6 Ways Avitourism Can Help Conserve Australian Birds

Featured Image: Laughing Kookaburras are in serious trouble. 

Interest in Avitourism is exploding all over the world but what is it and how can it help conserve Australian birds?

Are you an avitourist?

My grandmother considered herself to be a birdwatcher; to relax, she used to sit outside, cup of tea in hand, and identify local birds. She loved it. Wherever she went she had something to do.

Although she never used a pair of binoculars my grandmother was an avitourist.

Do you like watching birds? Do you travel? If so, you're an avitourist. Whether you’re a casual onlooker, like my grandmother, or an avid birder — and you travel — you are an active participant in avitourism.

The word avitourism is made up of: avian - relating to birds; tourism - relating to travel. 

Birding is one of the world’s fastest growing pastimes

A recent study by the US Fish and Wildlife Service found that a third of the US citizens over the age of 16 were birders:

"In 2022, there were 96 million birders, 16 years of age and older, in the United States — 37 percent of the population."  Birding in the United States: A Demographic and Economic Analysis

96 million birdwatchers in the USA says a lot about the ability of our feathered friends to attract our attention!

In 2023 Africa Travel Week published a story, Avitourism has huge potential to create more tourism opportunities in Africa, that supports the growing interest in avitourism and its potential to bring significant economic benefits to local communities.

India, Indonesia, Thailand and many other countries also have burgeoning avitourism industries.

But there's a problem that avitourism must address or there won't be any birds to see in the future

Bird populations are in freefall around the world. 

Birdlife International research shows that bird populations across the globe have been declining at an escalating rate for decades.

Australia’s premier bird conservation agency, Birdlife Australia, is at the forefront of bird conservation. Its motto is “Save Birds. Save Life” and it works with the birding community, governments and beyond to do that.

“Today, almost 1 in 6 Australian birds [about 150] are threatened with extinction. Our birds are facing growing threats like climate change, fire, habitat loss and predation by introduced species – which is why we’re stepping up our conservation efforts across the country.”  Birdlife Australia's mission to save birds

Even Australia's iconic Laughing Kookaburra is disappearing at an alarming rate due to catastrophic bushfires (caused by climate change) and harvesting of old growth forests that provide these birds with hollows in which to nest.  

Read more here:  Why the kookaburra’s iconic laugh is at risk of being silenced

If we love our Australian birds we should do more than watch them - avitourism is well placed to help conserve them.

Here’s 6 ways avitourism can help conserve Australian birds

Dr Amanada Lilleyman, an ornithologist I interviewed recently, told me she had researched the impacts people have on migratory shorebirds around Darwin. She has shown birds become significantly stressed — go hungry and even die — if they are forced to move regularly. Most migratory birds travel very long distances and do not eat, sometimes for days on end. When they arrive at their destination they are close to starvation and need all the rest and food they can get.

Climate change, stress, lack of food, loss of habitat and introduced predators are the biggest killers of birds. Although avitourists can't solve all of these problems they can help conserve birds.  We've suggested a few ways to do that....

1. Be an avian guardian: shake a bird's hand

As a wildlife guide I always try to help my guests understand what the bird they are looking at needs to survive.  Birds are remarkably tough and resilient but if their numbers are declining something is very wrong — think of the old “canary in the coalmine” adage. They need to eat, drink and find a safe place to roost where they won’t be attacked..

Metaphorically, shake the bird’s hand. Learn more about it, why it’s living where it is, what it needs to survive, what environmental problems it’s dealing with. If it's in decline, why is that?

Think about the birds first then about yourself.

How does this help conserve Australian birds? By placing the direct needs of birds before our own we take on a guardianship role. We become protectors, not users, as we all learn more about what birds need to survive.  

2. Photography - the value of patience

Most avid avitourists bring a camera with them. Some equip themselves with thousands of dollars of lenses and camera bodies. Their aim is to get great photos and that’s wonderful. Many bird species are remarkably beautiful and deserve to be photographed but please keep your distance.

I never allow my guests to disturb or annoy a bird to get a photo. It’s simply not reasonable to force a wild animal to move — to invade its space — simply so you can digitise it. The bird gets nothing out of that, in fact it uses energy that it needs to survive just to fly away from you.

Most people take bird flight for granted. They’ve got wings so what’s the problem? Getting airborne chews up far more energy than any other bird activity (it’s the same with aircraft).

Ask yourself if you’d like to be constantly forced to run away at high speed because you were frightened. You’d get worn out, stressed, move to a different location, possibly where there’s less food and more predators. Eventually you may die.

Remember, you're not the only photographer that will upset a bird to take a photo. In top birding locations there have been many birders before you and there will be lots more after you leave. The cumulative impact on bird welfare is enormous.

One last thought on photography: if you post your photos on social media (or display them anywhere) say something about the bird species and the risks/problems it is facing.  Tell people what the  bird is and where you took the photo (unless it's a rare bird that may be impacted by too many people knowing where it is). Give your photo meaning and let it act as your conservation effort

How does this help conserve Australian birds?  Every great wildlife photographer knows the value of patience so there’s a twofold benefit here: you get a great photo plus you can use that photo to help people appreciate the conservation significance of birds. 

