Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2001 20:43:26 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Joe Alexander Subject: Re: Birder or Birdwatcher? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thank you, Laura, for clarifying something for me. My wife and I have been "birdwatchers" for many years, but lately we've been venturing a little further afield in search of new (to us) birds. The more we travel, the more we realize we are in the company of "birders", but we've never really been able to completely grasp the distinction. Now we know: 1. Birders are obsessive/compulsive list makers 2. There have been no birders born in the last 30+ years 3. Birding is an extreme sport, or would be, if the birders were younger Have I got that about right? ;-) Joe Alexander Middletown, MD joealexander@gscyclone.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Laura M. Appelbaum To: Sent: Monday, February 12, 2001 6:49 PM Subject: [MDOSPREY] Birder or Birdwatcher? > I'm with Bob Moul (hi, nice to meet you, Bob! ) vis a vis "birder" > versus "birdwatcher," tho' I don't think I'd go so far as to say that > birdwatchers are Beverly Hillbillies ... Both terms are legitimate, I > think, but have different connotations; "birdwatchers" are people who > put up feeders in the backyard, maybe even a martin or bluebird house, > and enjoy doing exactly what that terms suggests -- watching birds. > They like to see birds eating, fighting over turf, building nests, > bringing food home to the chicks. Their focus is on the life cycle of > birds, any birds, as long as they're in the backyard. "Birders" on the > other hand, are obsessive/compulsive list makers who get a charge out of > seeing something "new" and preferrably difficult to locate. If they > were born in the '80s instead of the '60s, '50s, '40s, '30s etc, birders > would be into "extreme sports" like free climbing El Capitain and then > jumping back down into the valley with a parachute. But we weren't, so > instead of collecting first ascents and broken bones, we collect birds. > Birders are often birdwatchers too, but birdwatchers are rarely birders. > > A very similar linguistic war also accompanies those of us who crawl > around in the mud under the earth's surface. The media likes to call us > "spelunkers." Cavers, however, know that we are "cavers" and that > "spelunkers" are those people who enter the underground with a Coleman > lantern, a length of clothesline, and a six-pack of beer. Cavers are > the people who have to rescue spelunkers. ;D > > LMA > Birder and Caver > > ======================================================================= > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================