21 Ethical Birding
About this episode
Being a good birder starts with giving birds space. Golo Maurer from BirdLife Australia shares the ethics of birdwatching and how to be a better mate to wild birds and other birdwatchers.
Episode illustration: Black Redstart
Golo Maurer has been involved in ecological research and conservation for about 20 years. He has enjoyed a broad career in ornithological research and has contributed to scientific and conservation projects on six continents. He has also taught at the University of Birmingham and at Charles Sturt University. As BirdLife Australia’s Citizen Science Program Leader, Golo supports volunteers and the broader community to become more involved in bird conservation projects.
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Kirsty: Today's Weekend Birder guest is joining us from Cairns on the land of the Yidinji people. I would like to pay my respect to Elders past and present, and thank them for allowing people to birdwatch on their spectacular Country.
Kirsty: Welcome to Weekend Birder, I'm Kirsty Costa. In this episode, I'm thrilled to introduce you to Golo Maurer. He is the Citizen Science Program Leader at BirdLife Australia. Golo’s love of wild birds began at the age of 13 whilst growing up in the Black Forest in Germany. His interest in birdwatching led him to work in a nature reserve at the Lake of Constance, which is at the edge of the Alps.
Golo: I first got interested very classically, I guess, through school. We had a teacher that was really enthusiastic and excited about birds. And there's one thing that I always dreamt we would have for Australia as well. But I grew up in Germany and it's a much smaller country than Australia. So you had one bird clock that works for the whole of the country, which is in the spring chorus. You set the time by when the birds start to sing. Some people might have noticed that in Australia the kookaburras are often those birds here. So in Germany that was the Black Redstart – the first one to sing at 2am in the morning. And just listening to that and working through that and finding patterns in nature was really, really exciting. My parents supported me all the way along as well, which is great. And they were big into dragging the kids around Europe in the campervan. And that was obviously fantastic because you see all these new birds and new habitats. You also learn a lot about how people in other places are just as excited as you about the birds. And that's a great experience to have. So it grew. And it's probably also an interesting experience in that for a lot of for me at least, it was the first time that someone outside my bigger family recognised me as someone who knew something about birds. By going out with the old professor so and so (and those sorts of people) to go birdwatching and they actually listened to what I had to say. And I mean now I'm in my late forties, I realise it's because they probably didn't hear or see a thing, so they were happy for anyone to come along and show them things. But for me that was a really rewarding experience as well. It's just a fantastic way to connect with people. I always jokingly say that if you go to a party and tell people you’re a birdwatcher, like with medical doctors there is always someone that has a story that they want to share with you and that they want to tell you about. So that's really exciting. I'd rather hear about people's little brown birds than about their ingrown toenail or whatever it might be. So I think as a birder, you've got a really good position there.
Kirsty: I love it. All of Golo’s interest in wild birds has led to a 20 year career in ecology, ornithology and conservation. He's contributed to bird research on six continents and has also taught in universities. More recently, Golo’s work at BirdLife Australia has involved facilitating community science programs which involve people in a range of conservation projects. As part of this work, he's helped to review and republish BirdLife's Ethical Birdwatching Guidelines.
Golo: This isn't the first time that we've had Ethical Birding Guidelines in BirdLife, but compared to the version of ten years ago… as a beginning birder, you've got your ID app on your phone with the option to playback the bird calls. Everyone can buy these amazing torches that come with a sticker that warns that you might be burning your eyes out when you use them. That stuff. It's gotten a lot easier with the technology to have the tools that help you birdwatching. But as with any tools, it can cut both ways. And that's been really a reason for us to say that we need to be a bit more clear and acknowledge that that's there and go into the detail.
Kirsty: There are lots of things that we can do to look after our wild bird mates and not stress them out. Previous Weekend Birder guests have talked about avoiding the use of call-back that is playing the call of a bird on your phone in order to identify it or to lure it closer to your location. Golo says that this continues to be a big ethical discussion in the birdwatching world.
Golo: My first inclination would be to say, “Consider whether we really want to do it”. Because my personal experience is that the higher you're getting from actually being able to track that bird down and see it and identify it, that rush of excitement that I've got this call (I suspect that it was this and I got it right) – that's what really burns it on your brain that you can remember that bird call next time you hear it. Versus taking the shortcut and saying, “Okay, well, I'll play this back and get the bird ID-ed. Or I’ll record the bird as it sings and I’ll play that back”. You'll get your bird identified (probably) but you're not getting the joy and you're not getting the learning. So that would be my first advice, really thinking about that from what you want to get out of, out of the birdwatching. What could happen in a normal bird’s life is they've got their territory and other birds floats in. They do a couple of songs. They realize, “Oops, someone's already there! This place is taken”. They move on. So that's what the bird expects and that's what they can deal with. And chances are that a lot of other people know about that location as well and do exactly the same thing. And so it really compounds that. And there's a fair amount of anecdotal evidence of especially around owls and other species that are nocturnal and that they actually vanish from a site. Either they don't call or they actually move on from the side. That's been the famous stakeout for owls in the Kruger National Park at this campground. It happens in Australia as well. That's really another consideration there.