Read this story by Doug Gimesy, famous Australian wildlife photographer and conservationist: Winning at what cost? The staging of wildlife photography competitions

3. Be a rebel, go further down the road and conserve birds

Avitourists tend to go to known birding hotspots. This means that birds in those locations get saturated with birders.  It’s upsetting for the birds and uncomfortable for tour participants with people and cameras everywhere, all jostling for a sighting or photo.

Once again, birds are constantly stressed and always finding ways of moving away from humans.

It’s easy to get out of this trap by simply trying new locations. Be a rebel, go further down the road. My partner has become well known in the birding community simply by finding birds in different locations where no-one has bothered to look before. Here's one of her photos.....

How does this help conserve Australian birds? This action takes pressure off both the birds and the environment where they live by reducing the number of times birds are disturbed during their daily activities.

4. Slow avitourism - give birds and people a break

Itineraries for most bird bird tours are rushed. This has become the norm but it is wrong on many levels.

It’s driven by people wanting to see everything in a very short time. It’s exhausting for the guide (believe me, I’ve been there) but imagine the impact on the birds as group after group enters their territory.

When we impose ourselves on birds, when we decide to force them to do what we want rather than what they need, we imperil their lives.

To avoid this my suggestion is to choose an avitour that stays longer in each location. Also don’t put up with other people on the tour who are constantly pushing to move on. Stand your ground, take your time, move slowly and give birds (and your guide) a break.

How does this help conserve Australian birds? By not rushing we lower the stress levels both on birds and on ourselves. We ensure Australian birds remain healthy and strong and able to deal more effectively with other environmental problems.

5. Citizen science helps conserve birds on your avitour

By far the best way to help conserve birds is to put your bird sightings into online forums like eBird and iNaturalist. It's surprisingly easy.

What you’re doing is helping scientists figure out where birds are and what they're doing.  This is called citizen science and it makes a huge difference to our understanding of birds.

eBird’s Science maps millions of bird observations each year — all around the world — and it’s this data that helps science spotlight increases or declines in birds and forecast where the problems are and what to do about them.  

iNaturalist has similar powers through its Projects abilities and is a great way for the global community to keep abreast of conservation actions.

How does this help conserve Australian birds? Remember this: if you do nothing, nothing changes, in fact it will probably get worse. Both eBird and iNaturalist have websites for Australia. When you use them you're helping birds

6. Help conserve Australian birds by speaking out for them

Speaking out empowers you and others. Over the many years I’ve been a guide I’ve found that by speaking out I inspire others to do the same. Keeping quiet helps no-one or anything. 

Speaking out for birds can be done by talking to other people about the problems birds are having. Or it can be writing a letter to your local politician (or telephoning their office) and saying simply that you're concerned about declining bird numbers.

Speak out about the single biggest threat to Australian birds: Climate Change. (remember the 3 billion animals killed in the 209-20 wildfires - many of them were birds)

Join (or support) a movement like Birdlife Australia or the Australian Conservation Foundation and let those organisations speak out for you.

Speaking out is more powerful than anything else you can do for birds. Birdlife Australia, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Toondah Alliance fought for over a decade to stop a big development at Toondah Harbour wetlands in Queensland that would have impacted on a major migratory bird feeding location.  In April 2024 the project was stopped by a people powered movement involving over 200,000 people from across Australia

Similar movements are fighting for birds in many parts of Australia.  Join them, help finance them and you will make a difference.

How does this help conserve Australian birds? By becoming an advocate for birds you are helping others do the same thing. By speaking out you are influencing nature laws that protect birds and the environment they live in.

Find out how Australian Geographic Travel is working to reduce our carbon emissions here: Can a tour help conservation? Travel company leads the way

Every action you take makes a world of difference

In 1962 scientist, Rachel Carson, published a book titled “Silent Spring”. It documented environmental decline caused by pesticides. The name for the book came from her concern that pesticides were weakening the shells of birds’ eggs so badly that one day there may be a Silent Spring with no bird calls.

Her work made a huge impression on the world and eventually caused governments to ban the use of a pesticide called DDT.

You may never write a book like that but, like my grandmother, you will be able to enjoy birds. And you WILL make a difference.

If you love birds and like travelling be a good avitourist and help conserve Australian birds.

Avitours by Australian Geographic Travel 

AGT operates avitours across Australia.  These tours are guided by some of Australia's top bird guides who are highly sensitive to the urgent need to conserve Australian birds. 

Here's a few examples:

• Cape York Birdwatching Safari
• Mallee and Outback Birds of Victoria and Mungo
• Australian Geographic Birdwatching Safari of Kakadu & Litchfield National Parks
• Christmas Island – Bird & Nature Week

View all our Birdwatching Tours 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roger Smith writes Australian Geographic’s Treading Lightly column and is Director of Conservation Travel at Australian Geographic Travel (AGT) where he oversees AGT's Conservation Travel and Sustainable Tourism program. In 1992, with his partner Janine Duffy, he set up one of Australia's leading wildlife tourism companies, Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours which is now a subsidiary of AGT with Roger staying on as its General Manager