I used to identify as a herper, because I loved snakes, and I didn’t have any amazing resources like iNaturalist to help me identify other taxa. I even became an ornithological technician because there was more funding for bird work than for any other taxa. 20 years later, this is still true — bir…

Birds are simply the most obvious and accessible type of animal. No matter where you are on Earth, and no matter the time of year, there are always birds around. Most birds are fairly obvious and vocal, making them easy to observe and study, whether you be amateur or expert. Birds are also fairly …

Moved this to Nature Talk because it’s not directly about iNaturalist.

There are many reasons that I am interested, but a big one is diversity. Where I am near Traverse City, Michigan, almost any time of the year there is the possibility of all kinds of unusual birds. Going out in mid-May looking and listening for the migrating warblers can turn up many unusual species…

They can fly, they can sing, they are dinosaurs! Everything I can’t and ain’t. I’m not a birder but I can name most of the birds in my everyday environment. [image] eligug08: When you go out into the woods alone, you don’t feel alone I like to think they warn each other “human coming your wa…

Birds have always fascinated humans. Doves, owls, eagles have always meant things to people spiritually, symbolically, and as omens. Their accessibility and obviousness definitly plays a part in their frequency on iNat (a flashy bird showing up outside someones window is more likely to be noticed th…

I :heart: how your answers are going in unexpected directions! [image] eligug08: With time, [birds] become your family. [image] hihi: I encourage people to read this Wikipedia article on birds and humans . . . the article does a good job of covering all the different relationships betwe…

I remember being in London when I was ten or eleven and seeing an exhibit at the Natural History Museum about finch beaks in the Galapagos which had a tool from a hardware box to illustrate how each beak worked and differed from the others. I remember finding a little nest with the remnants of thre…

Not a birder. But my mother showed me - see the white eyebrow - on a Cape robin. The first time I learnt to observe, to notice what I was looking at. We have a resident or two in our garden. [A Cape robin-chat]

Why do you think birds are so popular?

Nature Talk

Thunderhead July 14, 2024, 10:18pm 5

Birdsong is great for human mental health.

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Why do you think birds are so popular?

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