Migration Mania! 

May 7, 2025 

By: Paul Cypher, Park Interpreter

Of the four major sports in the United States, football has the shortest season (5 months) with the fewest regular season games (16).  Basketball and hockey each play 82 games during a 7-month season. Baseball – America’s Pastime – has a 6-month season with 162 regular season games.

Let’s face it – if you are big fan of a particular sport, you have some down time waiting for the next season to start.  That can be rough!

But what if I told you there was another “America’s Pastime”?  One you can manage almost any way you want and no one can tell you otherwise…

Its birding. No, seriously. It works just like a sport with your rules, your timeline, your equipment and your budget. Actually, it’s better than any sport. And more widespread, too.  Believe it or not, “bird watching” is considered more popular than any sport in the country.

The playing field?  Get this – you pick. And nobody can tell you’re wrong.  You can look for birds in your backyard or the Metropark up the street.  Or you can look in particular county, state or even country.  Computers and eBird allow you to keep track of all of it at the same time.  Record keeping for all of your “playing fields” has never been easier.

What about the time? Do birders use innings or periods like baseball and hockey?  Well, sort of.  Get this – you pick.  Sound familiar?  Many birders like to see how many species they can find in their lifetime! On top of that, many keep lists for the year, month or even a single day.

Believe it or not, you could bird literally 365 days a year for the rest of your life. You can be driving to work, gardening, or staring out the window during a boring business meeting (admit it – you’ve done it!). You can bird almost anytime you want.  The coldest day of the winter versus the hottest day of the summer? It doesn’t matter.

What about rules?  Sports are full of them.  Are there really rules for birding? Actually, yes.  Ethics, too!  Recognizing that ethics are morals codes and rules are basically law, yes, they both exist for the birder.  Should you take pruning sheers and trim branches for a better view of a roosting owl? Absolutely no. What about flushing a bird off the nest so you can see the eggs?  Again, absolutely no. What about entering someone’s property to look for a bird without asking permission? That is simply trespassing.  It’s against the law!

Consider, too, that some rules are set up for the competitive nature and fun of it all.  Birdathons are fundraisers were teams of birders scour the field in a given period of time (usually 24 hours) to find as many birds as possible.  If it is a competition, there must be some rules to guide it, right?

What about equipment?  Hockey players and football players wear pads. Baseball players have to have good shoes to run in the dirt.  Yes, birders need equipment, too.  At the minimum, a good pair of binoculars is a great place to start.  They should probably be a newer pair as the world of optics has changed a lot in the last few decades.  Using new binoculars is not unlike using a modern helmet.  You wouldn’t want to play football with that old leather headgear, would you?

Keep in mind, too, that equipment can also mean good footwear if you’re hiking, sunscreen if you’re outside for a while, or maybe sweaters if its chilly.  You get the point.  It’s a lot more than binoculars!

What about cost?  Once you have the initial investment of the binoculars, it can be free for as long as you want it to be.  It doesn’t cost a thing to bird your own yard!  But maybe you’ll need some passes for a park, or few extra bucks for a program or guided tour.  Maybe you want to jump on a boat and go 25 miles offshore in the Atlantic (yeah, birding can you take you there).   In the end, you spend what you want to spend.  Major sports?  After parking, admission, and food for the kids, you’re out, well, a few hundred bucks.

So let’s put all of this together – birding is a casual activity with readily available, but specialized, equipment taking place on the field of your choice during the time of your choice with the goals of your choice at the costs of your choice.  Does it really get any better than that?

Actually, yes, it does get better.  We can’t overlook the satisfaction of it all.  Who decides the level of that?

You do.

Are you excited because you saw one of the rarest birds in North America? You win. Are you excited because you saw 100 species of birds in a single day? You win.  Are you excited because you found a bird nest?  You win. Are you content to watch the cardinal at the feeders while you’re doing dishes?  You win.

Please know, too, that the Huron-Clinton Metroparks and birding a great duo.  Our parks are wonderful for birding.  Over 22,000 acres in 13 parks are yours for exploring.  Staff, many of whom are familiar with birds, are found at the interpretive centers.  Don’t forget to check our website for birding-based programs!  If you can’t find birds on our properties, you’re not looking very hard.

But that’s the allure of birding.  You don’t have to look hard.  You look as hard as you want.  You put into it what you hope to get from it.

It’s a hat trick, touchdown, and grand slam all at the same time.