Lists

Common (And Less Common) Birding Mistakes

July 31, 2025 by Kai Pflug 3 Comments

First, I thought about this topic and came up with these 12 mistakes:

  • Disturbing birds for the sake of a better view or photo
  • Being noisy
  • Moving around too quickly
  • Not listening enough and thus missing out on noticing birds
  • Underestimating the weather
  • Not carrying backup gear (batteries, raincoat, etc.)
  • Not carrying binoculars (many Chinese photographers do not)
  • Being impatient
  • Getting up too late (i.e., not being at the birding spot at sunrise)
  • Looking at your mobile phone or your photos more than at birds
  • Focusing too much on “star birds”, ignoring the common ones
  • Not familiarizing yourself with the birds at your location beforehand.

Then, I asked Peter about this – and from his additions, you can tell he is both a better person and a better birder than I:

  • Moving too closely to the birds
  • Being too greedy for endemics
  • Not studying enough before birding (similar to my last point, I guess)
  • Ignoring local bird/birding knowledge
  • Not investing in conservation by buying locally and being visibly a birder
  • Not helping others
  • Helping others before seeing the bird yourself

What do you think should be added to this list?

Photo: Swinhoe’s White-eye, Shanghai, June 2025. No connection to the topic that I can think of, other than that Peter claims to like white-eyes while I find them somewhat boring.

Mary Alice Hayward added “finding birds boring” to the list (in the comments). That stings.

Written by Kai Pflug
Kai has lived in Shanghai for 21 years. He only started birding after moving to China, so he is far more familiar with Chinese birds than the ones back in his native Germany. As a birder, he considers himself strictly average and tries to make up for it with photography, which he shares on a separate website.He hopes that few clients of his consulting firm—focused on China’s chemical industry—ever find this blog, as it might raise questions about his professional priorities. Much of his time is spent either editing posts for 10,000 Birds or cleaning the litter boxes of his numerous indoor cats. He occasionally considers writing a piece comparing the two activities.