Birdwatching takes off among young Koreans

As you stroll among the trees, you hear a rustle and stop to listen. You raise your binoculars and quietly scan the spot where the sound came from. After waiting patiently, you may finally catch a glimpse of something rarely encountered in everyday life: a small, precious bird.

Birdwatching, or birding, is emerging as a new hobby among Korea’s millennials and Gen Z. Until recently, it was largely seen as a pastime for middle-aged and older people, requiring expensive equipment and specialized knowledge. But smartphones have made the activity accessible to almost anyone. With celebrities, including actress Kim Tae-ri, author Chung Se-rang and model Lee So-ra, sharing their interest in birdwatching, it has even gained a reputation as a trendy hobby.

Taking off during COVID-19, with smartphones lowering the barrier to entry

Content about birdwatching has recently proliferated on social media. On Instagram, posts tagged “birdwatching" number approximately 144,000, while those tagged “birdwatching records" and “birdwatching life” number around 17,000 and 14,000, respectively. A growing number of social media influencers are also documenting their birdwatching experiences, alongside YouTubers such as KoreanBirder, whose channel has 510,000 subscribers.

Birdwatching is also gaining popularity among younger people overseas. In May, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in the U.K. reported that approximately 750,000 people in the country’s GenZ population, aged 16 to 29, regularly enjoyed watching birds. That figure represents an increase of more than tenfold, or 1,088 percent, since 2018. By comparison, the overall birdwatching population grew by 47 percent over the same period, highlighting the particularly rapid growth among younger people.

What explains the enthusiasm for birdwatching among young people across cultures? One factor is that smartphones have dramatically lowered the barrier to entry. People no longer need to carry expensive cameras or bulky field guides to get started. Smartphone cameras are often sufficient to capture bird photos, while various apps can help identify species using even subtle clues, such as birdsong or feather patterns. The spread of social media content showcasing the appeal of birdwatching has also helped improve its image.

Above all, birdwatching offers a form of digital detox and emotional respite. Amid the flood of stimulating digital content, quietly observing birds in nature can bring comfort and peace. The fact that birdwatching began spreading rapidly among younger generations around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic further supports this view.

Hyun Ji-yoon, 29, who runs the Instagram account Birdwatching Diary, documenting her birdwatching experiences through comics, said, “Birdwatching is less exhausting because it isn’t a hobby centered on consumption, but one that involves observing an ecosystem as it is.”

In Korea, many birdwatching groups meet in urban settings, including apartment complexes and public parks. This trend may also reflect a growing desire to reconnect with nature in response to the often harsh and impersonal rhythms of city life.

Park Im-ja, who runs the country’s first independent bookstore specializing in birdwatching, said, “After I first started watching birds around my apartment complex during the COVID-19 pandemic six years ago, terms such as ‘urban birdwatching’ and ‘apartment birdwatching’ became much more widespread.”

“I think people are drawn to birds because birdwatching offers a pleasure they can enjoy without having to venture far from their everyday lives,” she added.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.