With coronavirus restrictions dragging on, interest in bird-watching has soared as bored Americans notice a fascinating world just outside their windows. Downloads of popular bird identification apps have spiked, and preliminary numbers show sales of bird feeders, nesting boxes and birdseed have jumped even as demand for other nonessential goods plummets.
The trend coincides with peak migration for hundreds of species and nesting season, giving newfound birders a front-row seat to some of nature's biggest shows. Birds are their most active -- and noisy -- now, and many Americans no longer in an office or classroom all day are taking notice.
Conner Brown, a 25-year-old law student at Stanford University, spent the early days of the pandemic following his brother as he spotted and collected characters in the Pokemon Go mobile game.
Then, Brown noticed the birds.
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"I thought, 'why don't I take up birding?' It's like real-life Pokemon Go. It's super addicting because you can start logging them and you get a little collection. It's really cool," Brown said. He paused, then added, "they should really game-ify it."
Brown, who lives near Annapolis, Md., can now identify 30 different bird species. He can recognize the calls of the brown-headed cowbird and cardinal, and tell male birds from females. He bought a special set of binoculars that attaches to his iPhone camera, downloaded bird identification and bird-logging apps, and is giving birding advice on Twitter.
"The birds don't know that there's a pandemic. They're migrating, building nests and laying eggs, just like they always have," said Michael Kopack Jr., who put up a birdhouse at his home in Angier, N.C., and is watching a pair of bluebirds hatch their eggs.
"It kind of takes us back to a magical time six or eight weeks ago when there was no pandemic," he said. "It lets me decompress and get away from everything that's going on in the world, at least for a little while."
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Downloads of the National Audubon Society's bird identification app in March and April doubled over that period last year, and unique visits to its website are up by a half-million. The prestigious Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y., has seen downloads of its free bird identification app, Merlin ID, shoot up 102% over the same time last year, with 8,500 downloads on Easter weekend alone.
Visits to Cornell's live bird cams have doubled, and uploads of bird photos and calls have increased 45% and 84%, respectively, on Cornell's crowd-sourced bird-logging app, eBird.
Even retailers seem to be cashing in despite the crashing economy. Preliminary marketing data shows overall sales rising 10% to 15% this spring in the "birding category," according to data from Panacea Products Corp., which makes bird-feeding products.
In Portland, Ore., those participating in the Birdathon -- a fundraiser for the Audubon Society of Portland -- will go bird-watching individually over a period of weeks instead of heading out in teams for a day or a weekend. They will report their sightings by virtual check-in, ending with a Zoom celebration on May 9, said Sarah Swanson, the fundraiser's coordinator.
"Birds are everywhere now. They're singing, they're migrating, they're nesting," she said. "They're busy every minute of the day doing all these interesting behaviors -- and I think that's what draws people in."
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