Bird watching is a very popular hobby, and many people around the world participate. There are varying levels of commitment. Some people throw up a bird feeder in their yard and enjoy the birds that come to visit. And some people spend hours of their lives traveling to distant places, so they can say they have seen a particular species in person.
I'm pretty new to bird watching. I've been learning the native birds and taking bird walks for about a year now. I have a lot of bird knowledge, but a lot of it focuses on evolutionary relationships, anatomy, reproductive rituals, conservation & breeding endangered species, and nonnative birds. So I'm by no means an expert at the local birds that hang out in my own area or pass through during the year.
One of the tools that I was introduced to, and now use on a regular basis as part of my bird watching is www.ebird.com. Ebird is a data base created from Citizen Science. Citizen Science is when normal people all over the world are invited & encouraged to submit data on sightings and observations from their own areas. It is a powerful thing. No one scientist has the time or money to get to all of these places and see as many animals. But by opening this up to the public, each day there may be hundreds of people around the world who submit a log of what birds they saw in their own area that day. All of the sudden, there is a huge amount of data available on bird population numbers, migration dates and routes, and bird behavior.
Ebird is not the only tool for Citizen Science. There are other organizations that focus on amphibians (Frog Watch USA each spring) or butterflies (Monarch Watch). Many areas of science are staring to open up data submissions to the general public, realizing that dedicated amateur hobbyists can provide a lot of information while they are out and out.
Basically, after you see some birds, you go to www.ebird.com and submit an observation. If you want, you can set up an account, which will allow you to keep track of all your sightings, how many species you have seen, and create charts to show trends in the birds you see.
It is interesting to go back after you've been submitting data for awhile, and run some reports to see which months do you see which birds, and how to the bird population numbers go up and down through the year. You can also compare to other regional data, and see what other cool birds other people are seeing. There are map features to let you know where some of the birds are, if you want to go try to find them yourself.
I suppose I blend a little of both sides of the birding world. I do most of bird watching at home. I put up bird feeders, bird houses, and plant my yard to be hospitable to wildlife. I enjoy seeing which birds come to visit. I do count & document the birds - with a camera and on Ebird. I also do local bird watching walks, alone or in groups, around my town and document those walks. Perhaps as a scientist, I feel that I should do my part to help document which birds are around. These numbers can help other scientist see if bird population numbers are going up or down, or if migration patterns are shifting. In the overall global picture, it can help see if certain bird species are becoming extinct or if there are places where we can help.
I guess for me, that is the main focus of my bird watching. I enjoy getting to see new species that I've never seen before in the wild, but wherever I go I try to count all the birds I see. Even, or especially, those plain drab birds, or the nonnative birds, or the feral birds. After all, those birds are currently living in my ecosystem, and they will play a part in how well those fancier bird species will thrive as well.
