Welcome to the first edition of what I hope will be a quasi-regular feature called the CormoRANT. These will be posts that focus on something about birding, nature, people or environmental issues that I have something to SAY about!
In this edition, I’ll be talking about something in birding terminology many of us birders have heard many times. Some of you might use this term without much thought. And that’s where I have something to say.
Trash birds. No, not the gulls or shorebirds at your local landfill (although some of those COULD be considered “trash” birds by some). Trash birds are bird species that are either common or so easily seen that they are almost a bother to even note in our checklists. For large swaths of the US, a typical trash bird would be an American Robin, or Northern Cardinal.
I’ve heard accomplished birders call Blue-gray Gnatcatchers “Blue-gray Time-wasters” or worse.
I understand. When you’re traipsing through the woods looking for a Golden-winged Warbler or sweating it out hoping the Cuban Pewee you saw on eBird is still there, having your attention drawn away by such common fluff as Blue Jays or Northern Mockingbirds can be annoying. I myself have had a love-hate relationship with the cardinals that occasionally drown out other bird calls in my favorite hotspots.
But I subscribe to the belief that words mean things. They have power. They shape how we think and how we act. When you call a bird “trash” you are devaluing it based on your own subjective idea of which birds are important and which are not. Because an American Robin is easily seen, is it less beautiful? Less important? How less impressive, really, is the red of a male Northern Cardinal to that of a male Summer Tanager?
Wild things have an intrinsic value, independent of how we label them. The values we ascribe to them matter only in as much as we seek to mold our worlds to our needs and wants. We all do it. But the next time you find yourself sighing that the leaf-scrabbling bird you got on your knees to see is only a Gray Catbird and not the Swainson’s Warbler you thought, remember to check your perspective and appreciate the bird you have in front of you.
Lonely Birder 
Christopher – a great reminder that one person’s trash is another’s treasure. When I first moved to Florida from California I was mesmerized by all of the large birds that one could see so readily. Sandhill Cranes, Anhingas, and Osprey are abundant and I now see them nearly every day. Even the Mockingbirds and Mourning Doves that are never in short supply are still a wonder to watch. I’ve learned to spend more time studying the behavior of these more common birds so that I can be a better birder looking for the less common. To me birding is more than checking off a list each day – it’s admiring the wonder of their aerial acrobatics or watching a Sandhill Colt grow rapidly from a little brown fluff ball to a mature, tall and majestic bird. I appreciate your RANT and agree we need to enjoy all of nature’s wonders for we never know when the day will come that the Northern Cardinal or American Robin no longer come to these parts due to loss of habitat or extreme reductions in their populations. Enjoy them all.
Thanks,
Thanks, Bert. You’re spot on.