Gen Z flocks to BirdTok as birding takes flight: ‘It’s a craving for something real’
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- TikTok reports UK posts tagged #birdwatching and #birdtok have risen by a third over three months, while #birding posts jumped 40% in the UK; global posts across the three hashtags now total 1 million.
- Steven the seagull — a video of the tame bird being fed raw Tesco salmon fillet — has surpassed 52 million views on TikTok.
- RSPB posts have accumulated nearly 9 million views over the past year, with one-third coming from users under 24.
- Jack Baddams, a 33-year-old Derbyshire bird ringer with 300,000 TikTok followers, has drawn millions of views tagging common birds like blackbirds and blue tits; his bird-ringing explainer video has hit 7.5 million views.
- Tim Jones, a 35-year-old ornithologist from York, has built 48,000 TikTok followers and 210,000 Instagram followers on his Begin Birding handle, noting that twentysomethings and teenagers are now common at birding events.
- British Trust for Ornithology says demand has surged for youth bird camps, walks, and talks for 11-25-year-olds, with team member Samuel Levy declaring it's "the first time in my life I can call myself trendy."
- The UK government is preparing an under-16 social media ban for next year that the article says will cut off a key recruitment avenue, since Jones notes ages "10 to 13" are when people typically get hooked on birding.
Why it matters: The birding boom depends on a platform the UK government is about to restrict. The article notes ages 10-13 are when people typically get hooked on birding — precisely the demographic set to lose TikTok access under next year's incoming under-16 ban, threatening the youth pipeline the BTO and RSPB have only just begun to cultivate.
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