal behavior as well as the following sources:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/10/151003-animals-science-crows-birds-culture-brains/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/describing-someone-birdbrained-misguided-unless-youre-talking-about-emus-180958981/

Well, here we go! You are now entering the mind of a Bird Nerd. Many may think this title would be used in a negative way to poke fun at someone who enjoys observing birds and learning about bird behavior, however, I wear this title as a badge of honor.

Through this blog, I am excited to share with you my passion for birds. I will share birding stories that I experienced, and those of fellow birders. I will also try and advocate for anyone and everyone (especially kiddos!) to fall in love with birds as I have. I will explain why birding is so important for not only us humans, but especially for the birds.

However, in this first blogpost, I’d like to introduce you to the world of birding/birdwatching with a brief overview of the community and some important lingo that I will be using from here on out!

Birders vs. Birdwatchers – What’s the difference?

Before we go over some important terminology, let’s establish an important distinction… Birders vs. Birdwatchers. This is a concept I had no idea about when I first got interested in birds. Using the wrong term for an individual can be taken as an insult by some, so this was an important thing I learned pretty early on.

Birdwatchers

• These folks tend to linger and contemplate the birds they come across, while let the scene unfold in front of them with no specific agenda.
• Usually content with whatever gear they have and do not need the latest and greatest binoculars, cameras, and guides.

Birders

• These individuals are very actively seeking out birds and will think nothing of driving several hours at the news of a specific bird being spotted.
• Numbers matter much more to a birder than a birdwatcher. Birders often keep lists and the most dedicated list taking birders, called “listers”, will record all their sightings and section their lists out by year, season, country, state, county, etc.
• Some birders are even competitive and the ultimate bird obsessed birders will take part in a cross country competition called the “Big Year” where participants try to hold the highest list of bird species seen by the end of the year. The American Birding association Big Year record is a whopping 839 species!

I find it tough to stand squarely on one side. I would say I lean more towards calling myself a Birder, but I am not nearly as hardcore as most. I do keep a yearly list of species I see, but that is more for me than anything else.

The birdwatcher in me appreciates taking in bird behavior as it unfolds in front of me, and just seeing where a day of birding takes me; with no set agenda. Sure, I have days where I am looking for a specific species, but I take my time and enjoy the beauty of nature while still snapping photos and writing down a list of observed species as I go.

Alright, now that we’ve gone over Birders vs. Birdwatchers, here comes the birdy lingo!

Birdy Jargon

Mega: A very rare bird that often attracts birders from across the country or even from other countries!

LBJ: This term stands fro Little Brown Job and this is used while identifying a bird that falls into the category of small, brown, and drab which many songbirds are (especially sparrows)! Oftentimes birders will refer to female or immature birds as LBJ’s as they are very tough to identify accurately.

Lifer: Now this is an important term that will definitely come up in future installments of the Bird Blog. A lifer is a personal first-ever sighting for a birder, and thus warrants addition of that species name to their personal “life list”.

Vagrant: A bird that strays outside of its normal range/migration route. This is an exciting sighting for birders!

Twitcher: A really hard-core birder that will go to great lengths to add a bird to their life list!

Spark bird: A species that triggers a birders lifelong passion for birds!

Nemesis Bird: A bird that constantly eludes a birder despite great efforts.

IBA: Important Birding Area (Location that is considered important in regards to protection of wild bird populations)

Pish/Pishing: A sound a birder makes to try and draw songbirds out for a better look.

Bins: short for Binoculars

BOP: Bird of Prey

Usual suspects: Birds you expect to see in an area each time you go birding there

There are many more terms I could throw at you, but I have shared the terms I feel are most important to help newcomers to this hobby understand us birders.

For anyone who is looking for more insight into birders, here is a fun video poking fun at different birder stereotypes.

I look forward to sharing more birdy knowledge with you for my next blog post. In the meantime, try and tune your senses into the birds around you; nature in general for that matter. You’ll never know what you can see/hear/smell until you really open yourself up to explore! Besides, what better time than now?

#birder #birdwatcher #Birdnerd