Bird Watching Life Lists And Why You Need Them
What exactly is a bird watching life list? It’s a list that bird enthusiasts keep as a record. A bird watching life list can be very useful because it tracks all your activities as a birder. It assumes importance if you are in the process of doing some kind of a study on a particular bird. It also serves as a tool if you have to later refer to or use some information.
A bird watching life list can be very useful because it tracks all your activities as a birder.
Initially, in the first stages, a new birdwatcher will probably just look at birds and enjoy them. This is the early just-observing stage. Then comes the curious stage when you want to know a bit more about the birds you are observing. This is when you start getting interested in the different habits of the birds and the way they look and behave. This is when you will need to start your journal so that you can put your notes down and not forget what you have observed. It is a ready reference for later when you need to track a particular bird. At this stage the hobby is enjoyable and yet it has gone into a more serious stage of writing down what you see. Very often, the bird watcher is observing birds without any equipment because it still has not reached a serious level yet.
From bird watcher to birder is when it gets serious, Suddenly, there is a more professional aspect to everything. Now, there comes the question of what gadgets and equipment to buy. Birders take their binoculars and scopes and even more fancy equipment seriously. They are passionate about their birds and they are serious about the equipment used to watch them. So it is natural that with such passion, they will keep copious notes as well. Considering that a birder will be extra enthusiastic and walk many miles to observe a bird he has been following, he will also be very particular about keeping his records.
A life list is something where all the information about the birds that have been watched is kept. This could be a written list or an electronic list. The life list classifies the bird and puts down all the dates when the bird sightings were made. It usually has a record of the bird’s activities and what special observations were made. In short, it is a history of the birder’s watching.
The great thing about a list like this is that one can always go back to it for reference and one can also modify it if there is a change in the observation of patterns or habits. As a birder keeps observing, he will realize that his way of looking at birds starts getting more professional and more scientific. This data is sure to help a birder as he goes along compiling what he sees in the course of his watching.
A list like this is not only beneficial for the birder concerned but also for others. With so many different birds, so many species, so many different habitats and habits, each person’s observation is so important in the larger scheme of things. As more observe more closely, the more scientific the study of birds becomes.