How did everyone get into birds?

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Owen1
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How did everyone get into birds?

I first got into birds when I saw rainbow lorikeets around, then I saw a different one and I later found out that it was a musk lorikeet. After that I wanted to learn some more types of birds around and it took off from there.
i'm just wondering how everyone else became interested in birds.

Andy
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I got into birds because I was a strange, strange child :-)

I had always loved animals, and I suppose birds are one of the more visible types of animals in the suburbs. Also, the taxonomy of birds appealed to my very obsessive nature. I enjoyed memorising details. Like I said... strange child.

sparrow
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I have always been into birds,my parants say as a toddler i would sit for hours watching the "sparrows"and silver eyes in the bushes outside our lounge room window!
It's one of the erliest memories i have!

Windhover
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I have admired all animals as long as I have lived. Birds I became very passionate about when we bought a house near the foothills of the Blue Mountains and it was way too far for me to go scuba diving. So from around 2002, I have been learning about birds. Like Andy, I am quite obsessed and love to read about my subjects and don't consider myself a twitcher or birder as such. I rather spend one hour watching a humble Dusky Moorhen wander about its territory, feeding, preening and being a bird than walk around aimlessly ticking species for the sake of keeping a list. Though I do that via Eremaea, I don't really have lists. Funnily, being into bird photography in an obsessive manner too, I can practically remember the location of every single photo I have taken of birds. I guess I was also a strange child, like Andy. But as I say, we aren't strange, weird, odd etc. THe rest of the world are. We are quite normal. :-)

soakes
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For me, birds were always just a fact of life. I often used to walk through the bush and I learnt a lot about the native birds and their behaviour without really consciously studying them.

I learnt the names of the more common ones (eg. magpies) as a matter of course and the more interesting ones (eg. kookaburras) because they were often remarked upon.

It is only relatively recently that I have started learning the names of some of the less common or popular ones. Now I notice birds wherever I am. I also notice whether or not other people notice them too.

- soakes

soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia

Araminta
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Hi Owen,you already know, how my passion started, because we have talked about it before. I might just share the same with everyone. For me, it wasn't just about birds, it was my mother who made me "listen to the silence of nature" as she used to call it, when I was a tiny girl. She made me look and listen to the sounds of the trees, the wind and the birds. Look up in the sky, look at the clouds, feel the rain on my face, and smell the flowers. She made me touch the earth, stones and water, taste the saltiness of the sea, and feel the sand between my toes...She taught me to respect everything that lives, no matter how tiny or big, she taught me, the basic humanistic principles, that every living thing on this planet, plants, animals and humans have the same rights, and are of equal value and importance. And she taught me to stand up and defend those rights and values against everyone, and everything that would threaten those basic, elementary rights.It has made me what I am today! And that is also, why I have loved birds for a long time.

M-L

cooee
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I think that my interest in birds came from my dad. He taught me all about animals and plants (and I am still learning). I can just point to a tree or plant wherever we are and he can identify it. One day I heard 2 kookaburras were laughing on top of our roof and eating a lizard. I ran outside to see but I could not understand why my dad didn't come. He told me that he sees one every dad and that he heard a louder bird sound. This intrigued me to find out more. He told me it was the channel billed cuckoo. He gave me his field guide and thats when it all started. A few months later the giant cuckoo came and found a magpie host. Then I saw the magpie feed this giant bird and I was in awe. The bird world is much more interesting then the real world. I like all things to do with nature, but it seems that the feathery flying ones are the most fascinating.

Owen1
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Thanks for responding everyone. i found it very interesting to read about how you all started to enjoy the birds. I suppose I got my interest in plants and animals from my dad as well because his job allowed him to travel to many parts of the country so he knows the natural world of it inside out, especially trees and plants. He is very good with them.

Cheers, Owen.

cathshane

Hi Owen, we started to take an active interest after we planted a heap of natives in our yard and a couple of New Holland and White Plumed Honeyeaters came to visit. We then put out some water, then more natives over time as well as water. We now have five bird baths, and many regular visitors of different types.

Owen1
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sounds great Cath & Shane. Honeyeaters must be a challenge to lure to your backyard.

Cheers, Owen.

Birdgirl2009
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Funny that I have followed a similar path to Windhover. I learned to dive in 1992 and used to love diving often and identifying what I saw (strong interest in taxonomy, like Andy), including invertebrates such as nudibranches. After having kids my opportunities dwindled. So I began to become more interested in birds, because it was much easier to look at them in the backyard than to organise a dive and walk around in a hot, tight suit with 24lbs of lead around me. We did a lot to attract birds to the backyard, by planting native plants, including seeding grasses and dianella and midyim for fruits, installing a bird bath and my husband built some nesting boxes. We had several lots of rosellas and galahs but have not for a few years. We absolutely loved having them, and one year my husband put a camera in the galah box so we could watch them on tv. My husband gave me my previous camera for Christmas 2006 and I eventually started to use it for birds. Then I got more and more interested, discovered this forum and got more and more interested and bought a better camera. Sometimes I have to rein in my obsession so I don't bore everyone to death by posting my latest BOP photos every day.

