Very strange.
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I think all it does is speak to a broad ignorance of what people actually understand. As the study mentions, it seems to highlight stereotypical views and is quite small.
Mostly, I think the study was just a prompt for the journalist to write their article because they wanted to, not because the study has any new or insightful findings. The Guardian is full of opinion and editorialisation like that.
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You’re reminding me of when a whip-poor-will decided to sing from the porch roof outside my bedroom window (in a previous house). Now I was thrilled, because they are rare here, but I was glad when it left.
Which reminds me: If you ever get a chance to hear Charley Eiseman (ceiseman on iNat) speak, drop everything and go. Let me paraphrase. “I went out to my mailbox to get my mail and three hours later, I had found 12 species of leafminers that were new to my yard and, four years later, it turns out that three of them are new to science.” (This is in Massachusetts, USA, by the way - a very well-studied landscape._
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On April 28, 2013, I went with a “birder” friend to see what this bird watching was all about in High Island, TX. There was a fall out over the previous days resulting in Cornell’s Big Day crew logging 294 species in a 24 hour period in Texas. I had never bird watched in any sort of intentional way before that weekend to my knowledge. I was able to observe, get good looks, and log 90 species my first day out…
Acadian Flycatcher
American Coot
American Redstart
American Robin
Baltimore Oriole
Barn Swallow
Bay-breasted Warbler
Belted Kingfisher
Black Vulture
Black-and-white Warbler
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Black-billed Cuckoo
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Black-necked Stilt
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blue Jay
Blue-winged Teal
Blue-winged Warbler
Brown Thrasher
Brown-headed Cowbird
Carolina Wren
Cerulean Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chimney Swift
Common Gallinule
Common Grackle
Common Yellowthroat
Crested Caracara
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Golden-winged Warbler
Gray Catbird
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Great Egret
Great-tailed Grackle
Greater Yellowlegs
Green Heron
Hooded Warbler
House Sparrow
Inca Dove
Indigo Bunting
Kentucky Warbler
Killdeer
Laughing Gull
Lazuli Bunting
Lesser Yellowlegs
Magnolia Warbler
Mourning Dove
Neotropic Cormorant
Northern Cardinal
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Parula
Northern Waterthrush
Orchard Oriole
Ovenbird
Prothonotary Warbler
Purple Gallinule
Purple Martin
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-winged Blackbird
Rock Pigeon
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Roseate Spoonbill
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruddy Turnstone
Scarlet Tanager
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Snowy Egret
Snowy Plover
Summer Tanager
Swainson’s Thrush
Tennessee Warbler
Tricolored Heron
Turkey Vulture
Veery
White Ibis
White-crowned Sparrow
White-eyed Vireo
Wilson’s Phalarope
Wood Thrush
Worm-eating Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-breasted Chat
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-throated Vireo
That day changed my life. My dear birder friend that hosted the outing explained to me that I shouldn’t expect that every time I bird watch… lol.
It was a lot of things, but “boring” wasn’t on the list to be sure.
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There were 5 parts to this study. In another part " Participants were 100 people residing in the United Kingdom recruited through the online crowdsourcing service Prolific.co."
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Hilarious post! Thanks for sharing. I’ve had many past hobbies that most people would find fascinating — sports car club road racing (as crew, ex was driver), being the one many people would covet, even an ARCA — but I’ll take boring birding any day! Yes, please! And if people call me boring, I’ll just laugh. In actuality, I think it’s sad that some people are incapable of appreciating nature. Just glad to be me, and glad for all of you.
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egordon88 - thank you. One of the best things I’ve read in the past decade!
by the way - I am a paid ornithologist, educator, researcher, curator. I assure you there are not many of us (who get paid to watch/study birds). Most “bird-watchers” are doing it as a hobby and has been mentioned, at one’s feeder. Ironically, most of my unpaid, local Audubon birders do far more birding than I do. Those surveys conducted by our USFWS are very broad and inclusive as to who qualifies as a “birdwatcher”.
These days, I mostly do administrative stuff, or online programs. I won’t say Powerpoint is boring but it can be quite tedious and a time-sucking vortex.
So now when I babble on about budgets, permits, and this cool thing I learned to do in Powerpoint the other day, I probably am pretty boring…
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But when you babble on about that flycatcher you saw catching a butterfly, or those coots and ducks and gallinules swimming around, or those vireos hiding from you in a dense bush, or those warblers chipping amongst the foliage, or the heron you saw catching a very big fish! Or what about those hummingbirds drinking nectar like the mystic fairy of the forest? Or those plovers and sandpipers you were chasing at the beach! Or maybe even that robin announcing spring with its magical melody?
That’s when boredom runs away like a rat being chased by a cat…
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I read that article and was flabbergasted about that list. First and foremost, who really considers sleep as a hobby 
!? It is a basic need! I was confused about observing animals because there is so much variety, surprise and pleasure in becoming more aware of our neighbors. Just a thought, aren’t our National Parks 
very popular?
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Hahahaha so eating is also a hobby!!!
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51 reasons to avoid the banalities of ‘popular’ journalism (and The Guardian in particular). Boredom, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
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The Guardian is not bad - for some things. At least they tend to provide links. I just thought it would be an interesting topic for those of us who completely disagree (myself included).
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To each his own. I read the Guardian every day. And I chose what I don’t find boring.
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Me too. I find it to be an interesting paper.
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Yes, people travel to them and sleep overnight LOL!
Dare I say 2 birds with 1 stone?
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Yes, actually it is — foodies. 
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Yes, I enjoy food and love sleeping, but it seems you don’t know the difference between a hobby and a basic need…
Well, food can definitely be a hobby. I know people who use cooking/baking as a way to relax and love trying out new recipes, not because it fulfills a need but because they enjoy the challenge. Some people spend lots of money at gourmet restaurants, even going so far as traveling internationally, not because they’re hungry but because they enjoy the newest trends in fancy food. Spending the extra time and money on food for pleasure I guess does make that sort of thing a hobby.
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Mine was meant as a light-hearted, fun comment; hope that’s how it was received. Anyway, I’m off to complete my basic need of 
, so that I have plenty of energy for 
. And also 
.
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