In 1972, my college biology professor recognized that, as a blind student, I would be at a great disadvantage in the lab portion of the course, so he suggested I learn to identify birds by sound instead of studying the anatomy of frogs.
I borrowed his Cornell bird recordings, and by the end of the semester, I had embarked on a lifelong passion called “birding by ear.”
Birding every day, everywhere
Listening to birds and learning to identify them by sound affects my life every day.
I get outdoors as often as I can to sharpen my skills. When I cannot go outside, I can hear birds through my computer speakers via microphones mounted on the front and back of my house.
My passion for birding by ear has made me more aware of the seasons, climate change, our impact on the environment, and the diversity and majesty of nature around me, even in the urban area where I live.
When I hear a Wood Thrush, or a Screech Owl, or even a bunch of American Crows, I feel beauty, hope, and joy. Listening to and learning about birds brings me pleasure and makes me glad to be alive (video).
About the author
Jerry Berrier was born in 1952. He is blind as a result of retinopathy of prematurity. He graduated from the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children in 1970, and from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1974. He currently lives in Malden, Massachusetts.
You can follow his birding adventures on his website, BirdBlind.org