Amateur

Mine came with my first digital camera to start, I think I was around 12 or 13 at the time. Before that I had always had an interest in nature, the highlights in holidays were bushwalks and so on, I can still remember seeing a yellow, black and white small bird when i was around 10. It was the first thing I saw when I went on the walk and honestly it's the only thing I can remember. Anyway when I got my camera the flowering gum in my backyard was flowering, and with it the lorikeets came so for a few months I had a great time taking photos of them and writing down notes and slowly seeing all the different birds in the neighbourhood (and I'm still finding new ones!). By then I was going to the local reserve taking photos of the ducks and other birds and using this site for identifications, and that's when it really started. I found this forum and it was actually the thing that inspired me to go into birdwatching. That year (2009 if I'm not mistaken) I got my field guide and I've studied it so much when we go on trips I'm able to recognise birds I've never actually seen before in an instant. I must admit it's been a while since I've actually went on a weekend stroll looking for birds but I'll get back on it soon and I'll try and put some photos up by this weekend :D Also my father has been great support and he's pretty interested in the whole thing himself. Well that's my story.

birdie
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HI Owen, just found this post. It is interesting to read how everyone got here. I have always loved nature and photography. my mother is a water-colour painter who has always done the most amazing botanical paintings of all kinds of flora. Like you Grandmother Araminta...she is a wise old Owl who taught me to Listen to the silence of nature. When I go into the bush I have to admit to being a bit strange" too ... I like to feel the textures of things and "hug" the trees and feel their peeling bark etc.
One of the things I love when I am with the birds when I am in a quiet place is listening to them move through the foliage... hearing them rip a piece of bark or snip a berry . That is when I know I am really tuned in.... I hope my hearing stays healthy for a long time LOL.
My interest in birds in particular started with the sounds of the Pied Butcher Bird and trying to find out what could possibly make such an exquisite sound. While searching the description of the sound I found this site and the rest as they say...is history. I am not a list maker as it does not interest me . I am like Akos...would rather spend the afternoon observing my beautiful catbirds than find 50 birds to quickly tick off my list.It is the behaviours that I love to study and of course the images that I love to create.

great idea for a thread Owen :')

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Windhover
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Just be careful tree hugging my friend! You may come into contact with big, hairy spiders under the bark. Brrrrr.

Birdgirl2009
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This is a great thread Owen and it has brought out the writer in everyone!
Araminta and birdie - I agree totally about the listening. I listen even more than I look when I go out with the camera. I feel as if my senses are heightened and I am really 100% concentrating on my surroundings. It's the best way to notice and locate all those little birds.
birdie - I first heard the butcherbird (can't remember which one) on a Steve Parish recording that was just birds with no new age music (they used to sell 4 of them at the Post Office). I used to play it to help my baby sleep (to make background noises less startling). I always wondered what bird it was and was thrilled when I found out years later - "That's the bird on the CD!"
I love listening to animal sounds - one of my all time favourites is listening to parrotfish eating when I am diving

Owen1
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Thanks for sharing everyone. Very interesting to read your stories. I also like to listen to the sounds of the bush and hear the birds feeding and calling. It is also a thrill to see a new bird but some birds you never get sick of, like one of my favourites, the sacred kingfisher. I can just sit there watching them on a perch and not get bored.

Cheers, Owen.

birdie
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Hey Owen.... I was very impressed with myself today as I was at the beach out on some rocks next to the surf and I heard the Sea Eagle before I looked for it.... and the Ospreys...not an easy task when the sea is so loud :)

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Owen1
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You must have good hearing Birdie. One time I was in the backyard and I heard a strange noise high up going..
KEK KEK KEK KEK
and I looked up to see a peregrine falcon soaring quite high.

Cheers, Owen.

Woko
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Would you believe, I've just posted on the Introductions all round forum my story about how I became interested in birds! In addition to what I've posted there I could add that one of the influences on my bird watching was Harry Butler in his In the Wild series. This stimulated my gathering awareness that everything is related to everything else. It wasn't enough for me to just go around bird watching, as pleasant & interesting as that is. I had to do something to preserve the bird life in my environment because I became aware of the threats to our birds from human activities. Hence my motivation to buy a block of land on which I could replicate, as closely as possible, the habitat that once existed there, pre-European settlement.
In addition to all this, I've found that bird watching (& listening) is something I can do anytime, any place. Through my involvement in excursions with the SA Ornithological Association I went to places & saw things I never knew existed. I've also met lots of people whom I admire for their gentleness on the Earth.
As I said in my posting on Introductions all round, I wouldn't have missed it for quids.

