Bird-watching: How one of the country's most popular hobbies engages Utahns

HERRIMAN — On a recent Sunday morning, a group of 10 bird-watchers leisurely made their way up Yellow Fork Canyon near Herriman in southwest Salt Lake County as they looked and listened for different birds in the area.

The bird walk started in the trailhead's parking lot, and as the group made a loop around the lot, they spotted multiple birds including a pair of mountain bluebirds, a raven and a chat.

Members of the group then slowly made their way up the trail, regularly stopping when someone heard or spotted a bird along the route. In unison, the group would raise their binoculars to their eyes as the person who first spotted the bird instructed them where to look.

On this day, the birders were shocked when they spotted a nighthawk, which typically is not spotted in the morning.

The bird walk was led by Charles Hurd through the Great Salt Lake Audubon chapter. Hurd leads bird walks for the chapter once a month and also volunteers for Salt Lake City's Tracy Aviary.

Hurd, throughout the bird walk, would share with the group details about the different birds, explaining which plants they like, what sounds they make and other facts about them and their habitat.

How a love of birding can start

The birders in the group were as diverse as the feathered stars they were looking for, participating in the hobby for different amounts of time and becoming involved in different ways.

Alysia Watanabe first became interested in birding around five years ago after a trip to Costa Rica.

"The guide was very familiar with birds, and they have some pretty spectacular ones there. So I started to realize, oh, I should learn some birds in Utah," she explained.

Watanabe said as she learns more about birds, she starts to notice them around her more.

"It's like a whole different world that was there all along, and you're discovering it," she said. "They are just so intricate, too; it's very complex."

Around six years ago, Susan Weisenberg was at a Home Depot when she spotted two pelicans. The surprise at seeing that type of bird in Utah got her hooked on birding.

She said that she enjoys birding because of "how endlessly weird and amazing" birds can be. She described one type of bird as being "muppetlike."

Weisenberg said her favorite bird is anything that isn't a starling or a pigeon.

Utah provides a wide variety of habitats for birds

Max Malmquist, with the National Audubon Society Saline Lakes program, shared that Utah has a wide variety of bird habitats, and many of these habitats are close to the state's cities and communities.

"There's the Great Salt Lake that has some very unique birds that utilize the kind of saline habitat and the food resources — brine flies and brine shrimp — that occur at Great Salt Lake," Malmquist said.

He added that there's also freshwater wetlands, juniper and pinyon pine habitats, sagebrush habitat and mountain habitats along the Wasatch Front.

"So you can see an incredibly diverse number of species of birds without traveling too far from the Wasatch Front," he said.

Away from the Wasatch Front, Malmquist said that there are also unique desert habitats in the southwestern part of the state.

"There's some additional birds down there that you cannot see anywhere else in Utah, which is pretty cool," Malmquist said.

One of the birders on the walk, Neldon Kunz, has seen a wide variety of birds across the state's many habitats. He recently finished a major birding goal of seeing 100 birds in all 29 Utah counties.

There have been 472 species of birds recorded in Utah, Malmquist said. He also explained that some of these species are residents to the state and are here year-round while others migrate to Utah to nest and breed.

"The other interesting thing about birds is they have wings, and they often get lost," Malmquist said. That's why there are a number of species recorded in the state "that should not be in Utah, that end up in Utah. And I think that's what attracts a lot of people (to bird watching). ... They kind of get into birds, and then you have these rare birds that show up."

Why birding is one of the most popular hobbies in the country

Paul Bernard picked up birding shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

"I used to be a fisherman, and I got tired of getting up early and gathering all that gear to fish, so I picked up birding right before the pandemic," Bernard said.

"During the pandemic, it was nice to get out — and I'm still getting up early."

Hurd said that there is a variety of reasons as to why birding is such a popular hobby, including being outside in nature, getting exercise and socializing with other bird-watchers.

"Birders are a fun lot," Hurd said.

Malmquist also shared the reason he loves birding.

"Just relaxing and getting out in nature and listening to bird songs. That's something that I really enjoy," Malmquist said.

Malmquist said birding is one of the most popular hobbies in the country. In 2022, a study showed one-third of Americans older than 16 have participated in some type of birdwatching.

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