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Birding is the most popular hobby in the United States.
According to the Seattle Times article, A Field Guide to Northwest Birders (4/13/04), one in every three Washington state residents are birders.
There are two groups of Birders: listers and watchers.
Bird watchers enjoy observing birds. In addition to knowing the name of the bird, they want to know how the bird uses its habitat, what the bird eats, how the birds interact with members of their own species and other species, etc. Many bird watchers also enjoy sketching birds in their natural habitat.
Bird watching competitions are held throughout the United States. Participants compete individually or as a team. The goal is to observe the greatest number of species during a specified timeframe.
The goal of listers is to see as many different species of birds as possible. Listers compete for awards: 100 birds on their list, 500 birds on their list, 1000 birds on their list, 2000 birds of their list, etc. There are about 930 species that can be seen in North America north of Mexico including Hawaii.
Some examples of lists that you might want to keep are:
Your life list (all of the species you have observed)
Your state list (all of the species you have observed in your state)
Your monthly lists (all of the birds you observed in each January that you have been keeping the list, etc.)
Your backyard list (this could be a single list or monthly lists)
The longest recorded list (8,401 species) was compiled by Phoebe Snetsinger, who died on a birding trip to Madagascar in 2003.