Birdwatching and avitourism as a direction of nature-oriented tourism: the terminology problems, forms and practices

The article is devoted to the methodological issues of birdwatching in the context of the niche tourism development. Birdwatching has the special relevance and importance as a recreational and nature conservation activity. The authors analyze the scientific publications dedicated to birdwatching, identify current and promising areas of modern research, as well as problems and shortcomings that need more detailed study. In particular the authors note the abundance of terms denoting to spotting bird in their natural habitat: birding, birdwatching, twitching, bird watching, avitourism. The article attempts to distinguish and characterize each of these terms. The authors introduce into scientific circulation the term “avitourism” (bird tourism), mostly used in the western segment, which reflects the tendency to involve urbanized and marginalized territories in birdwatching. The authors examine in detail the phenomenon of urban birdwatching, its significance and successful cases. The article also provides a classification of modern species and forms of birdwatching, ornithological and avitourism, and examines some of the successful practices of their organization. This study allows to draw a number of important methodological conclusions about interconnections of the concepts of birdwatching, ornithological and avitourism, their phenomenology and the impact on the nature-oriented tourism development in general.