Birdwatching is finding an unlikely new audience on TikTok, where Gen Z users are turning bird identification, wildlife photography, and even traditional bird ringing into social media content. Well, that is what The Guardian’s report about TikTok says.
The Guardian states that TikTok has found that posts using #birdwatching and #birdtok have risen by a third over the past three months, while #birding posts have increased 40% in the UK. Globally, posts carrying one of the three hashtags have now reached 1 million. One video featuring a seagull being fed raw salmon has attracted more than 52 million views.
The trend is giving a traditionally older hobby a strikingly younger image, with social media helping people discover birds without needing to join an established birding community first.
Birding gets a TikTok makeover
The rise is being driven partly by apps such as Merlin, which works much like Shazam for birdsong and can help users identify species they encounter outdoors. Social media then provides the other half of the equation, turning those discoveries into videos that can be shared with thousands or millions of people.
The report by The Guardian quotes Jack Baddams, a 33-year-old bird enthusiast from Derbyshire, who has more than 300,000 followers and has been surprised by the response to his bird-tagging videos. One video explaining the craft of bird ringing has received 7.5 million views. Baddams says the popularity is not necessarily driven by rare species. Common birds such as blackbirds, blue tits and meadow pipits can attract huge audiences because viewers already recognize them and feel a connection with them.
The report also brings in professional ornithologist Tim Jones, 35, who has also benefited from the trend. His TikTok account has 48,000 followers, while his Instagram account has more than 210,000. Other young birding creators are building similarly large audiences across Instagram and TikTok. The shift is even changing the language around the hobby. “Birding” is increasingly preferred over “birdwatching” among younger enthusiasts, while the traditional image of birders as people who will abandon everything to chase a rare sighting does not represent most participants.
A hobby once associated with older generations is getting younger
The numbers suggest the change extends beyond social-media views. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has recorded nearly 9 million views on its bird-related posts over the past year, with roughly a third coming from people under 24.
The British Trust for Ornithology has also reported growing demand for events aimed at younger birders, including camps, walks and talks for people aged 11 to 25. The organization says attracting younger people to events was once difficult, but demand has now surged. The timing matters. With online spaces increasingly filled with polarizing arguments, aggressive content and AI-generated material, birding offers something considerably less complicated: an excuse to go outside and pay attention to something real.
Social media may ultimately be what gets people away from their screens. For a hobby built around looking up, the irony is rather wonderful.