[mou] Young Birders: Some Data

[Watson, Alexander Robert]

On the Wisconsin listserv there is a very long and civil dialogue about young birders; filled with a combination of personal experience and surely some assumptions.  During the course of their wonderful discussion almost all of the common hypothesizes as to why there is a lack of young people birding in the field is mentioned.  I recommend reading it if you are interested in this subject.

I would like to bring up some statistics that may be helpful in further framing the dialogue.  These statistics are found in the US Fish and Wildlife Birding in the United States: A Demographic and Economic Analysis Addendum to the 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.   This report can be found at this link and I HIGHLY recommend this easy reading, graph-filled report.  http://library.fws.gov/nat_survey2001_birding.pdf



The Fish and Wildlife report finds that Overall birding since 1991 has decreased.  Not just youth, all age classes.  However, the question asked was slightly different in 2001 than in 1991 so there is no conclusive data.



There are slightly more than 1 million 16-17 year olds who enjoy watching birds at a feeder or away from home, or 14% of the age class.  18-24 year olds have a lower rate at 9%.

25-34 year olds participation rates go up to 17% and climb as the age class gets older.

The average percentage of participation in all age classes is 22%.



Minnesota is a very birdy state with about 36% of residents claiming to watch birds at least at home from a feeder.  This puts us in a group of states tied for third most bird watching residents.



One very interesting tid-bit:  Only 8% of people who watch birds can identify 41 or more species by sight or sound!!!!

If you can identify more, you are in an elite group of people.



I believe that these statistics indicate that there will always be many people who care about birds.  The majority of these people will never show up at a $75 birding weekend or read these listserves.  Thus, if it seems like there aren't many young kids at festivals, don't worry.



Alex Watson