Birdwatching also called as birding, is a recreational activity of watching birds. This could be done just through naked eye or through binoculars. Birdwatching is predominantly done through ears as a bird watcher hears the bird and then scans his eyes to the area where the sound was heard. This activity is either for recreational purpose or for study of birds.
At the heart of Europe, Serbia has the reputation of nesting different habitats from forests to swamps to gorges. With wonderful nature in abundant, there is wildlife at large that make Serbia, Europe’s biodiversity hotspot. More than 360 birds have been found in Serbia out of which 40% birds are nest in Serbia. There are about five endangered species such as Imperial Eagle, the ferruginous Duck, Great Bustard, Lesser Kestrel and Corn Crake. Every May, the Great Day Of Birds competition is held in Serbia where a competitor spots many species wins. Also in October, Euro birdwatch takes place too.
Not all bird watchers are called by the same name. Generally, birds are spotted during bird migration which is a seasonal movement. The migration happens at certain timing and is genetically controlled. This is a physiological cue that the birds get during a time interval due to hormonal changes. The orientation and navigation is based on the Hotel Booking Software bird’s senses. The birds use sun as a compass and travel at the right time to reach the right place.
There are three types of bird watching:
Birder – A person who seriously dos the hobby of birding is a Birder. This person could be professional or an amateur.
Birding – This is a hobby pursued by any individual who enjoys bird listing, bird study and other activities of the birds.
Bird – watcher – This term is used for a person who just enjoys watching the birds for no reason at all. This person is not a birder, yet enjoys finding and watching birds.
Bird watching activities
Birds are often watched during their migration period or when birds travel to their nesting locations. Monitoring birds helps a lot in scientific research where one can learn the changes that happen every year which could be an impact in climate change, predation and diseases. Environmental education is also a useful subject that is learnt through bird watching. They help us by giving messages about the fragility of ecosystem. Competitive events for birdwatching are classified into many types Dectar Big day (teams have a maximum of 24 hours to find the birds), Big Year and even Big sit or Big stay.
Big Day – Bird watchers are divided into teams and each team is given an entire day to find the birds. The team that find the maximum birds wins.
Big Year – Similar to big day, but the only difference is it is played by individuals.
Big Sit – Also known as Big Stay, bird watchers are allowed to find birds from a particular diameter. Once the birds are found from that diameter the contestants move away from that diameter.
For birdwatching, apart from naked eye and listening skills, few equipment’s are used such as binoculars, tripod, spotting scope, field guides and notepads. Recognition of bird sounds is very important as it helps in watching, locating and even identifying the birds. Photography has always been a part of bird watching where the pictures are taken professionally. Technology has grown up so much that bird watching could be video graphed or viewed through web cam or even media players. Now a days, not only Ornithologists watch birds using such equipment. Even amateurs and bird lovers use at least something basic like binoculars and telescopes to watch birds.
Bird watching is a very relaxing and sooth calming activity that helps a person to move away from the craziness that is around the world and instead one can peacefully hear to the birds and find them and share a smile with fellow bird watchers. Not only grownups, kids also like to watch the birds and by knowing more about them from the Internet, they learn a lot and gain interest in the subject. This in turn helps them develop a social responsibility towards nature and especially birds.
One could even watch courtyard birds in a backyard. By having basic things like a binocular and bird feed, any bird lover could watch the birds that are flying in the backyard. The first step is in a particular season, say spring, any bird lover should sprinkle bird feed and wait and watch for birds to come and eat them. This is the right time to study about birds like Cardinal, sparrow, pigeons, dove, blue jays etc.,
For bird watchers, there is bird watching etiquette that has become a must now a days. Since bird watchers have grown in large numbers, being responsible to the nature has become a big concern. Sometimes bird watchers are asked to cut on the photography, maintaining distance from the nests, not trespassing and so on. There are various bird watcher associations too that help fellow birders to discuss more about migrating birds and ways to see them.
Some common bird species found in Serbia are urban birds, grassland and shrub land birds, water birds, woodland birds, agriculture birds and so on. Bird watching is an art and always intrigues a special interest in a bird watcher as it excites them every time they watch a particular bird.