Younger people flocking to birding
People in their 20s are playing chess and bingo, and packing trivia nights. They have taken up birding, too.
Why it matters: Perhaps the generation supposedly lost to smartphones was never lost at all. Younger people are putting down their phones—or using them as tools—to reconnect with nature, complicated games, music and one another. Civilization may survive.
The details: The Atlantic’s Rachel Gutman-Wei joined a team of 20-somethings 🔒 competing in an annual New Jersey birding contest, racing to identify the most species seen or heard in 24 hours.
She traces the hobby’s rise among younger people to two developments:
- During COVID, people with time on their hands began paying closer attention to the birds in their backyards.
- Apps from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have given newcomers an easy entry point. One identifies birds by their calls, sending birders off to find them and check them off a digital list.
One teammate offered the simplest explanation: “I think it’s just fun to do this with my friends.”
The bottom line: Do not always believe the doomsayers who insist the world is ending. Civilization carries on through curiosity, the urge to share what we discover and the simple pleasure of doing something together.
