The bird way6/30/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() “I think Gen Z are getting more and more into birding to help alleviate the stresses of living in a digital world,” Craig says. The mental-health benefits of bird-watching are a huge part of its appeal for younger generations, says Mya-Rose Craig, a 20-year-old British-Bangladeshi birder and author of Birdgirl who has been birding her entire life. Apps are seeing an increase too, with Birda reporting a monthly growth rate of 30 percent in signups. There were also 555,291 estimated global participants in Cornell University's 2023 Great Backyard Bird Count-up 44 percent from the 384,541 participants in 2022. Just look at the stats: On TikTok-which draws its largest base of users from folks under 24-the hashtags #birdwatching and #birding have over 1B views and 212M views, respectively. ![]() ![]() The rise of bird-watching among younger folks is tied closely to its benefitsīird-watching isn't new at all, but there is a new generation of birders making the hobby more trendy and inclusive. While this new hobby sometimes makes me feel like the Pigeon Lady in Home Alone 2, I’m one of millions who have taken up birding in recent years, and I'm happy to soak up the benefits of bird-watching. Anytime a new bird graces my feeder, I immediately look it up, proudly text my mom, and add it to a list of sightings in my Notes app. It didn’t take long for me to purchase my very own copy of my mom’s still-cherished field guide on eBay. ![]()
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