Young people are rushing to embrace the "birdkeeping trend" and reshaping this "niche hobby".

Written by | Guobaoyou

Cover source | Unsplash

"Believers of the Bird Sect"

This spring, in the parks of Beijing, you can always see young people either holding binoculars and searching among the tree canopies or carrying cameras and taking snapshots by the lake. It looks like a large - scale star - chasing event.

Getting closer, you'll find that they are taking pictures of the birds in the trees and the ducks in the lake.

It's obvious that bird - watching, which used to be a niche hobby in the past, has had a more widespread and closer connection with young people in recent years. On Xiaohongshu, you can see various sharing posts from bird - watching enthusiasts. Some use 4K lenses to record the shocking moments of birds hunting for food, some turn the courtship dances of birds into viral short videos, and some even match the bird's actions with lines to create popular meme pictures... According to the "Xiaohongshu Bird - watching Trend Report", the discussion volume of notes related to "bird - watching" on Xiaohongshu has exceeded 7 million. In the past year, the number of notes posted related to "bird - watching" has also reached 1.2 times the total of the past ten years. Among the owners of these notes, users around 25 years old account for the highest proportion.

May from Guangzhou is one of them. In 2023, after working in Guangzhou for only one year, she felt "so unhealthy". She just sat in the office in front of the computer motionless every day. She decided to cultivate a healthy hobby.

There are many urban parks in Guangzhou. As a nature lover, May would go to the parks whenever she was free. She always saw uncles in the parks holding all kinds of "long - barreled guns" (long - focal - length cameras) to take pictures of birds. Influenced by them, May bought a pair of binoculars and started bird - watching in the most traditional way. Through the binoculars, she saw a red - whiskered bulbul for the first time at a close distance. It's a passerine bird of the Pycnonotidae family with black - brown feathers, a "Mohawk" on its head, and two "blushes" on its cheeks. It's very common in Guangzhou. May was so charmed by it that she got hooked on bird - watching.

Red - whiskered bulbul, photo source: Xiaohongshu @Bulbul - watching May

Since then, May takes her binoculars to the parks near her home every month without any specific destination to watch birds. "Because the birds in the parks are relatively less afraid of people and the distance is closer."

Xingzhi's fate with birds was brought about by a junior schoolmate.

In 2022, Xingzhi always saw this junior schoolmate sharing pictures of birds in the Moments. As someone who always rambled in the Moments, Xingzhi thought it was amazing. "How can someone's Moments be all about birds?"

Later, when taking a walk in the park, Xingzhi saw a small brown bird. It was smaller than a magpie and larger than a light - vented bulbul. She didn't know what kind of bird it was, but she thought it was very beautiful. "Its feathers were orange, and there was a circle of black feathers around its eyes, like it was wearing an eye mask." Xingzhi couldn't help taking a picture with her phone and sent it to her junior schoolmate, asking what kind of bird it was. The junior schoolmate replied instantly, "Brown shrike."

Xingzhi was shocked by the junior schoolmate's decisive reply and was also attracted by the beauty of the brown shrike. She wanted to be an enthusiast who could quickly identify bird species like her junior schoolmate. So she bought a "Handbook of Bird Watching in China", learned some characteristics and species of birds, and started bird - watching on her own. At first, Xingzhi mainly practiced "Buddha - like bird - watching". She watched birds wherever she went, like on her balcony, in the community downstairs, or in the nearby parks.

Eagle - headed Cat, who is 35 years old, accidentally got into bird - watching during a trip last year.

In December 2024, Eagle - headed Cat was recommended on Xiaohongshu to visit Yingjiang County in Yunnan Province. It was said that the natural scenery there was nice and there were not many tourists. Among them, the Hornbill Valley was very famous and rich in bird resources, so it was worth a visit. As a photography enthusiast, Eagle - headed Cat took his camera there specifically.

It was Eagle - headed Cat's first time to watch birds at such a close distance. All kinds of colorful birds of different sizes were flying around in a private bird pond. Eagle - headed Cat felt like he had discovered a new world. "What you're exposed to is something completely brand - new, extremely beautiful and friendly. You'll find it incredibly amazing."

Yellow - bellied willow warbler, photo source: Xiaohongshu @Eagle - headed Cat

Looking at the wide variety of birds, Eagle - headed Cat suddenly had a desire to collect. He wanted to collect different bird species and different behaviors of the same bird species through photos. "Just like human behavior, from birth to death, in this life cycle, birds will have different behaviors. You may see them standing normally, flying with a little movement, eating, hunting for food. In spring, they will court, reproduce, and raise their young." This feeling is like opening a blind box. Even for the same kind of bird you've seen before, you may see different ways of its behavior.

More and more young people have entered the "Bird Sect" and become believers of birds.

"Everything Can Be Related to Birds"

The influx of young people has lowered the threshold for entering the bird - watching circle and broken the traditional rules of the bird - watching circle.

Before getting into bird - watching, May thought that she had to use all kinds of professional "long - barreled guns" like those uncles in the park to capture the most beautiful postures of birds. The so - called "long - barreled guns" are fixed - focal - length lenses priced from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan. It once made people wonder whether the uncles went to take pictures of birds or to compete for the focal length of the lenses.

