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On a family vacation this summer, Kevin Cronin happily shared his  about the beach with his TikTok followers: the drag of lugging the gear back and forth, those ludicrously short beach chairs, that scorching hot sand. But amid his commentary, doled out with his typical sarcastic delivery, he still made time for a little birding, spotting and naming Sanderlings, Forster's Terns, and Laughing Gulls. For many of Kevin’s 1.2 million online fans, these “bird reports” have become as much of a draw as his trademark wisecracks and dad jokes.

Kevin is a viral TikTok sensation affectionately known as Kickball Dad. He first got the nickname when his daughter, Alyssa Cronin, and her brother needed a substitute for their kickball league in 2022. Kevin was more than willing to step up, and Alyssa, recognizing her dad’s playful competitiveness and quick-witted humor as prime TikTok material, began making videos about Kevin’s kickball antics. Those first few videos took off, and soon Kickball Dad became a staple on TikTok users' feeds, with Alyssa as the social media manager and Kevin as the talent.

Kickball Dad has a lot of thoughts about the beach

Though the account began with clips of Kevin “dominating” (his words) in kickball, it has grown to capture everything from joke-filled family trips to Costco to Kevin's various passions in life—including birding, which is now a regular part of their videos due to popular demand. Whether they are making a dedicated birding video or Kevin is identifying birds at a Yankees game, Kevin's “bird-ar” is always on, and his fans love it.

While Kevin’s internet fame is a more recent phenomenon, he’s been a “bird guy” his entire life, he says. As one of six children growing up in New Jersey, he took it upon himself to keep the family’s bird feeder and bath filled and found joy in seeing the different species that came to visit. He did the same after getting married and moving into his current home in western New Jersey with his wife, where they’ve raised four kids. Kevin says he’s always appreciated birds like the Northern Cardinals and Blue Jays that visit his backyard, but he found a new passion for avians after a pivotal moment in his life.

“The turning point for me going from a birdwatcher to an active birder was in 2012 when I watched The Big Year,” he says of the comedy starring Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson, who set out on a mission to see as many species as possible in a single year. “I watch it every year on New Year's Eve to get me fired up for the new birding year.”

After that life-changing viewing, Kevin got even more into birds. He began setting goals for seeing a certain number on each outing, and in 2013 he challenged himself for the first time to do his own big year. Since then, his passion for birding has only grown, spurring him to seek out new species to check off his life list and even chase rare vagrants—like when he drove to Maine in an unsuccessful attempt to see the Steller’s Sea-Eagle, but did get to tick a “lifer” Pine Grosbeak off of his list.

POV: You’re birding with Kickball Dad (part 2) 🦆

Alyssa has always had a front-row seat to her dad’s enthusiasm for birds, but she started to include more of his birding moments in videos when she realized how much their followers loved this aspect of Kevin’s personality. While the overlap of dads who are dedicated birders, overly competitive recreational athletes, and fervent fans of the Miami Dolphins and New Jersey Devils is undoubtedly small, Kickball Dad fills that niche with zeal, drawing in a wide variety of viewers. 

“He’s been teaching people about birds against their will for forever,” Alyssa says. “We have birders watching hockey videos, and hockey fans watching birding videos, so we’re kind of transcending all the groups,” Kevin adds.

Kickball Dad clips regularly get millions of views, including their standalone birding clips. Alyssa’s video of an early spring 2024 birding trip with Kevin has more than 36 million views on TikTok, with comments about his impressive identification skills and how “eBird needs sponsor this man,” according to one fan. They also get questions in the comments about how folks can get into birding, to which Alyssa is always happy to respond and recommend apps such as eBird and Merlin, as well as connecting with their own local birding community.

you heard Kickball Dad, start a life list! 🐦

“The birding community is such a cool group of people. Everyone is so nice and helpful, and everyone tries to help each other,” Kevin says. “It’s so cool to see a rare bird, but it’s also really cool to help someone else see it.”

To that end, Alyssa tries to show followers the birds Kevin identifies whenever she can. While they didn’t expect to become birding influencers, Kevin’s genuine excitement and Alyssa’s social media skills have made them a popular source for people who want to find the same pleasure in nature that Kevin does. “It’s almost like that experience of a nature show where we’re taking you along with us on our birding trip,” Alyssa says. “He makes things fun and approachable, and that’s always our goal.”

Kevin and Alyssa have no plans to stop making Kickball Dad videos anytime soon. They love bringing joy to social media feeds around the world, and they are delighted by how they’ve inspired others to start birding or even just appreciate nature a little bit more, Alyssa says. “Having that positive impact on people even in a silly, lighthearted way with our videos is pretty cool."