Look up! Is that a kestrel? A swallow? Take note. These sightings are getting rarer. A recent RSPB report blamed the climate crisis for dwindling bird numbers in the UK. But as the number of birds decreases, the number of young bird enthusiasts in the UK is on the rise. Birdwatchers have long endured an unfair reputation for being anorak-sporting “twitchers”, lumped into the same category as their equally derided cousins, the trainspotters. But times have changed. Now, as a young person, it is becoming acceptable – cool, even – to show the world the mental and physical benefits of getting outside and observing wildlife.
Today, young “birders” are using social-media platforms to form positive communities and share their sightings and experiences. Amusingly, most of it happens on Twitter, where birders pledge allegiance to certain species in their bios and discuss rare species with some of the world’s foremost experts. They use apps and spreadsheets, often photographing their finds and uploading pictures to their social channels instantly. Instagram accounts have been created. WhatsApp groups have formed.
Offline, young birders gather at wetland centres, hold meet-ups in areas of natural beauty, organise hiking excursions. They offer each other tremendous support and subscribe to the same defining message: that anyone can birdwatch anywhere. All you need is a pair of eyes and a desire to go outside.
Mya-Rose Craig, 17, Somerset
I’ve been going out birdwatching with my family since I was a baby. It was OK during primary school, but when I went into secondary I very quickly realised that birdwatching is strange. I’d avoid talking about it like the plague. If any of my primary school friends brought it up, I’d change the conversation very swiftly. Like most 13-year-olds, I didn’t know how to deal with being different from other people, but as I’ve got older I don’t care any more. You should never stop doing what you love because of other people. It helps that I’m friends with people who appreciate going outside and going into nature.
I am now just over 100 bird species away from having seen half of all of the bird species in the world. I’ve been going out birdwatching with my family since I was a baby. It’s something that’s very important in my life, and I can’t really picture myself without it. But I’m one of the lucky ones, you know? Most people don’t have parents who take them out birdwatching for the weekend.
I enjoy the separation from everyday life, I find it really relaxing. Loads of people I talk to always go on about meditating, but I just can’t do it, because my brain goes very fast all the time. Going outside is my version of meditation. It’s something that’s integral to me. I’ve recently been visiting potential universities and greenery has been a factor in that. Sheffield has got so many trees and parks everywhere, and it felt really nice.
With the rise of the youth strikes, and Greta Thunberg, the last nine months have been amazing. Everything’s just suddenly taking off, after not much happening for years and years. It’s been encouraging seeing older people join the movement. I’m in a group chat with loads of climate activists, and sometimes, if I feel a bit hopeless, I like to go on there and see how passionate and motivated everyone is to create change.
Sam Marsh, 9, Wales
My Granny and Bampa are really into birdwatching. They travel all over the world and they’re always on the lookout for feathers and different birds to bring back for me. My favourite is the white-tailed eagle feather: it’s about a foot and a half long, and stiff – like wood. Gran found it in Norway. And pheasant feathers, which I like for their patterns, and how flexible they are. I’ve got about 20 altogether. I find them stuck in trees, or in dense forest, where they can’t really blow around.
We do a lot of hiking and walking. I take my book and my binoculars, which used to belong to my grandfather when he was in the army, and I see what I can spot, and when I get home I look them up online and see what they are. Or I look in my bird book, or on an app called Seek. I want to be a naturalist when I am older, to look at animals, go to different countries, go on telly, tell people how they hunt, how they make their dens, stuff like that. And I’d like to learn more about nature at school. I’ve got dyslexia and I struggle with reading, so I prefer to be out looking at things.
Amelia Bradbury, 9, Norfolk
As a family, we’ve always enjoyed the outdoors. Every Sunday we go to volunteer and birdwatch at Cley Marshes nature reserve, in Norfolk. It’s a salt and freshwater marsh and nature reserve, and it attracts loads of different waders and birds. We have seen shelducks, mallards, avocets, black-tailed godwits, redshanks, lots of different sandpipers… At home we see buzzards, kestrels and sometimes red kites.
I look everywhere for birds. Sometimes we stop the car when we’re driving, if we see a kestrel. We always keep binoculars in the car just in case. I’d like to see a snowy owl, or a little owl, in the wild. And I’d like to see a green woodpecker. My mum saw two recently, but I wasn’t with her.
