On family vacation this summer, Kevin Cronin happily shared his a lot of criticism about the beach with her TikTok followers: the difficulty of lugging her gear back and forth, those ridiculously short beach chairs, that hot sand. But in the midst of his comments, delivered with his typical sarcastic delivery, he still took the time to do a little birding, spotting and naming sanderlings, Forster’s terns and black-headed gulls. For many of Kevin’s 1.2 million online fans, these “bird reports” have become as appealing as his quips and dad jokes.

Kevin is a viral TikTok sensation affectionately known as Kickball Dad. He first received this nickname when his daughter, Alyssa Cronin, and her brother needed a replacement for their kickball league in 2022. Kevin was more than willing to step up, and Alyssa, recognizing the competitiveness playfulness and her father’s lively humor, is the best of TikTok. material, started making videos about Kevin’s antics with kickball. These first videos took off and soon Kickball Dad became a staple of TikTok users’ feeds, with Alyssa as the social media manager and Kevin as the talent.

@alyssacronin13 Kickball dad thinks a lot about the beach #dad #beach #vacation ♬ original sound – Alyssa & Kickball Dad

Although the narrative began with clips of Kevin “dominating” (his words) at kickball, it grew to capture everything from joke-filled family trips to Costco to Kevin’s various passions in life, including bird watching, which has become an integral part of their lives. videos due to popular demand. Whether they make a video dedicated to bird watching or Kevin identifies birds at a Yankees game, Kevin’s bird-ar is always on and his fans love it.

Although Kevin’s Internet fame is a more recent phenomenon, he has been a “birdman” his whole life, he says. As one of six children growing up in New Jersey, he took it upon himself to fill the family’s bird feeder and bath and found joy in seeing the different species that came to visit. He did the same after marrying and moving with his wife to her current home in western New Jersey, where they raised four children. Kevin says he’s always enjoyed birds like the Northern Cardinals and Blue Jays that visit his yard, but he discovered a new passion for avians after a pivotal moment in his life.

“The turning point for me from a birder to an active birder was in 2012 when I watched The big yearhe says of the comedy starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson, who are 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 motivated for the new year of birding.”

After this life-changing vision, Kevin became even more interested in birds. He began setting goals to see a certain number on each outing, and in 2013 he challenged himself for the first time to have a big year of his own. Since then, his passion for birdwatching has only grown, inspiring him to seek out new species to check off his life list and even hunt rare vagrants, such as when he traveled to the Maine in an unsuccessful attempt to see the Steller’s Eaglebut he was able to check a “perpetuity” Pine Grosbeak off his list.

@alyssacronin13 POV: You’re birdwatching with Kickball Dad (part 2) #papasoftiktok #birds #dad ♬ original sound – Alyssa & Kickball Dad

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

“He’s always teaching people about birds against their will,” Alyssa said. “We have birders watching hockey videos and hockey fans watching birding videos, so we kind of transcend all groups,” Kevin adds.

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

@alyssacronin13 you heard Kickball Dad, start a life list! #papasoftiktok #bird watching #birds #birdsoftiktok #nature #birdtok #naturetok #ebird #birdwatching #dad #kickballdad ♬ Dora the Explorer Theme (excerpt from “Dora the Explorer”) (karaoke version) – Urock Karaoke

“The birding community is such a cool group of people. Everyone is very 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 her followers the birds Kevin identifies whenever she can. Although they didn’t expect to become birding influencers, Kevin’s genuine enthusiasm and Alyssa’s social media skills have made them a popular source for people looking to find the same pleasure in nature as Kevin. “It’s almost like a nature show experience where we take you with us on our birding trip,” says Alyssa. “He makes things fun and accessible, 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 around the world and are thrilled with how they have inspired others to start birdwatching or even just appreciate nature a little more, says Alyssa. “Having that positive impact on people, even in a silly, light-hearted way, with our videos is pretty cool.”