Does your outfit matter when you are out birding? (1 Viewer)

[senatore]

I have been wondering recently if the clothes you are wearing when out birding really matters.

Recently I keep meeting up with birders that are dressed from head to foot in camoflaged clothing and even camoflaged scopes and camera lenses.

Is this where I am going wrong ? I dress in my everyday outdoor clothes some of which are a little bright.

Can birds see bright colours?Is it best to dress in drab browns and greens or is it immaterial what you wear ?

Max.

 

[wintibird]

In my experience it does matter, yes. Bright colours (including white) are obviously more visible for the birds.
I don't go out like a soldier, but I try to dress in green or brown colours, especially when I go to more remote places. If you walk down a lakeshore together with dozens of "normal" people there is no sense of camouflaging.

Greetings from Switzerland
André

 

[joannec]

I agree with what wintibird says, and avoid bright colours. Greens and browns are best in very open country as almost any other colour stands out for a long way.

 

[JeffMoh]

Avoid white

I believe that white is an alarm color for many birds. So I try to avoid wearing white or very pale colored clothes while I'm birdwatching.

Jeff

 

[postcardcv]

I tend to avoid bright clothing, but then I do in general anyway... the most important feature of a biridng outfit is comfort. I wear the same clothes for birding as I would for anything else, except in winter when I sometimes put on the waterproofs. Out in normal clothes before work on Saturday and I had a pair of ringed plovers mating about 5m from me... doubt camo would have got me any closer

That said I do have camo tape on the front of my lens, but that's so I can stick out the front of my hide without being too obvious.

 

[Farnboro John]

I believe that white is an alarm color for many birds. So I try to avoid wearing white or very pale colored clothes while I'm birdwatching.

Jeff

I suppose you might consider wearing white in Greenland or Sax-Zim bog in winter?

Another thing to avoid would be his and hers matched purple rain suits, for a number of reasons only some of which relate to scaring birds.

John

 

[Euan Buchan]

In the winter I normally wear my dark green anorak & summer I wear my light dark green waistcoat. I notice birds don't take notice if you wear dark green.

 

[dafi]

i must agree neutral colors browns and greens seem to work best.There are times when camo works in your favour but avoid white and bright.

White and bright
Birds take flight
Cool and green
Birds are soon seen


Im a poet and didnt know it

 

[Henstooth]

Ditto for all the above.
I wear the same outfit. Black combats, Camo jacket over a T-shirt.
In the better weathe, black combats, and long sleeve, dull green cotton top.

Henstooth

 

[Kits]

Good poem, Dafi! :clap:

Personally I favour Versace or Dolce et Gabana ... :girl:

(Sorry, just couldn't resist :'D )

 

[Dave B Smith]

I believe that white is an alarm color for many birds. So I try to avoid wearing white or very pale colored clothes while I'm birdwatching.

Jeff

I agree except when I'm visiting the shore. In my "whites" the Great / Snowy Egrets seem more comfortable.

 

[Helenelizabeth2]

Well, of course it matters. You wouldn't want us to think badly of you because you were unco-ordinated would you?

Personally I hate to see birders in red jackets but that also has nothing to do with its affect on the birds.

 

[borealowl47]

outerwear

Hello,


I wear my flowery hawaiian shirt at the moment during migration,warblers and songbirds
are used to tourists wearing those shirts in the neotropics.

darrell neufeld

 

[masey77]

i must agree neutral colors browns and greens seem to work best.There are times when camo works in your favour but avoid white and bright.

White and bright
Birds take flight
Cool and green
Birds are soon seen


Im a poet and didnt know it

nicely put daf

i always wear green combats & dark top

 

[Sancho]

Good poem, Dafi! :clap:

Personally I favour Versace or Dolce et Gabana ... :girl:

(Sorry, just couldn't resist :'D )

And Jimmy Choo´s except in the ROUGHEST of terrain, darling....

 

[Sancho]

Tell you what, though.... the Full Battle Dress that some UK birders wear when they go to the Bridges of Ross really unnerves me... makes me think of Napalm and Choppers and Charlie Don´t Surf and all that. Last thing I need when I´m trying to desperately twitch a Fea´s is a Vietnam Flashback. Especially as I´ve never been to Vietnam.

 

[Adey Baker]

You can get different styles of cammo gear for different habitats, now. So as well as having to invest in all of those 'little extras' when you go out trying to photograph birds, you'll also need a clothes-rail in the back of your 4x4 for the full range of this season's colours!

 

[Jane Turner]

I reckon the best thing for a long haul seawatch is probable a double duvet!

 

[Xenospiza]

I reckon the best thing for a long haul seawatch is probable a double duvet!

And Eider down would give the best results?

Of course a true birder should always wear camouflage... you don't want to be spotted trespassing!

 

[Hanno]

As some others on here, I don't make bright colors a habit anyway. Having said that, my wife doesn't always blend in when birding, but she still manages to see some good birds. I think it has as much to do with the "vibes" you give off as with what you wear.