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 Like so many people, my introduction to birds came with my first bird-feeder. From the task of keeping the feeder full of seed, to the mere chance that it was positioned where I could see it easily every time I passed by a particular window, noticing the winged visitors was unavoidable. First came the regular customers. Although I had known what the common birds were, I didn't have to. Anyone can tell that finches and sparrows are different birds, even if you can't name them.
But name them I did - goldfinch, cardinal, blue jay, chickadee, song sparrow, and more. And then something happened - I started noticing the new arrivals that I didn't recognize, who clearly were the out-of-town type, like the rose-breasted grosbeak who visited that year in the beginning of May. It was an electric feeling, and when he didn't return in the following days, I began watching my yard for it to return, or some other newcomer to arrive.
It seems that most birdwatchers were probably introduced to this past time in a similar way, as so many stories reflect. Roger Tory Peterson himself attributed the 'spark' that got him into birds as a kid to the first time he got an up-close view of a Northern Flicker, for instance. And it's these first experiences that are the most memorable by far.
I registered for a course in amateur bird study, and started going on Saturday morning field trips organized by local ornithologists. There were a lot of hints for beginners that I heard and took to heart, as well as a few keys to build my skills.
And continuing that winter, I put up a nest box to make my yard appear more accommodating to bluebirds. When a pair took up residence in the nest box, along with a robin's nest in the shrubs, my backyard became not just a diner for the birds, but a residence. And I had a front-row seat to watching the chicks fledge - a wonder in itself. So clumsy at first and still not sure how to find food for themselves, such young birds keep their cuteness for a while yet at least. It's a sight that is difficult to forget.
So, when the bluebirds left my yard, I wondered where they went. Where did the grosbeak go after stopping off so briefly by my feeder? Maybe it will return - so I will keep the feeder full and my eyes open. And where did the bluebirds go to spend the winter? Hopefully they made it to where they were going and are happy some place warm, because I look forward to their return too.
And when in the coming Spring the bluebirds did not come back, leaving house sparrows to move into the nest box, I inevitably asked "Why?"
And so one might be enticed into the world of bird study. You might even be motivated by the plight of species that biologists report the decline of. Plights like those described in a 2008 report coordinated by BirdLife International: State of the World's Birds. Included in the data is the observation that of almost 10,000 described species, a total of 153 bird species is believed to have become extinct since the year 1500. Avian extinctions are continuing, with 18 species lost in the last quarter of the twentieth century and three more known or suspected to have gone extinct since 2000.
The rate of extinctions on continents appears to be increasing, principally as a result of extensive and expanding habitat destruction. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Threatened Species has, in fact, identified 1,227 species (12% of extant bird species) as globally threatened with extinction. It further identifies 192 species that are critically endangered. And it's not just rare birds that are declining. 
Many people however will (rightly) notice that we humans will continue to change the habitats that we share with birds, the biggest factor in reducing most bird populations. But the hope is that with more knowledge of how birds use their habitats and what their requirements are, we can minimize our impact. Things like wind turbines, scientists are discovering, can have reduced impact on bird populations simply by placing them away from the major migration corridors. And conservationists are busy setting aside "Important Bird Areas" where development is restricted, protecting areas that bird species cannot live without. And we have established (but not always enforced) migratory bird treaties that limit hunting, trapping and poaching of vulnerable bird species.
Conservationists can direct these efforts, based on findings from biologists, but the effort is augmented tremendously by the common efforts of amateur birdwatchers like us. By building communities of birdwatchers in many countries of the world, observations can be shared and disseminated. And those observations can be studied by biologists to estimate population sizes and distributions, and track vagrant or threatened species.
But besides the conservation-related issues, you might simply wonder how birds live their lives, doing some pretty extraordinary things. For instance, how do they navigate during their long migrations, and where do they go on them? This and other questions are the topic of a wide body of scientific research, and is really fascinating to read about. (For bird migration in particular, the reader may be interested in the Atlas of Bird Migration, or for regular updates on scientific discoveries, ScienceDaily is a great resource.)
And all of this, in relating to bird study - from the conservation to the biology itself - is what I like to drive towards. It's the essence of what Simon Barnes wrote about in his book How to be a (Bad) Birdwatcher, saying "But before the understanding comes the wonder, the calm delight of the utterly normal, and the rare and sudden delight of the utterly unexpected."
Dan is a postdoc working in the field of molecular embryology at the University of Cyprus, and a member of BirdLife Cyprus. He loves nature and biology, and actively goes birwatching on weekends. Read all about his bird watching adventures on his blog, Migrations. Image Source: Flickr: Waldo Janquith
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