Mindful Birding

Mindful birding, also known as ‘slow birding’ or ‘casual birding’, is birding quietly, intentionally and gently, with the aim of deeply engaging with and enjoying the birds and nature around you. For many folks with accessibility challenges, this is the best way for them to go birding (rather than rushing around and checking off lists). Please remember, though, that there is no wrong way to go birding!

Ideas for mindful birding

• Find a ‘sit spot’, and spend 20 minutes (or more!) in that location, quietly observing what comes to visit. When you stay still and quiet, it’s amazing how many birds and other animals feel more comfortable, and you may see them doing things you otherwise wouldn’t see. If you can come back to this sit spot every day, every week or every month, you’ll be able to observe the changes in the bird population and any seasonal changes to that area too.

• Do some nature journaling. Intentionally seeking out small details about the world around you to jot it down on paper can help you fine-tune your observation skills. As well as a mindful activity, this will help you increase your bird identification skills too. You don’t need any special equipment or skills to start this, but if you’d like to learn more about nature journaling, there are lots of classes and workshops available to get you started.

• Get absorbed in nature through a camera. While many bird and wildlife photographers have expensive, heavy cameras and lenses, you don’t need that kind of equipment to take photos. Your camera phone will do! Find small details to get up close to, or new angles to appreciate them from. While you’re doing this, you never know which birds will pop in to say ‘hi!’. If you do have ‘serious camera gear’, spending time quietly in a bird blind, using your car as a mobile bird blind, or at a ‘sit spot’ can be a mindful practice, as you wait patiently for the perfect shot of the birds you’re watching.

Resources to learn more

• There’s some great guidelines for doing a ‘bird sit’ on Audubon California’s website here. They also offer weekly guided mindful bird sits via their Instagram account on Fridays at 10am Pacific.

• An article in National Audubon magazine explains how to be a mindful birder; read more here.

• Slow birding: Bridget Butler (aka Bird Diva) holds online workshops about slow birding. Learn more on her website.

• Nature journaling: Many artists teach workshops to get you started with nature journaling. Books, such as The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling, by John Muir Laws, may be helpful too. John Muir Laws has a huge library of blog posts with videos about drawing birds and more (here; scroll down a little to find the section on birds), and teaches workshops and more.

Books on mindful birding

• Ornitherapy: For your mind, body and soul, by Holly Merker, Richard Crossley and Sophie Crossley (published by Crossley Books, 2021) is full of more than 50 guided mindful birding explorations helping you connect to birds around you for your health and wellness. Buy your copy here.

• Zen Birding, by David M. White and Susan Guyette (published by O-Books in 2010) is a 184-page book about amazing birds and how to engage with them mindfully and spiritually.

• Bird Therapy, by Joe Harkness (published by Unbound, 2020) share’s Joe’s story of how birds help him living with depression and anxiety, and include tips on how to incorporate some bird therapy into your own life.

• The Art of Mindful Bird Watching, by Claire Thompson (published by Quarto UK, 2017) reflects on how being tuned in to birds in a quiet way helps enrich our enjoyment of them.

More books

Mindful listening in nature

• Deep Listening: A Composer’s Sound Practice, by Pauline Oliveros (published by iUniverse, 2005).

• The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World’s Wild Places, by Bernie Krause (published by Little, Brown and Company, 2013).

Nature therapy

• The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier and More Creative, by Florence Williams (published by Norton, 2018).

• Mindfulness and Nature-based Techniques for Children, by Cheryl Fisher (published by Pesi Publishing and Media, 2019).

• Nature-based Therapy: A Practitioner's Guide to Working Outdoors, by Nevin Harper, Kathryn Rose and David Segal (published by New Society Publishers, 2019).

Photo in page header: Taken at the end of the Lost Mine Trail, Big Bend National Park, Texas. (This is not an accessible trail, but can you see someone on the rocky cliff edge doing some mindful birding?) Taken by Freya McGregor.