When I wrote my last post about NJ birding, I mentioned that there were two factors that make NJ a great birding spot: its geographic location and the different habitats found in a small state. There is a third factor that I’d like to throw into the mix — NJ has an unusually high number of really good and really active birders (maybe due to those first two factors). More birders means more eyes which means more birds are found.
We have a lot of birders in NJ, but we’ve got nothing on the UK!
Looking at the archives of JerseyBirds, the NJ listserv, for the month of October I count 109 different posters and many of those people posted more than once. There is representation from birders in every county and sightings in every county, as far as I can tell. I can also easily name 20 very active birders I know who don’t post to JerseyBirds at all. Most of these people are really good birders too, whose sightings you can rely on. Comparing the Cal Birds list for California, I count about 30 different posters for October.
And let’s not forget about Cape May. Just look at this list of names that call the Cape May area home: Richard Crossley, Clay and Pat Sutton, Michael O’Brien, Kevin Karlson, Louise Zemaitis, Mike and Megan Crewe, and Mark Garland… and that doesn’t include the birders who cut their teeth here as interns or seasonal counters. David Sibley also called Cape May home at one time. So not only is Cape May a great spot to go birding, it’s also very well covered by a lot of birders who know way more than me. Lots of birds are seen and reported through this great network of birders and can be easily tapped into through the Cape May Bird Observatory Twitter feed.
While I doubt that NJ has the most birders in the country, I do think we’re in the running for the most birders per square mile. How does your state stack up?
I have seen this picture before and made the same comment before – the striking thing about it is the absence of women, except for the one front and center (I wonder if the photographer consciously or unconsciously highlighted the blonde – or maybe it was a feminist commentary?)
Women make up a slight and growing majority of birders in NJ (and probably the US). If birding societies were smart, they’d stop targeting “youth” and focus on middle aged women – that’s where the $$$, the volunteer hours, and the letter writers are situated.
Hi Susan. You’re absolutely right of course and your suggestion is a really interesting one. However I just wanted to say that the other interesting thing about the photo (which was taken in the UK at a major twitch) is how few young, black or Asian faces there are either. Twitchers aren’t a totally representative sample of the UK’s ‘birdwatchers’ but pretty close to it. We are failing over here to engage widely with all sectors too, and if we want to win the fight for habitat protection and biodiversity it’s a fight we badly need to win.
I love both issues the comments bring up (and that photo – it cracks me up). It’s interesting how in the area I currently live in there seems to be more women active in the Audubon chapter, but there are more men going out and actually birding and getting the hard data. I’m not sure why this is, as a young woman I find the men accommodating, kind, and willing to share sightings and patiently help one find a bird they’re looking at. I do find often that the women will state they don’t have the time due to even adult children or a dying husband.
I also find it odd that there seems to be a general gap of trying to get older teens and 20-something-year-olds into birding – they might have less current time (family, jobs), but some of them have money as well. They do have the time to build to expert knowledge, years of experience. Many are into related outdoor activities such as high peak hiking, geocaching, or skiing. That photo doesn’t show a single adult under the age of probably 35-40 (the woman’s age is difficult to guess). In my own environmental education volunteering I’ve been demanded to keep my birding presentations geared towards the toddlers!
I’ll name that twitch in one(Eastern Crowned Warbler, Trow Quarry, October 2009) the picture was taken on the first morning I think when the 200 or so twitchers present pretty much represented the ‘hard core’ plus a few locals.
I wrote about the lack of women in UK birding some time back and whilst the tone of the post was slightly tongue in cheek recommending some of my peers relocate to the US where all the hot chick birders were, there was a serious point behind the post and Charlie has highlighted it with the word ‘engagement’. However a visit to the British Birdfair would result in a much more balanced view albeit far from 50:50 so things are improving.
Patrick, I would hope NJ has the most birders per square mile given that it has the most people per square mile. Otherwise, NJ would be considered below average in birder saturation! But that’s splitting hairs, your point is well taken.
