"Birdwatcher" or "birder," part 2

The last few days, the comments to last Monday's post have been rolling around my head. I wanted to know when folks began to use "birder" in addition to "birdwatcher," who created the distinction between the terms and how the different attitudes developed. Are the terms helpful, exclusionary, confusing?

Then John posted some thoughts this morning.

I trace my first exposure to the term birder with the formation of the American Birding Association in about 1970-1971. I was initially (and still am, to some extent) turned off by the ABA's emphasis on listing. Among the birding elite, a birdwatcher may be viewed with some disdain as someone who is less accomplished or sophisticated in the identification of birds, even though that person may be extremely knowledgeable about the birds of their backyard or neighborhood. ... These days I generally identify myself as a birder (not wanting to be derided as one of those birdwatchers!), though I remain much more interested in watching (and listening) than in mere listing.

So who else became aware of "birder" via ABA's genesis? How common is it to encounter "birdwatcher" used derisively?

I know a fair number of listers who maintain various tallies but know tons about the birds' behaviors, calls, songs, etc. Are they unusual? Maybe, maybe not... but they're more than I.D. collectors. They're well-versed naturalists who think of listing as a game that adds even more fun to birding, not as the point of birding.

It can be easy to categorize ourselves and our birding companions into black-and-white groups. I wonder, though, if it's to the community's detriment.

Waiting for your input...