Going along with the concept of making promises at this time of year, here are 25 of the birdiest resolutions I could come up with. Feel free to add yours in the comments!
- When there is doubt surrounding whether one should go birding, go birding.
- Honour land and all that is within it – be kind to all things.
- Common birds are birds too.
- Practice binocular lifting exercise to improve bins-to-eye speed.
- Birds being birds is probably the greatest tool for us to see how life unfolded millions of years ago.
- That noise you heard was definitely a bird, enjoy the next two hours scouring xeno-canto.
- Birds are to be spoken about, even with very little provocation in social settings.
- Cats are beautiful and have the right to roam only where they are wild and native. All others are meant to be indoors and constantly cuddled and fussed over.
- Having a personality is still more important than an impressive life list.
- More bird tattoos.
- Enter the 2025 Checklist-a-day Challenge
- Take at least 30 seconds every day to enjoy birdsong. Eyes closed!
- Witness a predator-prey interaction without taking sides.
- Make at least one person stop what they’re doing to enjoy a bird being a bird.
- Find birds in the most unlikely of settings.
- Birding is not a cult. Well, it kinda is, but let’s not tell anyone before they’re properly initiated. I mean inspired.
- Mystery birds exist, and are probably something common. Start by eliminating the most likely suspects.
- Identification mistakes can happen and do not require one to quit birding for the rest of the year.
- Anyone who enjoys birds is a birder. Enjoyment is a welcoming and accepting space, regardless of where one has been or how many species one has seen.
- Contenders for Bird Of The Year are to be taken very seriously.
- At least one item of clothing must be acquired for the sole reason that there is a bird on it.
- When looking at a bird, speak to it. Tell them your secrets, but do not give them your passwords.
- We all smell funny, and look even funnier.
- Use any opportunity to build habitat for wildlife. Start with birds in mind, and their food will move in eventually.
- Continue to be genuinely horrified by the idea of keeping a bird in a cage.
On my personal blog, the idea to do a photo a week came up when I was doing my end-of-year recap post. While this may not apply to everyone, perhaps pushing oneself out of the comfort zone on a more than regular basis can only have positive results. I often either fall into complacence or get distracted doing other things, so I’m trying to stir some self motivation by having others hold me accountable. Will it work? Time will tell!
Either way, hope your 2025 is the birdiest year yet. Happy New Year from all of us at 10,000 Birds.
Faraaz Abdool is a wildlife photographer and writer with a special emphasis on birds - surely due in no small part to his infatuation with dinosaurs as a child. He leads independent small group birding tours to several destinations, from the Caribbean to Central and South America, East Africa, and the South Pacific. His photographs have been widely published in various media, from large format prints for destination marketing to academic journals on poorly documented species. Faraaz is also a bird photography instructor, his online classes run annually each (boreal) winter, and in person workshops are listed on his website: www.faraazabdool.com
26. Rage against the early hours. But get up anyways.
27. Only drink wine from a bottle with a proper cork in it You know why (https://www.10000birds.com/excuse-me-this-wine-has-cork.htm).
28. Write a comment on a 10,000 Birds post at least once per week
29. Inspire the next generation—talk to kids about birds.
30. Lead a bird walk.
31. Join Citizen Science projects.
32. Let someone take a peek through your scope or binoculars. I’ve had people amazed by what they see.