Owen1
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Thanks for sharing your story. Hope you go well with the revegetation and encounter lots of great birds and other animals as well.

Cheers, Owen.

Woko
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Thanks, Owen. I really liked your idea of this thread. I find that most of the people I know from years gone by are so immersed in what I see to be the flim flam of modern society (not this forum, of course!) that it's exciting to know that there are people who take time to smell the Acacias.

Tazrandus
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I have Steve Parish and his wonderful books and photography to thank. It became a childhood obsession.
When I was 8, an education guide took my class to enjoy the mangrove boardwalks at Bicentennial Park I almost went beserk when she incorrectly identified a Noisy Miner as a Yellow Throated Miner. I loved Noisy Miners and I wrote about them all day in my reounts and stories in 2nd grade and my teacher would always cross out the word "miner" with her fat red pen and write "MYNA" next to it and I'd tell her she was wrong but no one listens to eight year olds.
I remember with a different teacher there was an Eastern Rosella outside the window and I would be bouncing on my seat with my hand raised saying: "Miss look miss! There's a Ross-sah-lah!" and she corrected my pronunciation.
I also screamed "Jacky Winter" whenever someone repeated the name "Peter".
Oh dear, I was quite an embarrassing child.
This obsession had only recently resurfaced.

Taz

Owen1
Owen1's picture

Interesting story Taz. It would've been great to go on excursions to the mangroves.

Cheers, Owen.

petergarylegg
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Hi, I got in to birds when I emigrated here and saw so much colour in the birds and noticed the different sounds that they make.

at the begining of 2011 I saw an advert from a lady saying that she had found a tame Galah in 2010 and could not find anyone that had lost one, even after placing lots of adverts, she did not want to keep it and was wanting to let it go back in to the wild. I contacted her and aquired the Galah. That is when I built my first large walk in aviary. My collection of captive bred birds has grown from there. I can walk in to my aviaries and the birds will fly and land on me, they like being talked to and fussed, they also do certain things on my command, they are so tame.

I learnt how to tell the sex of certain parrots visualy and learnt about their special diet requirements and illness that mat affect them.

Example: Rainbow lorikeets are not seed eaters, they eat nectar or can be fed a special wet or dry mix obtanable from pet shops. Their toilet is liquid, that is because of their nectar/honey eating, seds cause bowel problems, illnes and death.

SakerF
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I have been interested in birds since before I can remember :) We owned a cockateil when I was 5, and since then I think I have loved birds. A little while later we visited a zoo with a great BOP show, and I can remember waiting all day just to see the show, then waiting till the next one, and the next so on and so forth. We then moved to England and my family always pionted out the BOP when ever they saw one.I went on work experience to an owl sanctuary and they let my fly the BOP, a few owls but mostly Harris Hawks. I also took care of the birds :)We moved back to australia and I bought a baby cockateil at 2 months old, its now 8 months and will bite anyone but me who trys to stroke it :) I want to build an avery in my backyard and breed birds. Also I would love to fly BOP but apparently thats illegal in aus. Anyway thats me, I hope you enjoy reading this :)

From the stunning Yarra Vally Mountains!

SakerF
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Oh and one of my favorite birds is the Saker Falcon, so thats why its my name :P and picture :P

From the stunning Yarra Vally Mountains!

Owen1
Owen1's picture

Thanks for responding guys. It would be nice to have aviaries and also to fly BOP. I loved reading both your stories and I love your avatar picture Saker. Great looking bird.

Cheers, Owen.

Tazrandus
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BbAviaries, Good to hear your aviary is coming along very well :) One question: how do you sex Rainbow Lorikeets? My Lorikeet would eat anything without showing any ill effects - from stealing bits of chicken to a sip of tea. He's a stealthy bird so we can't help it, well he's now banned from the dinner table. He's also great at playing fetch :) From his behaviour I deduced he's a he but I never had him properly sexed and the breeder didn't have much clue either.

Hey Saker, welcome to the forum :) I have a cockatiel too! He's very delightful. You must be training him some words/tunes/tricks now, they are clever and adorable birds :) I'm jealous that you had the opportunity to get the experience to work so close to BOPs. Harris Hawks are beautiful, I've seen many tamers handle them. The Saker falcon is a beautiful bird too - love your avatar. I'm sure your local zoo has a BOP show so if you can volunteer there you'll be able to fly BOP again :) Taronga Zoo in Sydney here does it and I've seen docos about it and how they train their eagles. Great stuff.

