For the last century, birders have relied on books to increase their knowledge base and improve their field identification skills. Smartphones and the internet are rapidly changing that.
I confess, for us old farts, it’s a tough adjustment. I can certainly appreciate apps like Merlin, eBird and iNaturalist, but I still prefer to make my own mistakes rather than let AI do the work. I fear that the more dependent I get on my smartphone, the more my personal skills will erode.
Nonetheless, modern technology has its advantages. Instead of a guidebook in the car, I have David Sibley’s “Birds of North America” downloaded on my smartphone. It’s a pocket guide that actually fits in my pocket.
While researching material for this column, I routinely look up birds online at AllAboutBirds.org. This website is provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is my go-to for refreshing my memory and digging up fun birding facts.
I’m not too proud to take self-improvement classes, also available through the Cornell Lab. I recently enjoyed a superb webinar on confusing fall warbler identification. That was ten bucks well spent.
Books and lectures show every feature and field mark important for making a correct bird identification. I secretly snicker at the pristine clarity of the illustrations. In the real world, birds don’t make it easy to see those details. The little twerps are typically hiding in the treetops, submerging out of sight or flying by in a blur. They seldom hold still long enough to see those important field marks.
This is why I started a YouTube channel.
Birds give off more ID clues than AI can reliably process. There are tricks and shortcuts for identifying uncooperative birds, and they are not often discussed in traditional media. I’ve posted about 130 videos on YouTube so far, and many of them share the secret clues used by experienced birders.
Some of my videos address the common identification mistakes made by birders at all experience levels. I happen to be an expert on mistake-making, since I’ve made them all.
Apparently, viewers agree. The most popular video I ever posted is titled, “The absolute worst way to identify a bird.” It’s been viewed nearly 50,000 times.
Of course, that’s not the only popular content I’ve posted. Sexy bird species like loons, owls, and puffins always draw an audience. And dramatic encounters also grab attention — like the American goshawk that attacked me on camera a few years ago.
Knowing how to identify a bird is of prime importance, but knowing where to find a bird is also key. Apps can’t do that. That’s why I make videos about where to look, both by habitat and geography, especially in Maine.
My channel is approaching a million views and 14,000 subscribers — proof enough that some people are finding the content useful.
There are other birding channels worth watching, and some that aren’t. As with most YouTube productions, the quality of the content varies widely according to the skill of the creator. I’ve learned that birding expertise doesn’t make up for a lack of film-making expertise.
I cringe when I look at some of my earliest videos. Even worse, YouTube provides statistical feedback on just exactly how fast viewers get bored with each video.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time watching YouTube videos from elsewhere. If I’m planning a birding trip out-of-state, I search for videos about that destination. Sometimes, when I travel there, I produce one as well.
I’ve been surprised at how popular the videos I’ve done about Oregon, Florida, North Carolina, and New Jersey turned out to be.
With that in mind, I focus on showing where and how to bird in Maine, hoping more people discover the extraordinary opportunities here. Even many Mainers don’t know about some of these adventures.
I’m not the only one. Maine Audubon naturalist Doug Hitchcox started a YouTube channel recently. He focuses on skill improvement, and offers advice on how to use the tools available to modern birders. As a Maine-based YouTuber, his videos are of particular interest locally.
It’s one thing to write about or talk about birding tips. It’s another to show them — seeing is believing.
Ultimately, whether it’s YouTube videos or Bangor Daily News columns, my message is always this: birding is easier, more fun and more accessible than you think. It’s the kind of advice I wish I’d had when I was younger.