Saturday, October 10, 2015

Bird Watching: A Past Revealed (part 2 of 2)

It was only in the late 1800s that the call for bird protection began leading to the rising popularity of observations on living birds. The Audubon Society was started to protect the birds from the growing trade.  The term bird watching first read in the title of the book “Bird Watching” by Edmund Selous in 1901.  The earliest field guide in the United States was Birds Through and Opera Glass By Florence Bailey.

Early and until mid-20th century in the eastern seaboard region, they were influenced by the works of Ludlow Griscom and later Roger Tory Peterson.

The rising popularity and use of cars increased the mobility of birdwatchers.  The rising popularity of the car increased the mobility of birdwatchers and this made new locations accessible to those interested in birds.  Networks of birdwatchers in the UK began to form in the late 1930s under the British Trust for Ornithology. The BTO saw the potential to produce scientific results through the networks, unlike the Royal Society for the Preservation of Birds (RSPB) which like the Audubon Society originated from the bird protection movement.

The falling cost of air-travel made flying to remote birding destinations a possibility for a large number of people towards the 1980s. The need for global guides to birds became more relevant and one of the biggest projects that began was the "Handbook of the Birds of the World" which started in the 1990s with Josep del Hoyo a country doctor in Catalonia, Jordi Sargatal and ornithologist Andy Elliott.

Right now, there are about 80 million Americans into bird watching.  More and more people are still showing interest in taking part of this recreational activity.  Its rich history and culture, paves how big this outdoor sport has contributed to the culture and natural history.  Through all the years, one thing still remain.

The love for nature and the how history proved that people can make a stand for the environment.

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