Spark Birds

Before birders spent a substantial portion of their time and energy on learning about and watching birds, they were non-birders. They may have taken notice when a large hawk flew by or knew the difference between a duck and a sparrow, but their knowledge of anything avian may  not have gone much further. If you didn’t start watching birds at a very young age, then you probably recall those personal, pre-birdwatching times. In fact, if you like to list the species you identify, then there’s also a fair chance that you regret not starting sooner to have seen species in southern Spain, Morocco, India, or other destinations you traveled to as a non-birder.

However, at some point, you eventually did become a birder (and to avoid a maelstrom of regrets, let’s hope that it was before you took that once in a lifetime safari to Tanzania).  Something got you started and in all likelihood and appropriateness, it was probably a bird. At some point, you looked at a certain species of bird and that in turn made you view all other birds in a new light. Pigeons became doves, finches became goldfinches, House Finches, or greenfinches. Eagles turned Golden, Bald, or White-tailed, and “Seagulls” were drastically divided into a confusing array of subtly different birds that went by the more deserving and eloquent name of “gull”.

A common term for the bird that acts as the catalyst for becoming a birdwatcher is “spark bird”. It’s the light that ignites the passion for watching everything avian and opens the door to a vast world of feathered opportunities. Since they harbor such potential, one would expect spark birds to be the most colorful, amazingly exotic, and majestic of bird species. Eagles, flamingos, hoopoes, bee-eaters, and other captivating birds come to mind. If you ask most birders, though, they will divulge the names of spark bird species that are a bit more mundane than large birds of prey and other obvious, avian eye candy. Ask any birder what their spark bird was and you are much more likely to hear that it was a Nuthatch, a Chaffinch, a Kestrel, or even a common Eurasian Robin that hopped around the backyard. Ask a North American birder and the answers will probably be something like Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, American Goldfinch, or Red-headed Woodpecker.

Although a fair percentage of birdwatchers can count some rare species as a spark bird, fact is, most spark birds reflect where we started birding and the fact that you can see some fantastic species in that same, familiar place. Most birdwatchers notice birds for the first time right in their own backyards. They may have put out a bird feeder or they might have been just looking out the back window. Either way, one day, they just happened to be observing and enjoying nature around their home and that spark bird flew into view. It caught their attention, captivated them, and made them wonder what it was. Once they looked it up in a field guide to birds, they couldn’t help but notice that there were hundreds of other amazing bird species sharing the woods, fields, backyards, and wetlands of their country. As mundane as many spark birds appear to be, it shows that even a House Sparrow has the potential to change the course of someone’s life.

Do you have a spark bird? How did you get started in birdwatching?

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