Birder vs. Bird Watcher: Which One Are You?

Is there a difference between a birder and a bird watcher? Although the differentiation may be a bit blurry, here is our take on birder vs. bird watcher. Which one are you?

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Cayer FP2450 Fluid Head Tripod, 75 inches Aluminium Tripod
Derek's lighter tripod

Andoer Video Tripod Aluminum Alloy 67 Inch
Derek's heavier tripod

Nikon D5300
Derek's vlogging and macro camera

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Derek's external microphone for Nikon D5300

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Thanks to Terry Sohl for allowing us to use his range maps

Cover images edited

Guy on right by seabamirum (CC by 2.0)

Guy on left by Tim Bartel (CC by 2.0)

All other photos and videos by Derek and Ryan Sallmann

#Birding #BirdWatching #BadgerlandBirding

[torinkyifh]

Birdwatcher: admiring the Snowy Owl sightings
Birder: asking the local airport if we can look for Snowies from the terminal and being embarrassed after being rejected lmao

[litalewis]

😊 I'm a bird watcher. You and others are my birder guide to my backyard fun out my kitchen window. I'M NOT going in the snowy, freezing weather to track anything down! 🥰 Thanks to you guys and Leslie the bird nerd and others for doing that for us! I love how you all work together and share your information, videos and photography. The world needs more people with "birder character" 💛💛💛

[Hummingbirder]

I'm a birder... imo we also have the higher echelon: the ornithologist. For me they are the ones that makes a living studying birds, I mean deep study. Writing books, doing lectures, probably also those working in the field banding birds, putting transmitters on them a s o. You know, deeper studies, not only being experts ID'ing them.

[Marleydia]

I’m 2 years new to Birding and Bird photography. I’d call myself a birder who is striving to take good habitat pictures. 99.9% of the birding community has been very gracious and welcoming. There is that small group that doesn’t like bird photographers for some reason. But I think we are all out there for the same reason! Love of nature! As long as everyone is respectful of the birds and not causing stress or harm to view or photography them, it’s all good!

[kennethmcdonald]

Oh there is a huge difference .I will go and see an unusual bird at one of my wife's many feeders out of curiosity when she mentions it .She on the other hand is the birder in the family .She is the one putting up numerous types of birdhouses, monitoring her Bluebird trails and Purple Martin colonies, planting wildlife beneficial shrubs and trees in her wildlife habitats and going down in the woods and swamps for hours on end to look for more birds to add to her list .I am a bird watcher she is a birder .See the difference in the two ? I can barely tell the difference in sparrow species at her feeders .She on the other hand can easily tell individual ones who are regular visitors by sight not just species .To my eyes they all look the same but to her they all have different personalities .The birds themselves know the difference between us humans .If I go outside they all fly off immediately but she has a lot of them who land on her and eat out of her hand .She is a state licensed wildlife rescuer /rehabilitator and works with many species of birds from hummingbirds up to Bald Eagles .I am not going near the beaks and claws of the raptors .The same goes for her pet parrots .Once is enough for me when it comes to them . Her normally sweet Cockatoo decided I was a chew toy and had him some real fun at my expense .He adores his human mama and would never attempt that with her for one second out of a deep bond of over 25 years and respect for his handler and trainer .Even the birds easily know the difference in the two types of bird people .

[TOWERS]

Sorry to bring this up, but there's also the nature lover, we mix with bird watchers and birders just fine 👍😁

[JuliaMinoda]

Definitely a birder here. I'm not always super active, because I'm not a very outdoors-y person, but when I do, I can tell people which birds are from the same family or genus, where to find them, and I also go hunting for birds as much as I can.

Unfortunately, I'm often too anxious to really go out there for wild birds, because I feel like I'm not "a real birder", but it's ok, I'm slowly working my way through it.

[markheatherington]

Never gave it much thought, but I mostly refer to it as twitching or bird nerding. Having been doing wildlife photography (primarily birds) full time since 2016 currently I refer to it as going broke :))

[pauraque]

Here is my ranking (it descends in a logarithmic scale of insanity btw)

1. Your grandmother
2. Person who says "have you seen the eagle/owl/hawk around?"
3. Pet parrot
4. "Wildlife" photographer
5. Bird watcher
6. David Attenborough
7. Birder
8. Twitcher
9. NFC people
10. Larophiles

[randyadventure]

Both! I can't imagine not observing the birds as well as adding them to a list. On Saturday, I saw a Slaty-backed Gull for the first time -- LIFER! 🤣 -- and stood in awe, wanting to watch it for as long as possible. It was pretty exciting to see, and it was a first record for the state in which I live. I would imagine most of us are both birder and bird watcher. Keep up the great videos!

[richardnaber]

Birder is one who consumes gasoline to see birds

[PixelAquarium]

Personally I think two terms are interchangeable and that anyone who takes an interest in viewing birds in their natural habitat is worthy of being called a birder of birdwatcher.

[RoyceMarcus]

Definitely think there needs to be careful talk around this. Sure you could try to draw a line somewhere, but think that largely misses the point as people on either side can enjoy. And it can create some hierarchy, bird-elitism, or "high church" attitudes which i don't think is healthy or inclusive. However "Birds and Us" by Tim Birkhead goes into some of these layers a bit deeper.

[BroshearFamily]

I am definitely a birder, if I see an unusually sized hawk or a call or chirp I've never heard, i'm out there with my binoculars.

[lanalorenzen]

The difference, too, is what kind of equipment and amount of travel one can afford. I’ve watched the movie, The Big Year, three times. I also have the book. How many people can afford to take a year off and spend that much money? I wish I could.

[jackiejones]

Yall are the heroes to my bird watching/birding 'habits'🐦🦆🦅🕊 Thank you for all of the educational and entertaining videos that help me with my bird habits😊

[Sylvelourie]

It's kind of hard to say which one I am. I'm fascinated with birds and try to learn as much as I can about them (and I'm that bird nerd who's always got random bird facts to share, whether you want them or not), but when it comes to the local birds I'm more of a bird watcher. I love seeing the birds and pay attention to them but I don't go out of my way to look for certain kinds per se. I do, however, go out of my way to see and learn about different bird species at zoos and bird sanctuaries. I have made plans to visit zoos, aquariums, bird shows and other destinations specifically to see birds... including frequent trips to the local store just to visit the owner's birds and the babies. I guess I'm just not much of the outdoorsy birding type. :)

[Mrbeat-]

So... Bird-Watcher = Casual and Birder = Gamer. Got it.

[MrTmiket]

Thanks for sharing another wonderful video like always, I am definitely a birder and a bird photographer, I love to learn about habits, migration and everything about birds including taking artistic pictures of my bird subjects 🐦❤️🤗

[Stukin_The_Pines]

I was a BIRDER (capital letters) for many years. Now I have become a birder (small letters).
This decrease in current status is due to many years of being alive, along with several minor
infirmities accumulated along the way.
And if the time arrives when I become a bird watcher - well, nothing wrong with that either.