Via Via Negativa: Peaceful Societies reports on the unexpected popularity of birding among the Amish of eastern Ohio, especially the Christmas Bird Count (CBC).
The center of the Amish birding activity is Holmes County, where [Bruce] Glick indicates that “the list of rare birds … is amazing.” The Holmes County list includes such unusual species such as the swallow-tailed kite, long-billed curlew, groove-billed ani, violet-green swallow, Harris’s sparrow, and golden eagle.
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Glick points out that while many birding groups focus on rare and unusual sightings, an even more important aspect of the Ohio Amish counting is the fact that they record many more individual birds than most other counts. The Amish CBCs have recorded the most numbers of individual birds for 20 different species in the state of Ohio. Very common woodland birds such as downy woodpeckers, white-crowned sparrows, golden-crowned kinglets, tufted titmouses, pileated woodpeckers, and red-bellied woodpeckers are recorded more often in the Amish counts than anywhere else in the state.
Referenced by the post: Glick, Bruce. 2007. “Christmas Bird Counts in Ohio’s Amish Country.” American Birds 61, The 107th Christmas Bird Count Issue: 26-29.