Birding as an old white guy hobby is certainly a concern. My small group of birding/nature geeks is gender, age, and lifestyle diverse (we’re all under forty, more than half are female, and one regular is gay), but we’re all pasty white. When we go on field trips with birding groups we certainly feel like we’re being stared at. I’m not saying that to complain or feel victimized, just pointing out how out-of-place young, tattooed, flamboyant people are at birding outings. Birders are the most welcoming and non-judgmental groups of people I’ve ever met, but it’s unfortunate that folks like us are such an anomaly, given that we’re the ones likely to still be here in 30 years.
Birding may be one of the fastest growing hobbies in America, but if the pool of recruits are all retirees, where is the future?
All of which has nothing to do with the awesomeness of Cape May and New Jersey, which was the point of Patrick’s post…
Eh, jersey’s ok. New York is where the action is really at though. And, clearly, either state is better then any other.
California? Earthquakes and wildfires.
Texas? Please. Can you say W?
Arizona? Boycotting it.
Florida? Hurricanes.
Anywhere else even in the running? Nope. New York wins by a landslide!
Could you be so kind as to tell all those nice birders to come and see the wonderful Ecuadorian Choco endemics? Pretty please?
When I got to this page my reaction was the same as Susan’s–where are the women? (I was able to pick out two, possibly three, after several minutes of staring). My experience has been that women tend to be in the minority on “chases” (or “twitches”). I have no idea why. Well, I do have ideas but they involve depressing gender stereotypes, so I am waiting to be struck by much better, happier ideas.
As someone who regularly birds both NJ and NYS, what I find amazing is the maps in birders’ heads that keep them from birding the state across the Hudson. Jamaica Bay is actually closer to North and Central Jersey birders than Cape May. But, many NJ birders look at me in amazement when I suggest they bird it. And, NYC birders think I am crazy when I suggest the Great Swamp or Sandy Hook. Is it the tolls? The state lists? Or intense birder-state loyalty?
Donna, lol, Jamaica Bay is on Long Island, TWO islands out! It is reached by vile roads like the Belt Parkway (with two tire tracks worn into the concrete). You have to crawl over two immense bridges. It is non-stop superhighway, top speed, aggressive driving.
If I’m going to bird NY state, it’s going to be in the Catskills or the Sterling Forest area. Long Island looms in everyone’s mind from that last trip they drove to JFK airport, and swore they’d never do it again.
🙂
Wait a second! Did a jerseyite just complain about highways? In New York? I think this might be the first sign of the apocalypse!
You also have to remember that birdwatching tends to bring out the competative nature of males. I think thats why more males than females chase, simply so that they can call up their friends later and say what they now have on their life lists that their friends don’t.
SOMEONE GET COREY TO MICHIGAN – PRONTO!!!
“New York wins by a landslide”?
I’d say against Michigan, NY goes down LIKE a landslide! Nothing beats the Great Lakes.
:-))
Will, that is the stereotyped thinking I was trying to avoid, but it appears to be true. A study was done of gender patterns in birding which concluded that gender differences might be attributed to the male need for achievement versus the female need to contribute to society and appreciate nature. The thing is…I really enjoy chasing a good bird and then bragging to my friends about it. And, I am a gurrrrl. (The study, btw, is Cooper, C. B., and J. A. Smith. 2010. Gender patterns in bird-related recreation in the USA and UK.
Ecology and Society 15(4): 4. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss4/art4/)
Well, who woulda thunk that the picture I put on would have caused such a flow of comments? I seriously just googled “birders” and picked the first photo with lots of birders I could find. Everyone raises great points here.
Alan’s right about the BirdFair, it was a really interesting cross-section of people.
On a slightly different note I was talking to someone the other day (apologies, I forget who it was – perhaps Alan himself?) but they said that the majority of young conservation graduates coming out of UK universities were women. Whether that’s encouraging or not I’m not sure – encouraging that more females are into conservation or discouraging that fewer males are? We need both of course – but that hasn’t really translated into twitching or even birding over here. Maybe they’re too busy saving stuff to actually have time to go and look at it!