Why distinguish between Being a Birder and Going Birding?

     Some people have questioned whether it is meaningful to separate the development of one’s self-perception as a birder from the activity of going birding.  I contend that it is not only meaningful, but necessary, if one is truly interested in the notion of recruiting and retaining birders.  Here is why I think that.

     In 1979, a Mississippi business man named James Vardaman traveled over 160,000 miles (by plane, car, boat, bicycle, and on foot) and recorded seeing 699 species of birds in the U.S. and Canada.  His adventures were chronicled in the book “Call collect: ask for birdman.”  He spent tens of thousands of dollars on his quest and was accompanied by “experts” all along the way who mostly identified the species for him and provided their signed attestations that each species was indeed seen by Vardaman.  Now, Mr. Vardaman certainly could identify many species on his own, but even he claimed that he wasn’t really a birder. 

     So, here is someone who spent hundreds of days and a ton of money in a given year looking for birds.  He accumulated a huge total number of species seen.  Yet, he claimed not to be a birder, and many people in the birding community agreed with him!  Some people said he simply “bought” the long list of species rather than “earning” it.  In other words, these people were saying that Mr. Vardaman exhibited many birding-related behaviors, but lacked some (most?) of the important characteristic traits associated with being a birder.  He went birding, but he was not a birder.

     Anybody with sufficient time, money, and access to experts who can identify species for them, can overcome some of the big challenges faced by Apprentices who are trying to become birders.  Namely, they can by-pass the frustration that comes from encountering a high proportion of birds that they simply do not know  how to identify (which can keep them “stuck in beginner mode), and they can by-pass the sense of being overwhelmed at all the diversity of bird types they encounter (see Figure 1).  Note in the figure below that Apprentice Birders eventually overcome these possible identity-destroying traits (being frustrated, being overwhelmed by diversity) by developing identification skill and expertise.  Even more importantly, notice in the model that frustration and the sense of being overwhelmed do not even occur as two identity-defining traits increase: (1) confidence as a birder and (2) being observant. 

Figure 1.  Red boxes indicate two possible identity-destoying traits that can cause Apprentice Birders to quit birding while green boxes indicate to possible identity-defining traits that Apprentices develop over time on their way to becominig Recruited Birders.

     My point is that becoming a birder is very different from going birding and accumulating large life lists.  Becoming a birder cannot be achieved by taking short cuts.  Obviously, having a good birding mentor can speed-up the process and can help reduce frustration and sense of being overwhelmed that can arise for Apprentice Birders.  But, becoming a birder still takes time, and hopefully, a lot of fun as the Apprentice develops the various characteristic traits of being a birder.

Go bird!

How do you know if a birder is recruited or retained?

          Recently, there has been a big push on to recruit more people into birding.  You may have heard about the Global Birding Initiative called Pledge to Fledge  (www.globalbirdinginitiative.org/blog/).  There have been lots of other similar efforts to recruit more birders over the last couple of decades.  The reasons for wanting to recruit and retain more birders are both numerous and very important.  For example, many folks believe that by getting people interested in birding, it will instill in those people a passion for the conservation of wildlife species and the habitats they depend on.   This will then result in financial and political support for conservation and maybe even some people who are willing to put their labor into conservation activities.  Also, getting people outside and connected to nature is believed to have both physical benefits (e.g., exercise from walking) and mental benefits (e.g., restoration of our ability for focused attention in school and at work).  From my perspective, all of these efforts are very much needed and very well-intentioned.

The big question is: how do you know when a birder is recruited or retained?  This is more than just an esoteric question.  There are very practical reasons for thinking about this question and how to answer it.  One practical reason has to do with the idea of evaluating recruitment programs.  If individuals and organizations are going to spend time and money on birder recruitment and retention, they need to have some way of knowing whether they are successful or not.  Another practical reason has to do with the supposed link to conservation that I mentioned in the paragraph above.

Historically, social science research has focused on participation in singular activities as indices to recruitment and retention.  For example, recruitment into citizen science programs is indicated by folks being willing to provide data.  Recruitment into hunting and fishing has been indicated by people being willing to buy a license to do those activities.  Similarly, recruitment into birding has been indicated by a willingness to go birding.

Social science researchers have used a number of very good scientific foundations as the basis for trying to understand participation.  Both the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behavior rely on measuring attitudes, beliefs, and norms as a way of predicting behavior.  Theory measuring motivations and constraints is used to understand peoples’ personal goals and any barriers to participating in activities that help meet those goals.   A multiple-satisfactions approach has been used to try to understand how participation in activities helps people meet their personal goals.  Also, activity innovation-adoption has been used in an effort to understand how people move from becoming aware of an activity to being interested in it to trying it out to finally continuing to participate in it.  All of these foundations are scientifically valid and can help shed much light on participation.

There are some shortcomings of using participation in some activity as an index to recruitment and retention.  First, some people who participate derive no personal meaning from participation and are very likely to switch to some other activity when given the chance.  On the other hand, some people who participate sporadically or even stop participating permanently still think of themselves as having an identity linked to the behavior.  Further, whether a person participates in any particular activity is not indicative of that person’s deep-seated, underlying values.

Instead of using participation as an index to recruitment and retention, research with which I have been involved has used the development of a self-perception or identity as an index.  This makes sense to me because people seek out opportunities to participate in activities that are consistent with, or help reinforce, their identity (e.g., as a birder).  In this way, participation in birding does not define whether someone is a birder.  Rather, their self-perception as a birder comes from having been changed from one category (e.g., non-birder) to another (e.g., birder).  Also, and very important in terms of recruitment and retention, it is other people who already hold the identity of being birders who facilitate opportunities for a person to have the right experiences in the right social contexts that fuel the change from one category to the other, and thus help produce the identity.

