Why birding needs gatekeepers

Gatekeeping in birding is a complicated topic, but we'll break it down by talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of it.

[willvalentine]

Thank you for sharing this information, Doug.

“The most people seeing the most birds” is an admirable goal. I think treating new birders with respect and patience is the best way to encourage them to be mindful of the animals’ well being. I remember when I first started, I met major roadblocks with gatekeepers as well. It was discouraging because these people seemed to assume I would harm birds or mistreat them simply by knowing where to find them.

I’m happy videos like this existed as a form of encouragement for new birders who may have experienced something similar.

[mister-bland]

Your approach to set up a google form is genius. While bad individuals can cause distress to a bird when alone, massive crowds of well behaved people can be just as hectic. Too many people is simply overwhelming for locals and wildlife. Metering the traffic is a great solution. I suppose the only downside is that some birds don't hang around too terribly long, so metering may result in later scheduled people missing the opportunity.

[maineroads]

Well done, Doug. A service to the birding community. Thanks

[SparkyStensaas]

A very thoughtful discussion. I totally agree with you. But in the Sax-Zim Bog, we take a little bit of a different view. We share locations of all Northern owls in the 300 mi.² bog. As you probably know, we are famous for Great Grays, Hawk owls, Snowies and Boreal owls sometimes. We realize that seeing one of these birds is a bucket list/peak experience for many visitors and we want to help them get that. They have spent a lot of money to get here and we want to facilitate their best owl and bird experience.

Most of these owls are very tolerant of people, of course, and most are on public land or roads. We are not the police of the bog and birders have to police themselves. It works 99% of the time.

So just a little bit of a different perspective.

PS good work on being the gatekeeper for the willow Tarmigan in Maine. I saw that on Ethan and Ingrid‘s video. I think that is the perfect example of necessary gatekeeping.

[JJs-ClassC-Adventures]

One major problem associated with sharing a location on private property is the rudeness of bird watchers in a homeowner's yard. I witnessed "bird watchers" entering the yard with huge cameras and sitting in the owner's lawnchairs. They setup cameras and proceeded to eat burritos while dropping food on the lady's chairs. She came out and asked them not to sit in her chair. They acted like she was in the wrong. To see a bird, stand on your own feet and leave the camera behind. You don't need a photo. Just enjoy the bird.

[ryanbeck]

I think you're correct. Controls give the birders and the birds the best experience possible. Bird remains unstressed with limits on crowds and bad behaviour thus increasing the chances more will be able to see said species.

[thisisme]

Some very good points and I actually moved out of the area I first started birding due to the actions of some self-appointed gatekeepers. I generally bird alone and when something rare is announced I generally do not go to look, mob style birding is not to my liking. I remember the obnoxious looks and comments from some old school birders who did not like cameras. I also met a very elderly man who was using his first camera after 70 years of birding but kept it hidden because his "old" companions did not approve. His eyes and ears and memory were going and for him to get clear sighting required the camera. We had a woman who became a well known local gate keeper, she only told her friends where certain birds were as long as they agreed to tell her when they found something special. At the same time some amazing young birders went onto university and became biologist and photographers and guides, people would discount these young birders as being know it all's but most of them were good caring people who are credit to the fields they work in.

[lindap]

Good video, Typically I'm content to just watch the birds that I happen upon. I have chased rare birds, but only those very close to me. A year or so ago a red-shanked bluetail showed up in a Seattle suburban neighborhood about 3 miles from me. Birders and photographers paid little attention to private property. They caused traffic problems, parked on private property, chased the bird over fences and through gardens. In the process getting "Nancy's" neighbors angry with her. Eventually "Nancy" roped off a viewing area in her own back yard and scheduled visits.

[Adasaur]

I'm still fairly new to birding and I'm mostly a solo birder, so even having led a few bird walks consisting of two dozen people tops, shots like this (4:23) I still find jarring. It's kinda surreal the number of people who'll turn up to a small area – some having come from as far as other states or regions of the country – to look for a single bird, complete with all the gear. I've only chased local rarities twice, and the furthest I've gone was just two towns over to see a roseate spoonbill (in the Northeast). Definitely worth it for the experience of visiting somewhere new, but at least that place was a local Audubon center so it felt kinda natural to have crowds of people gathering to look at a bird. Couldn't picture that same experience in a regular park I frequent or even someone's neighborhood; the thought seems overwhelming.

[shell]

Your videos are great and very informative! Thank you for taking the time to make them. ❤ I am in NH

[thomasz]

Familiar story in the Netherlands as well. I sometimes am a gatekeeper myself, when I think the situation is vulnerable for the bird in question (especially owls). Oh, and we have the occasional rare visitor from North America over here. Mostly ducks like the canvasback but also the ring-billed gull or the song sparrow.

[wildbillgreen]

I don’t understand the enjoyment in chasing around an owl with 50 other birders. But that’s just me. I like the solitude of wild places and using an app to find birds just doesn’t seem to fit with the whole experience of being out in nature. Also not using e bird is probably why I never see anything😊 Great topic.

[chleb]

I'm not a super experienced birder by any means but I am always very conflicted on sharing rarities still. Even birds I see who are tolerant of my presence don't seem to enjoy my presence, especially not if they can tell I see them. I'm often scared to sit and watch the same bird for more thana short time for fear of stressing them. I know not everyone is like this and especially some photographers are very inconsiderate so I'm always hesitant.

[David_Quinn]

its a necessary part of birding, Imagine if I had a bald eagle nesting in my back yard and I shared it with 1 birder. I would have 1000s of people lined up to go photograph it.

[Bitternbirdwatching]

4:12 I cannot express to you the amount of times that a great and rare bird has shown up somewhere and all the caption says is “continuing”

[JohnDoe-lgmh]

Very sad to say that I have seen first hand far too many times that people were doing/being horrible. I only know a very few people that I trust to share info about birds to. Earlier, there was a bird that only comes up to a small area of the west coast. During the first week, there were crowds 30+. I just walked away as the chance of seeing the bird with such a crowd was very unlikely and did not want to add to the chance of making the bird go away. I went back a week later. There would only be 3 or 4 people. It was a thrill to see the bird and the bonus was that I managed a few nice images. Disgusted when people do not respect other property or the welfare of the bird. What a thrill when a bird comes in and it just 2 or 3 feet away from me. Gatekeepers are required, whish they were not.

[ashwinv]

Lovely video! Agree completely, the ultimate ojbective of gatekeeping should be to enable more people to enjoy more birds :)

[kevins]

I agree with one commenter that it should be a goal to allow many people to see wildlife. I also understand that many people cannot be trusted to do that without causing harm. I was looking at a Hawaiian Monk Seal and i could clearly see its tag through my long telephoto lens, but the semi-official gatekeeper refused to confirm it's identity. A pointless overreach. Likewise, at the Campbell National Wildlife Refuge, there are many wintering birds and plenty of safe areas for viewing, but the gatekeepers, who have plentiful access, refuse entry to interested bird enthusiasts.

[Octochinchilly]

Thanks! If y’all wanna see the painted bunting y’all are welcome to come to my house in Texas where they’re abundant! We can do rarity trade trips 😂

[RoyceMarcus]

Great video. The birding elitism/high church attitude is always frustrating - but certainly not unique to birding. Jerks are in all aspects of life.

I do have a question around sensitive species. You mentioned ebird can surpress these reports.
-Is this automatic? If so - who governs those?
-My interpretation of this is this will be hidden in all fassits of ebird including: rare bird alerts, targets, etc. But assume it would not hide checklists. Is that correct?

Thanks, Doug!