But gradually, May realized that bird - watching doesn't necessarily require expensive equipment. A second - hand camera worth more than 2,000 yuan can be used for taking pictures, and the "budget - friendly combination" of a binoculars attached to a mobile phone can also work. Those blurry and useless pictures caused by equipment or technical reasons even get better responses on Xiaohongshu. An over - exposed pigeon is described as "with a holy light", an out - of - focus sparrow becomes a "hazy - style art". Someone took a picture of a lonely seagull on a gloomy day, and the comment section said, "It feels like I have to go to the dock to get some fries." Someone accidentally took an over - exposed picture of a seagull, and the comment section said it was the seagull's "super - amazing white - background ID photo"...

A series of "praise sessions for useless pictures" accurately demonstrate what it means to "make up for the lack of equipment with imagination".

Praise session for useless pictures on Xiaohongshu, photo source: @A Reed

During the early days of bird - watching, May always didn't know where to find birds. So she searched on Xiaohongshu for the scouting videos posted by bird - watching experts, including but not limited to which routes would lead to more encounters with birds without having to retrace steps, and in which areas birds often appeared.

May would follow the experts' guides on the day of bird - watching. Following these guides, May no longer wandered aimlessly. Instead, she explored the urban bird ecology step by step like unlocking a game map. What surprised her more was that when she shared the bird pictures she took on Xiaohongshu, those pictures that used to sink without a trace in the Moments resonated with bird - watching friends here and got a high response. Some people wanted to catch the "bird luck" she had when seeing the collared finchbill, some people congratulated her on unlocking a new bird - watching species with cute bird emojis, and some people showed different bird species from the same location, completing an "airborne bird - watching relay".

This two - way interaction has also broken the dimensional wall between novice bird - watchers and experts in the traditional sense.

At the beginning of bird - watching, Eagle - headed Cat always couldn't distinguish bird species clearly. He posted the bird pictures he took on Xiaohongshu and asked everyone, "What kind of bird is this?" Every time, it would attract answers from bird - watching enthusiasts, and some people would even carefully popularize science for him on how to distinguish them. Once, Eagle - headed Cat took a picture of a chubby little bird in Mangshi and said he couldn't tell whether it was a yellow - browed willow warbler or a pale - browed willow warbler. An expert in the comment section gave on - the - spot teaching, "It's a yellow - browed willow warbler. Its feet and lower beak are orange, the middle between the two wing bars is darker, and there is no crown stripe."

Even novice bird - watchers will specifically post a bird - identification post to collect cute bird pictures and the names of bird species. In the comment section, the experts start a "war without gunpowder", secretly competing to see who has the most beautiful pictures of little birds, from the splendid fairywren to the frigatebird, from the grey starling to the crested ibis...

Bird - watching post on Xiaohongshu, photo source: @momo

This community is weaving personal interests into a symbiotic network. Under the bird picture books of professional players, you can always see the imaginative questions of novices, and in the comment sections of blurry "abstract - style bird pictures", there are often the most hardcore science popularizations. This harmonious and friendly community atmosphere also allows young people to completely let go and carry out an activity of "everything can be related to birds".

Every once in a while, Xingzhi makes meme pictures of her bird - watching experiences. On one hand, it's for self - entertainment to relieve the pressure of writing her graduation thesis. On the other hand, she hopes everyone can "have fun looking" and find resonance.

Photo source: Xiaohongshu @Xingzhi

After several "dry runs" (a joking term referring to bird - watchers who fail to observe the target bird species for various reasons), May invented the "Five Virtues of Bird - watchers" - namely, "Confident: I'm sure to take good pictures of birds today", "Sticking to the old way: I saw the bird here last time", "Waiting for opportunities: I'll just sit here and hope a bird will suddenly fly in front of me", "Keen - eared and sharp - eyed: What? What bird is calling? Where is it? Why can't I see it?", and "Flexible: Next time I'll go to the bird park/zoo to take pictures", creating a "dictionary of idioms for bird - watching friends".

On Xiaohongshu, bird - watching is no longer defined as a professional competition. It's more like a slice of a good life.

Some people become "science - popularizing little teachers" and share bird - watching skills and bird picture books. Some people become "bird picture book harvesters" and successfully observe more than 400 kinds of birds in less than a year. Some people mainly practice Buddha - like bird - watching and become "street - shooting photographers of birds" on their way to work or when buying groceries. Some people become "collectors of blurry pictures" and "P - photo masters in the bird world" and create various new ways of bird - watching...

Photo source: Xiaohongshu @Amo who occasionally takes pictures

With its friendly community atmosphere and active UGC ecosystem, the hobby of bird - watching is becoming low - threshold, popular, and interesting.

It dissolves the equipment hierarchy in bird - watching. Those with "long - barreled guns" have their own ways of playing, and those with binoculars can also enjoy the leisure. It breaks the boundary between professional picture books and street - level observation. Professionals have their own competitions, and those who take it easy in bird - watching can also have unexpected surprises.

Bird - watching is no longer a "niche hobby". It's slowly integrating into the daily lives of young people.

From an Elite Game to a Small Sure Happiness in Life

The first professional "bird person" in the history of bird - watching was Gilbert White, a clergyman and naturalist in the British countryside in the 18th century. His rigorous temperament set a professional tone for "bird - watching".

Then this activity spread to the United States and was welcomed by the aristocracy. The American painter Audubon painted more than 500 kinds of birds with his brush and published "Birds of America" and "Biographies of Birds", which promoted the rise of bird - watching tours in the United States. He also got the opportunity to have dinner with the President of the United States.