Between the Song and the Silence:  No.2 - A Confusion of Birders

A “ confusion of birders” is the collective noun for a group of birdwatchers, or birders (of which "twitchers" are a subset).

Once birders are gathered at the scene of a potential sighting they’ll stay rather quiet, other than the clamor of their equipment and bird calls. If they’re out awhile, they’ll often start to discuss the “one that got away“ among themselves.  I’d like to recreate that;  they'd act in the way that they would normally, except they'd use the species of extinct or threatened birds in Germany as their references.

"Why Germany?" you ask...  

I am currently in a graduate MFA program with the Transart Institute (accredited: University of Plymouth, UK) which has intensives in summer in Berlin and in winter in New York.

Germany has long had a history of being a center for ornithology; take for example the German Ornithologists' Society (German: Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft). It was founded in 1850, and is one of the world's oldest existing scientific societies,  according to their website.

​I thought it  likely that the resources I'd need in order to do my research, network with birders, and put together a performance were to be had in Berlin.

​So weit, so gut!

Once birders are gathered at the scene of a potential sighting they’ll stay rather quiet, other than the clamor of their equipment and bird calls. If they’re out awhile, they’ll often start to discuss the “one that got away“ ...​