Please check out my earlier post about how people become birders to learn more about  birder identity development.  http://modelbirder.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-do-people-become-birders.html

Go bird!

How do people become birders?

     One of my interests is in understanding what people do as well as why they do it.  This applies to birders and their birding activities.  Social science researchers who study these things often try to determine peoples' motivations for their behaviors.  There are two main challenges with this approach, in my opinion.  First, it necessarily links the idea of "being a birder" to some set of birding behaviors.  Am I only a birder when I put my binoculars around my neck and purposefully go out birding?  Am I a birder even when I don't go out birding?  The second challenge with a motivations approach to understanding birders and birding is that being a birder involves many, many different kinds of behaviors.  As a birder, I may have very different motivations for any of those behaviors.

     One way I try to get around those challenges, is to try to understand birding from the perspective of people developing an identity as a birder.  A main premise of this approach is that people become recruited into the population of birders through a process of identity development.  Over several years, a person may progress from being a nonbirder, to a potential birder, to an apprentice birder, to a recruited birder, and finally to a retained birder.  Although awareness of the activity of birding, determination of individual motivations and constraints, and birding satisfaction all are important concepts in the identity model as in other models pertaining to individuals making decisions about participation, these concepts are interpreted and applied differently here.  Overall, the identity model posits that it is not what you do, but who you are, that defines you as a birder. 

            The development, and ultimately maintenance, of one’s self-perception (i.e., identity) as a birder is a socio-cultural process that can be marked by various stages.  For example, non-birders are not aware that someone may have an identity as a birder although they likely are aware of the activity of birding.  Potential birders know that birding is more than an activity for some people, and that it can be a “way of life” or an expression of “who I am.”  This awareness arises through interactions with retained birders and other members of the birding culture (i.e., social anthropologists call these “sources of productive power”) who also make potential birders familiar with the characteristic attributes of birders (e.g., observant, in-tune with season rhythms of wildlife, conservation-minded, ethical, etc.).  When potential birders believe consistency exists between their personal motivations and the characteristic attributes of birders, potential birders become interested in “trying-out” the activities and social mores associated with being a birder. 



Figure 1.  Non-birders become potential birders when they develop an awareness that birding means more than just an activity for some people, and that being a birder be an important element of a person's identity.



            Apprentice birders start developing an identity as a birder by tying-out birding-related activities.  At this stage, retained birders and other mentors help apprentices develop the technical competencies (e.g., how-to skills) and social competencies (i.e., norms and values) needed to develop a birder identity.  Technical competence develops through repeated participation in birding “rituals” (another term borrowed from social anthropologists, and importantly distinguished from the term “rites of passage”) that build skill and understanding about how to apply that skill in different situations.  Social competence is built over time through transformative behaviors and experiences, referred to as “rites-of-passage,” which help apprentices attain the characteristic attributes of being a birder.  Most contemporary birding recruitment programs focus on building technical competence (how to use binoculars, where to go birding, how to recognize bird songs, etc.), but lack specific interventions to develop social competencies (e.g., what qualities or traits make someone a birder).



Figure 2.  Potential birders become apprentice birders when they try out different  birding behaviors, and learn both the "how-to" elements and the meaning associated with being a birder.



Recruited birders are recognized, by themselves and often by others, as having “made it” as birders because they have attained the skills, knowledge, and characteristic attributes of a birder.  Retained birders sustain their identity by remaining satisfied that they hold and express the characteristic attributes of a birder (e.g., as ethical as I want to be, as knowledgeable, as respectful, etc.).  As long as cultural capacity exists (within the birding culture), retained birders are likely to interpret dissatisfaction (i.e., less than desired levels of characteristic attributes) as a threat to their birder identity, and will act politically and financially to make sure that the threat is addressed. 



Figure 3.  Full model showing how someone goes through various stages of identity development from a non-birder, to a potential birder, to an apprentice birder, to a recruited birder and ultimately a retained birder.



One important point to note is that a person could participate in birding activities (i.e., go birding) and be in any stage of identity development – even the non-birder stage of identity development.  Going birding does not make someone a birder!  Development of characteristic traits makes somebody a birder, and that development takes time.  Other posts will try to answer the following questions.  What are the characteristic attributes of a birder?  Who determines which attributes makes somebody a birder?  What are the processes through which those attributes are developed? 

Go bird!

Are you a Birder?

Are you a birder?

Ok, so you like seeing and hearing birds.  Maybe you have some bird feeders, a few bird identification books, and a binocular or two.  You know a Bluebird from a Blue Jay, and you even keep a list of birds seen around home.  So, are you a birder?

Perhaps you are someone who has a paying job studying birds.  You’ve banded thousands of birds.  You can stand in your back yard before daylight in the early fall and tell the difference between warblers, thrushes and sparrows migrating overhead.  You can the difference between male and female Yellow Warblers in formative plumage.  Are you a birder?

Maybe you are one of the thousands of people who enjoy going birding locally, who love telling stories about birds, and who spend a little money buying birding gear once in a while.  You’ve got at least a couple of friends who will go birding with you if you call them.  Are you a birder?

How do you know if you are a birder?

Birders don’t need to get a license.  They don’t need to pass a course or graduate from birder school.  There are lots of things somebody does NOT have to DO to BE a birder.  For some people being a birder means more than just going birding because they think of being a birder as a “way of life” and as an expression of “who I am.”  People don’t become something  overnight.  It takes time and effort, overcoming challenges, having lots of fun,  and ultimately building the characteristic traits associated with being that something.  So, what about you; are you a birder?  Are you becoming a birder?  Do you want to become a birder?