Taz

SakerF
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Thank you, I love the photo too! Leo(my cockateil) doesn't speak but he whistles and immitates me and sings (wistles) to songs on the radio. He is extreamly loud sometimes. He lives on top of his cage, he is hardly ever locked up. I havn't taken him outside yet, but I will get him trained enough to do this without him flying off :)
I am very close to healsville sanctuary and I love watching the birds fly. I have done some reaserch about volunteering but its very difficult and a very long process. So for the meanwhile, untill i finish school, I will be content with hanging arround the flying arena :P

From the stunning Yarra Vally Mountains!

1wattlebird
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Magpies. I liked birds before this, but I got relly interested when I hand fed a female Magpie oats. What was amazing was it wasn't one that came often.

jackie
jackie's picture

My husband used to drive me nuts talking about birds which at that stage I found boring. Three years ago we inherited a Galah "Floyd" who is more human than bird who sparked my now huge interest in all birds. I think I now bore my husband with all their details and habits... : ) Love birds!

Owen1
Owen1's picture

Nice stories. Funny how at first Jackie you were bored with birds and then you started boring your husband!

Cheers, Owen.

samaraiboy
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I got interested in birds when I got my first bird.. It made me smile everyday and he was a friend I could count on :)

Owen1
Owen1's picture

It's food that you enjoy being with your bird Nick. thanks for sharing. I love your profile pic.

Cheers, Owen.

mrtattoo
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As long as i can remember ive had an interest in birds. I think its the flying bit i luv, the ability to just go were you want at any time. As a teenager i became interested in breeding them, so i had many aviaries, lots time was spent sitting in the aviary watching. After a while realised that a bird in cage wasnt really a bird. so i decided that id move on from breeding & take up going out & watching & learning.

if your happy when your birding, flap your wings.

Qyn
Qyn's picture

Great topic! My mother was interested in birds and I think by osmosis I learnt a lot from her. I am always surprised when other people don't know the name or calls of even some of the common birds. I was always an animal oriented person even from a small child and have developed the same values that Araminta has described so well and it seems that many of us here share. Living in Emerald amongst the colourful and not so colourful birdlife plus the other wildlife living in the immediate vicinity has made me even more appreciative and I carry that with me wherever I am. Now, living back in the town I grew up in and could not wait to leave I appreciate what is here too!

Thanks for starting this topic, Owen.

Alison
~~~~~~
"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."

Owen1
Owen1's picture

again interesting stories and thanks for sharing. It is a bit surprising that some don't know common birds qyn55 and I'm happy you like going out to see the birds mrtattoo.

Cheers, Owen.

Kimbolina
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My grandfather always had canaries and loved gardening. My very first bird was a lovely little whistling canary named Tweety that he gave me. Not until many years later I bought my first cockateil who recently passed away (21 years old). I've had many birds since but sadly most are gone. I have one cockateil and one short billed corella who I absolutely adore.
However, after owning so many birds in the past, once my remaining two are gone, I will never own another bird. While birds fascinate me and I love having them around, I now feel birds don't belong in a cage. It is heart breaking losing pets and with birds, even harder to find someone to treat them if they become ill (in my area anyway).
Now I thoroughly enjoy watching the birds in my backyard and in my area and have learnt a lot just by observing them.

Owen1
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Thanks for sharing that Kimbolina. I also love to watch the birds. Your Cockatiel lived to a good age.

Cheers, Owen.

Woko
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Yes, Kimbolina, it's very easy to become attached to pets. We then feel a real loss when they depart. But birds in their natural state engage in a far richer variety of behaviours and interactions with their environments which can be a source of interest, fascination & knowledge. Well done on your adjustment!!

Meave
Meave's picture

We are lucky to have a biggish back yard for a suburban house (Kingston south of Brisbane) and as we planted lots of natives we saw a surprising (to us) number of birds, and were curious to find out what they all were, so we bought a bird book (Simpson & Day). That was about 10 years ago. Then went to Darwin in a caravan and saw lots of really interesting birds on the way, and found out how many native species there are !!! Bought more bird books of course. I's a hobby now, we've retired four years ago, then Bob sold his work ute and bought a camera with about half the proceeds, and we have been photographing ever since. We love the variety and the surprises we get - found some Spinifex pigeons in Wyndham WA, had immense trouble getting a photo of them and were very pleased with that, then went to a caravan park in some obscure place in WA and they were running around everywhere! It's fun and keeps us occupied, and I love trying to identify them all when we get home and put the photos on the computer. Thank goodness for digital cameras.

Meave

Owen1
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Love your story and glad you are enjoying seeing and photographing birds.

Cheers, Owen.

jackie
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Totally agree with Kimbolina, we love our Galah which we took on as a favour to a relative, but, I wouldn't choose to purchase another bird to be kept caged. It's just a magnificant feeling watching birds in their own environment.

1wattlebird
1wattlebird's picture

You could get another Galah Jackie. Morally I mean, it could be a friend for you first.

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