A Short History of Bird Watching Tours
Bird watching is a hobby with a long history and it’s fascinating to trace the origins of the activity from its very beginnings to the pursuit of today. Watching tours are the result of a long process of evolution, both in the attitude towards birds, and the technology available to those looking to spot them. The interest in observing birds for pleasure rather than hunting them for food is commonly traced back to the 18th century, rising with interest in the study of birds and natural history during the Victorian era. Although interest in increased during this period, it was mainly expressed through the collection of bird eggs and skins.
Late 19th Century and Development
When the call for protection began in the late 19th century, the popularity of observing living birds began to rise. In the United States and Britain, two societies were created to keep birds safe: the Audubon Society and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. In North America, the way people went about identifying birds was changing thanks to developments in technology – where once it was only possible to identify birds by shooting them (a practice that thankfully hasn’t survived to modern bird watching tours), it became possible to observe birds with optics and field identification guides.
Bird Watching in the Early 20th Century
The earliest field guide available in the Unites States was written by Florence Bailey, published in 1889, and titled ‘Birds through an Opera Glass’. The first use of the term ‘bird watching’ appeared as the title of a book published in 1901 – ‘Bird Watching’, by Edmund Selous. As the organisations continued to thrive and make networking amongst bird watchers possible, technology also helped make birds more accessible than ever before, laying the groundwork for modern bird watching tours. The invention of the automobile, and its rising popularity, increased mobility for bird watchers and made new locations easy to reach for those interested in regional birds.
The 20th Century’s Developments
With this new increased mobility and capability to travel in search of rare and unusual birds, books such as ‘Where to Watch Birds’ by John Gooders became bestsellers amongst the burgeoning community. By the 1960′s, air travel was becoming more popular, and long-distance holiday destinations opened up. Watching tours were only a short step away, and by 1965 the first tour companies were beginning to be established in Great Britain. However, travelling far distances on bird watching tours created new problems. British birds with names like ‘heron’ and ‘swallow’ needed adjectives to differentiate between the species in regions where there might be several.
Modern Watching
The decreasing cost of air travel during the 1980′s made flying to remote destinations for watching a possibility for larger numbers of people. The need for global guides available to people on international bird watching tours became more pronounced. The biggest project which emerged was the ‘Handbook of the Birds of the World’, started in the 1990′s by Josep del Hoyo, Jordi Sargatal, and ornithologist Andy Elliot.
