Discovering Birds Online: Seniors’ guide to Birdwatching Apps

Seniors doing birdwatching from home benefit from modern technology like apps, websites, podcasts, and webcams. Birders who want to pursue their hobby from home gain from using these tools via easy access to expand skills, join communities, and observe nature.

As mobility decreases but passion persists, exploring technology aids can bring birding’s mental and social benefits without extensive travel.

This overview recommends apps aiding identification, podcasts catering to hobbyists, online classes, forums building community, and more.

While analog practices like journaling offer rewards, blending new tech tools into birding expands possibilities even further.

For those assisting less tech-savvy seniors, you could begin by getting devices set up to help access the virtual birding worlds.

To assist seniors in embracing online birding, start by offering personalized guidance for setting up apps and tools. Try emphasizing that learning is a journey and mistakes are natural.

Address concerns about privacy, security, and compatibility by explaining privacy settings and providing a list of compatible devices.

Highlight the availability of resources like online tutorials and support options to ensure a smooth and enjoyable learning experience tailored to their pace and preferences.

How can I Help Seniors Embrace Online Birding options?

Discovering online learning and birdwatching apps can be a wonderful way for seniors to enhance their birding experience. But perhaps there may be reluctance and uncertainty about beginning to try online birding resources.

It’s important to address any concerns. Here is some guidance to aim for a smooth transition.

Concerns that senior birders may have about online

• Technological Complexity
• Fear of Making Mistakes
• Privacy and Security
• Lack of Technical Support
• Cost
• Feeling Overwhelmed
• Compatibility Issues
• Limited Digital Literacy
• Time Constraints

Solutions

• Guided Setup: Offer personalized assistance and step-by-step guides.
• Encourage Exploration: Emphasize that mistakes are part of learning.
• Privacy Settings: Show how to adjust settings for data protection.
• Available Resources: Introduce online tutorials and support options.
• Free Options: Highlight affordable or free app versions.
• Gradual Learning: Encourage starting with basics and exploring step by step.
• Device Compatibility: Provide a list of compatible devices for the app.
• Learning Community: Highlight forums and groups for shared learning.
• Flexible Learning: Suggest short daily sessions to avoid overwhelming anyone.

By addressing these concerns and offering patient, personalized assistance, we can empower seniors to confidently explore online learning and birdwatching apps, enhancing their hobby and overall well-being.

Popular Bird Identification Apps

Apps like Merlin Bird ID, iBird Pro, and the Audubon app simplify identifying backyard birds, foreign species on vacation, or puzzling finds.

Merlin asks a series of questions like location, size, and color to provide likely matches. It also ID’s birds from photos.

iBird Pro contains illustrations and audio recordings for over 1000 species.

Audubon’s app matches photos to an encyclopedic database for definitive IDs.

Peterson Birds, National Geographic Birds, and Birds of North America also offer excellent visual field guides.

As birders we can test our skills with games challenging us to ID species from photos or recordings. Apps track your life lists and sightings too.

If aging vision or hearing make identification of birds difficult, review apps to find one accommodating your needs.

Popular Birding Podcasts and Playlists

Podcasts deliver entertainment and learning while giving eyes a rest.

Subscriptions like This Birding Life share stories about the hobby’s culture. Larkwire teaches bird sounds through quizzes training your ear.

Birds and Bees weaves interviews with original music.

Podcasts like American Birding Podcast cover news and rarities to stay current. Local Audubon chapter podcasts showcase regional species.

Apple’s spatial audio on newer iPhones makes birds sound true to life.

For longer trips, make thematic playlists blending podcast episodes, recorded vocalizations, and relaxing nature soundscapes. Save intriguing episodes to replay and note key facts learned.

Podcasts exercise cognitive skills through active listening rather than passive music. They provide rich sensory stimulation from the comforts of home.

For aging birders facing mobility limitations, audio content keeps the mind engaged.

