Today was my son’s first day of daycare, which you think would mean I was less busy today than normal, but you would be wrong. Thankfully, I have had a post under glass for months, for just such an occasion. Please enjoy this essay about birding while running.
“What do you think about when you’re running?”
Anyone who runs has probably heard this question at some point in their life, and everyone has their own answer. It’s a fair question; running certainly gives you a lot of time alone with your thoughts. Everyone has their own answer for this, too.
For decades, music has been running’s favorite tandem activity, though podcasts and audiobooks have recently moved in on that turf. As long as you stay aware of your surroundings, these are all great ways to pass your time out on the roads. If you like to keep your ears open and find your thoughts getting too loud for comfort, though, you may be at a loss.
Thankfully, I have a solution: birding.
Birding is a wonderful hobby by itself, but birding while running supercharges both activities simultaneously.
My wife and I got into birds as a hobby on our honeymoon in Hawaii a few years ago. It was the longest time we had spent together outside our native Northeast US biome, and we were fascinated by all the new birds we saw. As an aside, we were also fascinated by the familiar birds we saw there—neither of us expected to see pigeons on a picturesque beach in Maui, but there they were.
My wife loved the common mynas that flocked around our hotel, with their stylish yellow eyeliner. I would go running in the mornings and share my sightings over breakfast; my favorite spot was a feeder in Lahaina that routinely attracted a flock of Java sparrows. When we drove the Road to Hana, we were greeted on the far side of the island by chestnut munias, and it felt like an extra reward for making the trip.
My wife and I came home from Hawaii as birders, and that practice has transformed my running.
The Merlin app, by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, was invaluable for learning the names of all the unfamiliar birds I saw in Hawaii. It is a Pokédex for birds. It is also Shazam for birds, identifying them by sound as well as sight. I never stopped using the app when I got home, and it felt like meeting the birds I’d known my whole life for the first time.
I’ve learned that each song sparrow interprets the music given to him a little differently, so you should listen for the voice and not the melody. Blue jays, being corvids like crows and ravens, are also surprisingly vocally versatile—and one of the few colorful birds you’ll still see in winter!
I’ve learned the difference between crows and ravens: mainly, it’s size. You know when you’ve seen a raven because it’s big. If you get to hear it, there’s no mistaking.
Unlike lots of other local birds, robins do dig for worms, though I suppose it’s the earlier ones who actually get them. I love when I spot one having a successful hunt. Good job, little guy!
Starlings sound like R2D2. Cardinals sound like sci-fi lasers. If you’re an idiot, like me, you might confuse a robin call for the less common northern flicker and get your hopes up. Catbirds are unmistakable, though—they sound like cats.
Learning your local birds brings them into focus. Suddenly that foraging flock in the park isn’t just “birds”. If you’re me at the local track in the early springtime, it’s robins and juncos. By the pond it’s duck, duck, goose, and the anticipation that maybe I’ll see a heron or an egret too. One time I saw a double-crested cormorant. Seeing uncommon birds feels like hitting a winning lotto ticket, even if it’s a $5 scratch-off prize in the form of a red-tailed hawk flying particularly low.
From goldfinches to grackles, I could go on and on about all the birds I’ve seen running. I saw a bald eagle near my in-laws’ house in central Jersey. That was a jackpot.
It can be so easy to treat your well-worn loops and routes like a treadmill: familiar, repetitive, boring, rote. Just something you have to do while you’re waiting for your next workout. Birding lets every run surprise you—sometimes just a little, and sometimes a whole lot. Maybe you hear a mockingbird practicing its repertoire, or you see a bird you haven’t seen in a while, or you see a bird you’ve never seen in person before, or you see a bird you’ve never seen at all. Remember to look it up on Merlin when you get home!
Besides the fact that you can do both outside, running and birding have something else in common that makes them great partners. Running and birding both create pride of place. Your local birds and your local running routes are special because they’re yours. When you take the time to know them and treat them like they’re special, it feels like having a bigger house. Having lived in this corner of Essex County for ten years, I’ve run a lot of streets, seen a lot of birds, and met a lot of people. My house feels pretty big.
I’m not saying running or birding will make you a better member of your community, but they certainly could.
What I am saying is that running and birding are two great hobbies that get better together. I would even say that doing both kills two birds with one stone, but that seems against the spirit of the post.
Turn your next easy run into a bird outing. See what you find.
The island of Maui, while beloved by honeymooners, is far more importantly home to over 160,000 people, and that home was ravaged by wildfires just a few months after my wife and I returned from our trip. Recovery is ongoing.
The Maui County government maintains a website for community organization and resources called Maui Nui Strong, and it includes a list of charitable organizations responding to the continuing needs of wildfire victims.
theDNF 
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