How to Infiltrate the Weird World of Birdwatching
There is a type of bird called a brood parasite, which as a reproductive strategy lays its eggs in the nests of other birds and leaves them to do the parenting. Thus some unsuspecting sparrows or warblers end up raising a conspicuously large cowbird or cuckoo (whence comes cuckold), usually at the expense of the host birds’ own offspring.I, too, am an impostor. I have walked among the hardcore birders and been accepted as one of their own, despite my oversized lack of knowledge and clashing plumage of inexperience. “Anything good today?” a bebinoculared stranger asked me recently on my lunchtime walk in the park. “Two Magnolias, a Black-and-White, and a nice Blue-Headed Vireo,” I replied, as if I’d been speaking this nonsense language my whole life. And here’s the crazy part — I actually knew what I was talking about. I really did see those birds, and identified them all by myself!
You can, too, and getting there may be easier than you think.How Do I Start?
I have two key suggestions for anyone interested in taking up birding. One is more philosophical; the other, entirely practical.1. Let go of self-consciousness.
This is the biggest impediment most new birders face, and it cuts in two directions. On one hand, it can feel pretty silly to stand around craning your neck up at the trees while joggers and parents with strollers maneuver around you. On the other hand, the encyclopedic expertise of longtime birders can be intimidating and may leave you wondering if you’re a poser. (Even with no one around to judge, the learning curve for spotting and identifying birds can frustrate beginners easily — more on tackling that later.)
My advice in the former case is to remember that anyone who sees you out birding either doesn’t care or is extremely jealous. As for the latter, I like to recall this morsel from the introduction to Kenn Kaufman’s field guide:
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