Live-streamed Bird Walks and Events

Virtual birding experiences allow seniors to expand horizons beyond the backyard. Many nature centers, parks, and zoos now live-stream expert-led birding adventures allowing remote participation.

You can watch naturalist guides locate and identify species in real-time while following along with your own binoculars from inside. Often there is the facility to ask questions through chat features and compare observations.

You can also save excursions in order to replay them and look for additional details later. Some organizations live stream lectures, seminars, and full-day festivals featuring multiple experts accessible through your screens.

Schedule an annual virtual birdathon checking species off from home. While virtual experiences lack authentic smells, sounds, and weather, streaming expands access during immobility.

Through technology, beloved outdoor activities remain possible when mobility decreases.

Online Birding Courses

From home, seniors can keep expanding birding knowledge through online educational resources.

Expert insights into bird behavior and ecology are provided on YouTube channels like Cornell Lab –  https://www.youtube.com/labofornithology

There are a lot of video series on the National Audubon Society’s channel – https://www.youtube.com/@NationalAudubon/videos

Ebird offers a free five-part course. It is a great place to start because the aim is to help you find more birds and to be able to identify them more easily.
https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/product/ebird-essentials/

Coursera is a site offering free courses on a massive range of subjects. Many are from top institutions across the world, not just in North America. You could well find some bird-related or ornithology courses that appeal to you.

Diverse avian topics are covered in Smithsonian lectures, also available on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@SmithsonianChannel/videos.

Increasingly, virtual classes on specialized interests like birdscaping your garden or learning regional vocalizations are offered by local nature centers and Audubon chapters. Staying updated on conservation issues can be done by signing up for organizational newsletters.

Achievements and stories are delivered by following favorite nonprofits on social media.

One big benefit of online learning is exercising your cognitive skills. Mental acuity is sustained while inspiration is sparked by staying informed.

If assistance accessing resources is needed, recommendations and help getting started can be requested from trusted birding buddies or relatives.

Educational Resources help seniors Stay Mentally Engaged

Structured online learning helps aging birders continue advancing skills. Courses through Cornell, Audubon, major parks, nature centers, and ornithological societies enable convenient learning on your schedule.

Subjects range from bird photography, birdscaping yards, beginning birding skills, designing custom field gear, to cooking game recipes. Some organizations offer certified naturalist programs.

Courses provide goals conquering in chunks tailored to attention spans. Dividing projects over weeks builds a body of creations like a full field notebook or photo collection.

Online college courses allow auditing ornithology lectures from top universities freely or at discounted senior rates.

Those assisting less tech-savvy seniors can help enroll and work through courses together.

Staying curious energizes mental health. Online courses turn homes into enriched learning spaces for aging hobbyists.

Online Birding Communities

Online groups unite older birding enthusiasts across geographies offering camaraderie. Join forums like Birdwatching For Seniors focused on topics relevant to your life stage.

Technology Makes Birding Accessible

The innovations making birdwatching more accessible to all are undoubtedly positive.

Some traditionalists might debate the impacts of tech infiltration on pure birding experiences. But for those with fading mobility due to age or disability, technology removes barriers to participate.

Creative tools enable seniors to continue birding according to current abilities when going out in the field becomes difficult. Solutions maximizing sight and hearing facilitate identification.

Live streams of birding hotspots expand horizons beyond the backyard. Apps and cams grant rare glimpses into nests and habitats globally.

Though analog practices like journaling offer distinct rewards, blending digital resources meaningfully expands possibilities for learning, contributing, and adventure during immobility.

Incorporating technology still preserves the soul of birding. For devoted hobbyists facing limitations, technological tools provide gates to the sustenance nature’s beauty delivers.

With some assistance navigating new vocabulary and gadgets, seniors can partake in a beloved hobby, thereby helping maintain our mental health.

While no full substitute for in-person experiences, technology enables vicarious participation when constraints arise. Technological innovations make the joys of birding more accessible.