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Welcome to the Wild-Bird-Magazine
The Wild-Bird-Magazine and Bird Watching while Camping and Hiking
People have been bird-watching since earliest human history as they gazed skywards and admired the grace and beauty. The Romans actually considered them omens, and believed that the future could be predicted from the bird calls.
Bird watching is becoming one of the most popular hobbies there is. In the USA they estimate that 51 million people now engage in bird watching.
Various studies also say that bird-watching is now the fastest growing hobby in the world. Camping and hiking is a wonderful opportunity to go bird watching.
Bird watching isn’t all easy going and requires the development of a few basic walking and hiking skills; for extended trips some camping and climbing skills, and even some water skills if you canoe or kayak in wetlands or streams and rivers. To go into an area to observe or look closer at birds creates risks for them.
Bird Watching in Wild Habitats
One major thing you need before you go camping is a bird field guide book! It doesn’t take long to start reaching for a field guide to identify a particular species. Next item is to go and get a pair of binoculars! You will be using them a lot to observe birds and purchase the best quality and magnification your budget will stand.
While many people have a favorite species to watch most camping and hiking bird watchers get to observe a wide range of birds. The basic rules are that you maintain a low visibility, make as little noise as possible, and just try and blend in with the surroundings. Keep your noise levels down when you are photographing and please don’t get too close to nesting areas. Click on the link to learn more about wild habitat bird watching in the Wild-Bird-Magazine Birds of Prey – Raptors Those that hike and camp in mountains and rough country really get a great chance to observe birds of prey. They are also called raptors and these include Falcons, Eagles, Hawks, Kites and Owls. If you start watching raptors often this may require some extra physical effort and some serious hiking to more mountainous terrain, but these treks are worth the effort.
The raptor has the distinct physical characteristics of a hooked beak and those large talons that are used so effectively to catch and hang on to prey with. Do you know that the largest raptor in the USA is the very large California Condor, with a wing span of around 9 feet and a weight of up to 23 pounds (11kg). The fastest raptor around is the Peregrine Falcon that can dive at an incredible 200 mph.
In North America you can see some 30 plus raptor species with many sub-species. The raptor can be found in a diverse range of hiking and camping area habitats that range from forests and alpine-tundra, and temperate rainforests to deserts and grasslands. Camping out gives you another great bird watching opportunity as another raptor is the owl which can make for some great bird-watching if you don’t mind staying up late and moving away from the campfire. The owl actually belongs to a species category that consist of mainly nocturnal birds that are classified as Strigiformes.
This species order is split into a further 2 groups which are called the Tytonidae or Barn Owl and related species, (there 18 known species), and the Strigidae which includes round 194 owl species. Owls also inhabit a wide range of terrain that includes everything from dense forests to the open plains and prairies. Click on the link to learn more about raptor watching in the Wild-Bird-Magazine
Waders or Shorebirds
On any camping or hiking trip to the coast you can sit and observe waders and shorebirds foraging for food along the coastal mudflats, marshes and wetlands. They are feeding off small and even larger fish that are found in the shallows. They also like to eat the small invertebrates and shellfish, and pick them out of the mud using a variety of specially evolved shaped and long beaks. The wader also has those characteristically long and spindly legs.
Waders belong to the species order Charadriiformes. At a recent International Wader Study Group conference, the various international delegates concluded that nearly 50% of all waders are now in decline with some 100 species considered at risk, and 23 of these are now classified as globally threatened which is very disturbing.
A good friend of mine got me looking at waders several years ago, and after some hesitation I went along and have been fascinated ever since. Watching waders is very absorbing and requires patience and just occasionally this patience is rewarded by observing the capture of fish meal. Click on the link to learn more about vacations to look at waders and shorebirds in the Wild-Bird-Magazine.
All About Choosing Your Binoculars All you need to know about choosing your set of bird watching Binoculars, how they work and important buying tips in the Wild-Bird-Magazine.
Seabirds
If you hike along sea cliff tops and rugged coastal terrain you will get great opportunities to watch seabirds. Sea bird watching is great from any sea cliff vantage point and if close to cliff nesting areas. Click on the link to learn more about vacations to look at seabirds in the Wild-Bird-Magazine.
Tropical Birds
These are generally a range of non-migratory birds that include many of the parrot species, and in some countries with tropical and sub-tropical rainforest such as Australia you will get to see many species.
Tropical bird watching for many involves vacation traveling to the natural habitats in many equatorial and tropical countries and many eco-tourism companies will take you to places where the birdlife is abundant and spectacular. Click on the link to learn more about vacations to look at tropical birds in the Wild-Bird-Magazine.
Bird Watching Vacations in the Wild-Bird-Magazine
Do you want to go on a bird watching vacation? This is the ultimate eco-tourism and adventure camping and hiking vacation you can possibly do. Whatever your bird watching interest there is a vacation destination somewhere in the world with the birds you want to see. Click on the link to learn more about vacations to look at all types of birds in the Wild-Bird-Magazine. Birds Facing Extinction BirdLife International has stated in it’s annual assessment that the total number of bird species that are considered to be threatened with extinction is now 1,212. When this is combined with the number of near threatened species, this gives a total of 2,000 species in serious trouble, and that is more than 20% of earths remaining 9,775 species.
The list includes several species from Europe for the first time, which includes the European Roller which is key populations in Turkey and European Russia and these have shown a sharp decline. BirdLife also stated that 179 species were categorised as critically endangered with 18 species in Australasia. The list includes the Azores Bullfinch which is one of Europe's rarest songbirds with now fewer than 300 remaining.
On a more optimistic note the Ivory-billed woodpecker was sighted in the United States for the first time in many decades. Out in the Seychelles the magpie-robin has reduced to just 12-15 birds on one island by 1965, and they have recovered a little to over 130 birds when some were relocated to small, predator-free islands off Africa's east coast.
New Zealand's has two species that have moved close to joining another five that are already extinct due to the affects of the introduced rat population explosions in 1999 and 2000. This has resulted in the loss of two populations of yellowhead and almost made extinct the orange-fronted parakeet which now numbers in the tens.
The destruction of habitat and alien predators are the tow greatest threats to global bird species, and more than 20% of bird species is facing a short or medium-term of joining the dodo, the great auk and some 129 other bird species known to have become extinct since the year 1500, not to mention all the others we don’t know about.
DO YOU WANT TO CONTRIBUTE A SHORT FACTUAL ARTICLE ON A BIRD SPECIES OR SOME OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION ON BIRD WATCHING IN THE WILD-BIRD-MAGAZINE? Email me with your Wild-Bird-Magazine in Word File Format to mrcruisine@yahoo.com
Birding Resources
Natural Track Exclusive Natural Track Kenya safaris. Family vacations. Camping adventures, Kenya wildlife Safaris, Beach holidays, Trekking and Kenya birding tours.
Seethebirds.com
Bird Watching Advice
Welcome to the Wild-Bird-Magazine, and also useful camping and hiking tips
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