birding

American

[bur-ding] / ˈbɜr dɪŋ /

noun

the identification and observation of wild birds in their natural habitat as a recreation; bird-watching.

birding British

/ ˈbɜːdɪŋ /

noun

another name for bird-watching

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

birder

noun

Etymology

Origin of birding

1560–70 for earlier sense “hunting birds”; bird + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

birding

For the last two weeks, a little bird with big feet has turned a 320-acre marsh in Irvine into one of the hottest birding destinations in Southern California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

“So it was super cool because you could go out birding, keep a list of everything you saw and it would tell you if something was uncommon.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

"I think that it's been a really great tool that I've integrated into my birding routine," she said.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

This year, the award-winning British birding podcast “Get Birding” welcomed a new host better known for portraying doomed heroes like Ned Stark in “Game of Thrones,” than for his knowledge of green woodpeckers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

He told me I was going birding with him the next day whether I liked it or not.

From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023