What is . . . (1 Viewer)

[timeshadowed]

a "twitcher" , "twiching" ??

Thanks,
TimeShadowed

 

[Terry O'Nolley]

I think you need to be from the UK to truly be able to answer that But it has to do with a person that will stop what they are doing and run, bike, drive or crawl to a location where a bird has been sighted that they need for their current list. After spending 2 seconds identifying it, they go back home and continue watching the soccer match on tv... er, I mean watching their football match on the telly!.

 

[cavan wood]

Not fair. Only some do that. Judging from many discussions on the forum, many twitchers spend hours watching the bird in question. That being said, on the one day I spent twitching, I did witness a two minute twitch. A car stopped, two people got out and asked "is that it". We said "yes". They raised their bins, took a look, got back in their car, and left.

Scott

 

[HelenC]

You will probably get some forceful opinions in reply to this question, but I'll have a go at a neutral definition. A twitcher is somebody who travels to see a particular bird for the purpose of adding it to their list.

 

[Terry O'Nolley]

Not fair. Only some do that. Judging from many discussions on the forum, many twitchers spend hours watching the bird in question.

I know Just being silly!

That being said, on the one day I spent twitching, I did witness a two minute twitch. A car stopped, two people got out and asked "is that it". We said "yes". They raised their bins, took a look, got back in their car, and left.

Those are the scavenger hunters I am talking about! Not that there's anything wrong with it......

 

[postcardcv]

To twitch a bird is to travel to a specific site to see a specific bird.

People who 'tick and run' are a very small minority, most birders will want to enjoy the bird they've made the effort to see. Normally when I twitch a bird it's a species I've not seen before, or have not seen often and therefore I want to take the opportunity to really 'watch' it. If a bird is fairly local I'll often twitch it more than once, purely so I can spend more time watchnig it and learning about the species.
When I twitched my first black-crowned night heron I spent over 4 hours watching it, and then came back the following day for another 2 hours.

 

[Allen S. Moore]

You will probably get some forceful opinions in reply to this question, but I'll have a go at a neutral definition. A twitcher is somebody who travels to see a particular bird for the purpose of adding it to their list.

Wow! That's very succinct!

 

[timeshadowed]

Thanks all that responded to my sincere question. I have since read another thread about 'twitching' and did not realize, when I posted this thread, that this subject may be what is considered 'flame bait'. I did NOT post my question to cause a 'flame war' on the board. I truely did not know what the term meant. I had read a few posts with the word contained therein and was just curious as to the the meaning.

I have been interested in birds since early childhood and I am now of retirement age. I'm not someone who 'ticks'. My list is very, very short. However, I do go 'out in the field' to watch the Bald Eagle soar for hours on end.

TimeShadowed