Kirsty: Another way to be an ethical birdwatcher is to stick to the paths and avoid going on to private property.
Golo: People might get a bit excited about a rare bird that's somewhere and they might lean a bit far over the fence. There's a lot of damage that can be done in that process, not only to the individual bird, but also to the relationship that we might try to build at BirdLife Australia with that particular property owner – to actually look after the place for that species. So you end up doing a lot more damage than you do to the individual bird. There's definitely that consideration. We have pretty distinctive bunch birdwatchers with our binoculars. I mean, there's really only two options. What you can be when you're running around in the bush with binoculars and birdwatcher is the better option there! But even with that, you know, you get identified as one of them. You're holding up the standards for you and your fellow birders, and that's worth a consideration as well.
Kirsty: Other recommendations from BirdLife include avoiding lingering around nests or feeding or drinking sites and remembering to take your litter with you. Caring for Country is pretty straightforward, but sometimes we need a little reminder – especially in moments when we're really excited or distracted by the birds around us.
Golo: Making a decision to let a lifer ago, even though you know it's there and you could just turn on the playback to get it in, or you could just stomp through the bush and scare it off. That's a difficult decision, but it's the right decision to make. Probably the bird has karma there. Right? You've got you let one go, you make that decision and you get another rewarding observation another time. Well, that's how I like to think about it anyhow. If that helps you to follow through with the right decision, then I think that's a good lead.
Kirsty: If you're not down with the birdwatching lingo. A ‘lifer’ is a bird that you've never seen before. It's a bird that you could add to your life list. As a beginner birdwatcher, I've been learning how to describe where I've seen a rare bird without giving away its exact location. It's a fine balance between reporting a bird, but not attracting large amounts of bird watchers to its location, especially if there's a nest. So that's something for you to think about. Like Nicholas in our last episode, Golo’s ability to listen closely to bird calls has helped him become a better and more ethical birdwatcher.
Golo: It’s funny that it's called birdwatching in the first place. I guess I spoke about it at the beginning, how this this bird clock fascinated me and living in a very lucky part of the country. I could lie in bed in the morning and wait until I've heard ten different bird species before I got up. I think birdwatching is really a term for the activity I do and many of us do and that it falls short. It's not just the watching, it's really the listening and the hearing as well. And I think the beauty of that is because it's not our primary sense, but it is the soundtrack of our lives. Listening to a bird and the more aware you get of that, the more you enjoy that it's there and that it's happening. So the listening and then I guess the tool that goes with this is that the fact that you now have it on an app. I remember the times when you had to go on the tapes or you had to count the numbers on the records to get to the birdsong of a certain species. Now you can just go in there and go on your app and listen to it and really learn that song. So it's a really great tool to have. But close your eyes and listen to the soundscape and listen what comes out. And you can hear a lot further than you can see. A lot of birds want to be heard as well. They're telling you a story – something about what stage the landscape is in because everyone's singing. Or there are all these migrants coming through and calling. So there's really so much you can gain from focusing on the on the hearing.
Kirsty: Part of being an ethical birdwatcher is also sharing your knowledge and love for birds. You can go back and listen to Episode 18 to hear some tips from Dr. Jen Martin about how to communicate about science and birdwatching. You can also collect citizen science data, which contributes to decisions and actions for bird conservation. BirdLife has a platform called Birdata, which you can access on your phone or on their website. You can complete standardised surveys or record lovely birdwatching surprises that you think other people should know about.
Golo: That's really a way to actually give back to the birds and help them persist and help build life, conserve them. I'm really lucky in the position that I'm working in that we look at data that people have collected fifty years ago and someone was out there collecting this, possibly thinking that in fifty years’ time this might be really useful. And it is! That is really just amazing! You can do that even as a beginner. It's not like you have to do ten years of training and sit a very complicated test. You can start this right now, put in what you can recognise and don't put in what you have to make up. But yeah, you can really contribute important data to conservation and science.
Kirsty: I'll put a link to the Birdata website in the episode notes along with where you can find the Ethical Birdwatching Guidelines. Many thanks to Golo for taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk to us. I really admire his commitment to involving community in bird conservation projects that have a positive impact. Pop into weekendbirder.com any time to read transcripts or develop your birdwatching knowledge. You can also find us on your favourite social media platforms.
