Well, here are my two cents on the topic.

Like Scott Richardson, I began birding over 20 years ago. I have gone
through various stages of listing along the way. Recently, that is the
past 6 six years or so, I have spent most of my time *studying* birds,
that is in an academic way. The past several years, I have been fortunate
enough to earn my living for it. Still, I have a hard time calling myself
an ornithologist. When I am pressed to call myself something, I usually go
with ecologist or biologist, which still seems strange. On occasion,
others have called me an ornithologist, which I took as a great
compliment. In the end I have to agree with Ruth Sullivan's take on the
issue, and that is I just really like birds no matter what I am called.
Most of the time I am called a "freak" or "obsessive" (mostly by my wife)
which I don't mind either. I also agree with Evelyn Plamondon about being
a "rank amateur." The more I learn about birds and nature, the more I
realize how little I know about any of it and what a rank amateur I am.

Russell

On Wed, 21 Oct 1998, Evelyn Plamondon wrote:

> Hi, I'm curious. Do you have a name for those of us who are still
> trying to sort out one kind of bird from another? I don't know enough
> to list anything yet, so I don't consider myself a birder. I watch
> them, but in a confused way I guess.
>
> "Rank amateur" maybe. I have enjoyed reading this list for about a
> year, and appreciate the information about what others have seen in my
> area. It helps me "guess."
>
> Evelyn Plamondon
> Clark College, Vancouver, WA
> eplamond at cs.clark.edu
>
>
> --There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know
> nothing about--