Birds don’t tend to just show themselves to only the rich and famous. You don’t need to be Oprah Winfrey to get a special invitation or buy a ticket to see a Bluebird or Scarlet Tanager. It would be very easy to “keep up with the Kardashians” if you were out birding, and at least as far as I know, you can’t be voted off the Island if you mistake a Greater Yellow-legs for a Lesser. The birds are there for everyone to enjoy from all walks of life.

We are much luckier than you might think living here in New Jersey. We have many national, state and local birding places accessible to everyone no matter where you might happen to live. Whether you live in Hudson County or Cape May County, you can find a good spot to enjoy birding, and no one person is more entitled to it than another. The birds belong to all of us.

I lead numerous birding trips and often many of the same people join us each week to enjoy the birds. Unless I get to know them better over time, I really have no idea where they live, what they do for a living or how much money they have or don’t have. I can’t think of anything that has everyone on a more equal playing field than that.

A doctor, a lawyer, a truck driver and a school teacher can be standing shoulder to shoulder watching a Red-tailed Hawk and no one is concerned with who does what. Okay, I know what you are going to say, “I can tell a birder who is well off by the optics that he owns.” But if you think that you would be wrong.

Some birders I know are pretty well off and they may have a very inexpensive pair of binoculars. Then there are other friends who are just making ends meet that worked hard and saved up for a long time to get expensive binoculars because they always dreamed of having a great pair of optics. Besides you don’t need any optics at all to enjoy the birds. That is the beauty of it all.

Children especially can benefit by participating in the great equalizer. Nature can bring kids from all ethnic backgrounds and locations to enjoy birding without concern for whether or not they can afford athletic equipment or whether they are good enough to make the lineup. Everyone gets on the roster on the birding team.
 
Where we may be lacking is making parents, teachers, and community leaders understand that all kids, no matter where they live, deserve and want to learn about nature. It is up to all of us to work harder at making that a reality. 

Every kid is good enough to make the roster when it comes to birding.