5 Life Lessons You Can Learn from Birding (Birdwatching)

Birding (or birdwatching as some prefer to call it) is one of the fastest-growing recreational activities in the world. Finding and identifying birds is an engaging, often social activity that can help you develop an appreciation for the outdoors and the environment. Here are some benefits and life lessons you might not expect to learn from birding.

Learning to expect the unexpected.
For as much as human beings have learned about birds over the years, birds will continually surprise you in their behaviors, variation in appearance even within a single species and the beauty of their actions and movement. Most of all, birds sometimes turn up in unexpected places, making the opportunity to find an unusual or rare species one of the potential joys of birding. Birds teach us that not all of life needs be predictable or boring. Keeping that anticipatory spark alive through activities like birding can make life more rewarding and enjoyable.

Discovering a sense of wonder
Whether it is listening to birds chirp to each other as they migrate through blackness of night, or seeing a pair of cranes dance and mate in the light of a rising dawn, birding raises our sense of wonder at the miracle of life. Using your senses; sight, hearing, even touch and smell to find and study birds stimulates the human mind in ways that develop our capacity for learning.

Finding ways to share the joy
Many birders love to share that sense of wonder and discovery with one another. That is why birding groups are popular. Going out in the field to find birds with other people is both a social and an educational experience. These social tendencies exist as well among birds, which gather in flocks to find and share resources. Some species such as crows and geese have been shown to maintain extended family or group relationships. Cedar waxwings will pass berries up and down a line of birds until one finally eats it. Sharing the joy makes life more enjoyable for almost all living creatures.

Maintaining a sense of humility
Even when people become expert birders and are able to identify almost any species by sound or visual glimpse in the field, they can still be prone to make mistakes. This is true in any field, but the pressures of birding provide a unique training ground for the mind. Birders are often forced to gather reams of information in an instant to accurately identify a passing bird. That can be where humility ultimately comes in. Learning to admit you that what you thought was a small hawk was "only" a passing mourning dove can teach you the value of humility. Humility is in fact a form of mental discipline that can be applied to all phases of life.

Building on your experience
As birders spend more time in the field, they learn to identify common species quickly. That can help you determine accurately when something interesting or rare shows up. Many birders also develop the ability to identify birds by ear. Learning the call notes and songs of birds can help you identify them even when they cannot be seen. Learning to properly use and maintain your birding equipment is also an important practice. Birding equipment can include expensive optics, cameras, scopes, tripods and technical gear like recorders, smart phones and recording equipment. Using these tools can add to your experience, but it can also increase the difficulty and expertise required to be successful. Building on your experience in all these areas encourages you to be resourceful in these endeavors and hopefully become a trusted ally in your field.

Birding has grown in popularity because it brings you closer to nature in so many ways. But it can also bring you closer to your true nature, teaching lessons about awareness, social dynamics and learning that are valuable in many areas of your life.