I record my sightings on a spreadsheet on my dad’s phone and I’ve got my own little notebook, too. I have “collected” more than 120 bird species so far. I can tell birds apart quite easily – they look different, obviously, and they also have different calls. Sometimes I can hear a bird and know what it is. I like the sounds that owls make, and the blackbird’s song, which is probably my favourite. But I also like the woodpigeon’s call. Sometimes I like to draw what I see, and at other times I just draw other random animals.
Anyone can look for birds. Or insects. Go and start in the back garden and work your way out to somewhere else. Look at all the birds and all the insects and try to find some interesting stuff. People seem to see nature, but they don’t always appreciate it. Often, we’re all too busy minding our own business.
Most people in my class like video games. I like some video games, too! But I think a lot of kids would enjoy birdwatching, if they just tried.
Kabir Kaul, 14, Hillingdon
For most of my life I have lived in Eastcote, in the London borough of Hillingdon. When I was about seven or eight I looked outside the window and saw lots of pigeons and robins and sparrows, and I thought: “Let me explore more.” So I got some binoculars, and my uncle bought me a field guide for my 10th birthday, and I just went out to discover the local area.
I realised from a young age that I like nature and wildlife from around the world, but I only started to develop an interest in the wildlife in Britain when I actually looked outside and I realised the wildlife around me was mainly birds. That’s how I got into birdwatching. What most people don’t realise is that everything is hiding in plain sight: it’s all just there, on your doorstep. This is partly why I created an interactive map, Nature Reserves of London. It shows all designated wildlife sites and nature reserves around and throughout the capital, and reveals how much biodiversity there really is.
I think if you live in an inner city, or a built-up place, you just have to look harder. Look at the trees, see if there are ants. And if there are, maybe there’s a blackbird. I’ve been surprised to see waxwings in Wimbledon.
For young children, I’d suggest they get involved with local organisations, or some grassroots projects nearby – maybe an allotment site or a city farm. They might not even have a garden, but if they have a balcony, they could maybe make a pond by filling up an old container with water and putting plants in it. Or they could make bird feeders or nest boxes to hang from the outside of their house. It’s all to do with passion, and the will to do it.
I only have one or two friends at school who are as interested in birding as me. But birdwatching is so calming. It’s wonderful to see the birds and the colours of their plumage and their different sizes and to hear their song.
If people who suffer from mental health issues – or people who are on their phones all the time and they don’t notice their surroundings – actually go outside and look at the trees and hear the birdsong, they will automatically just feel better because they’ll be at one with nature. They’re surrounded by it.
Dara McAnulty, 15, Ireland
It’s always been my view that everyone has a connection with nature: it’s whether or not you choose to heed that connection that makes the difference. When you take the time to enjoy and be calmed by nature, that’s when it starts taking effect and really helping you – noticing that there is a soldier beetle on a leaf, and then being curious about what you have seen… Asking questions is the best thing you can do in this world.
Something that I would like to emphasise is that you do not need any fancy or expensive equipment to go out into nature. If you have eyes, you can watch birds. If you have ears, you can listen to birds. If you have hands, you can feel bark. If you have an open mind, you can feel those experiences. You don’t need too much, just the will to go out.
I go out with no particular aim or reason. I don’t go out specifically to see birds, but I love to see them. They are magical to me, and I enjoy their presence.
I hold the firm belief that people thinking that nature is “dirty” stems from parents saying, “Don’t pick up that feather, because you’re going to get a disease from it.” I’ve touched countless feathers in my life, and never got sick from them.
When I’m out I take field notes. I sit down on a bench, get out a notebook and I write down the date, weather, what I’ve seen and what I’m feeling – my emotions – which I then won’t forget, because it’s been internalised through writing. It makes it feel real.
Some of the connection I have is down to my autism; I feel things very strongly. When I feel bark it feels like a lot more than just touching bark – it feels like touching a living creature. Sometimes it can be quite overwhelming. We are all part of this Earth. I feel a responsibility towards it.
I was bullied quite heavily a couple of years back. They were saying, “Why do you care about nature and all this stuff?” and I was like: “Wait a second, if I care about nature more than basically everything else, and I don’t care about the bullies, it makes them irrelevant.”
There is one thing that I am 100% sure of: my love of the natural world – it is essential to my wellbeing and my mental health. It is a part of me now. If it was taken away from me, it would be like someone taking the floor from beneath me. I don’t know where I’d be.
Visit rspb.org.uk for a guide to birdwatching
