My jaw is still open and although my mustache partially covers the opening, I hope mosquitoes are not planning to take advantage of this situation.
As the executive walked away after momentarily stunning me with his total ignorance, I was still unable to respond with witty nor pithy nor eloquent quips.
"Birders don't watch TV", he spat out, turned and walked away.
That was all it took to disable me. And this comment from a major network is still the prevalent attitude among television executives and their advertisers. Oh, I have also been told we are cheap.
What is next? We don't buy gasoline or cars, food is simply an afterthought and shoes are never found on our feet? How is it in 2011 birders and birding is such a morass of craziness and misconceptions?
I think we all see that the misconceptions regarding birders are astonishing and persist to this day. How to clear them up is of major importance to any development in birding circles as many of the things we do and hope to accomplish in terms of conservation, depend to one degree of another on corporate support.
I guess that in spite of the fact that I have purchased more than 7 cars during my 50 years of birding and driven all of them over 200,000 miles, raised 3 children and I think we had and have beds, cooking pots, computers, cell phones and magazines, oh yes- Televisions….The fact that I have a large library of books, paintings on the wall, photo libraries, video equipment, furniture, carpets and refrigerators seem to be facts lost on advertisers.
I have been told that I tend to see things differently.
But the point is not how I see things. The point is how we are seen collectively, we being birders.
Granted, Birders have been slow to adopt video or purchase DVD's. I'd love to see figures of birders purchasing Blu-ray and High Definition equipment, because the resolution of nature is so outstanding. I foresee this as a major growth area in birding circles and devices.
Back to television, I know many birders are frustrated with the lack of educational programming, let alone birds on cable and don't even talk to me about the Networks! The fact that the ending of CBS Sunday Morning always ends with a few moments in nature reveals the truth.
There are huge segments of the nation who love to see natural history -including birds.
The fact that CBS refuses to pay anyone for the footage is debilitating to development of any industry or segment in a society which values little more than money.
I think birders love baseball, football, basketball and I'd bet that even a few of you actually watch soap operas or even Oprah. Overall, I suspect any accurate survey would reflect that we are full time, normal participants in American Society….. Ok how about our spouses, children and significant others? Maybe, they are "normal".
Our passion runs a bit differently it is true. Warm furry- MegaFauna, is the rule broadcasters live by. We find this good stuff too. But come on, we'd like to have a few more specials on megapodes of Australia or the Spinetails in South America. Ok, We'd settle for Warblers, or even, ahem, Greater Prairie Chickens. Feathers Rule!
Did you Love Opposable Chums, want to see more of Hummingbirds and revel in Life of Birds? How about March of the Penguins or Winged Migration, weren't they each special and of course, bird-centered films?
Over 300 new wildlife films are produced each year, many are entered in film festivals like the International Wildlife Film Festival. Because distribution rights are not included with these entries many never are seen again, no matter how good they are, unless you live in Missoula, Montana. There over 10,000 people flock to the films each spring.
Among my small group of producers, music videos of birds are becoming more popular and several of us have won awards or recognition for this work.
The use of Birding "video" never took off when some of the earlier "pioneers" put out some good work (eg- Large Gulls of North America) in spite of the fact that video is more like being there than anything else.
And not one major television show is currently on any cable channel or network that is dedicated to birders in this country. From a professional perspective, the show with James Curry is not on the dial and is very low end production.
When "All Bird TV" was cancelled in 1999 featuring Ken Dial of University of Montana, it was NOT cancelled due to lack of interest? It was the the third highest rated show on Animal Planet at the time. Ken and the crews were becoming better and better at what we were doing. So- No. Unfortunately the series was cancelled due to financial squabbles among the producers and Discovery. Seems chopped motorcycles are the new rage.
At Birdman Productions, we continue to accumulate footage of many species while we work on conservation shows, and plug along with a series being requested by PBS. So far we have not one corporate sponsor -this in spite of awards for the pilot show for cinematography, editing and inclusion as an official selection in 3 Film Festivals.
I remain a total optimist, because wherever we have gone, or shown our films, birders respond. Our audience surveys reflect the care we put into our productions. We know that at some point, birders will begin to get it. It being the power behind the images evening terms of superior use for identification. After all, if a "picture says a thousand words", then how rich is the information contained in a moving picture at 1080p with 7.1 surround sound?
Our films on conservation have also struck chords in birding audiences and we strive to provide important information along with beautiful images and clean sound.
Films are also a part of our heritage as birders. How many out there can still recall going to Audubon Screen Tours. Long ago I recall meeting Roger Tory Peterson, Olin S. Pettingell and Karl Maslowski. I was young and impressionable but never understood until years later how big the impression really had been.
Television and video are the new stages of evolutionary growth in birding. Soon enough, some form of these will replace the field guide as we know it. I'll be ready to help this leap occur.
Timothy R. Barksdale
Birdman Productions,
Choteau, MT & Prairie Village, KS
