First recorded in 1900–05
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was a fitting occurrence that honored a man whom friends described as an avid bird watcher.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 6, 2023
As longtime bird watcher Stella Hamilton pointed out, he was “like a fledgling” mastering the art of surviving, but a fledgling who compressed weeks of learning into a couple days.
From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2023
A black bird watcher, Christian Cooper, asked Amy Cooper to leash her dog in Central Park.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2022
Well, I've been a bird watcher for most of my life.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2021
Miss Ellis was looking at the two of them like a bird watcher onto a rare species.
From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson
“I want to say it was the happiest day of my life, but I have two children,” said Debra Schiff, 69, a bird-watcher, while admiring a turtle at the lagoon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
"You look at people the way a bird-watcher looks at birds," said a friend.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
Hours before George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, Black bird-watcher Christian Cooper was doing what he loved in New York’s most famous park.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 3, 2023
In her new book, "A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird," Mosco, a bird-watcher and science communicator, argues that our ignorant assumptions about pigeons are all wrong.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2021
Officer Delinko wasn’t a bird-watcher, but he was intrigued by the toy-sized owls.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
