Skip to Main Content
U.S. Forest Service
Caring for the land and serving people

United States Department of Agriculture

Home > Search > Publication Information

  1. Relative prevalence of African Americans among bird watchers

    Share via EmailShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on Twitter
    Dislike this pubLike this pub
    Author(s): John C. Robinson
    Date: 2005
    Source: In: Ralph, C. John; Rich, Terrell D., editors 2005. Bird Conservation Implementation and Integration in the Americas: Proceedings of the Third International Partners in Flight Conference. 2002 March 20-24; Asilomar, California, Volume 2 Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-191. Albany, CA: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: p. 1286-1296
    Publication Series: General Technical Report (GTR)
    Station: Pacific Southwest Research Station
    PDF: View PDF  (241.0 KB)
    Note: This article is part of a larger document. View the larger document

    Description

    The demographics of bird watchers have recently become a topic of increased interest. Race or nationality is one demographic parameter that has been discussed in some depth. This paper further quantifies the relative prevalence of African Americans among U.S. bird watchers and identifies potential barriers that may prevent African Americans from becoming bird watchers. Two questionnaires (one for bird watchers and one for African Americans) were developed and distributed from August 2000 to June 2001. One-third of the 322 respondents to the bird watching questionnaire had never met an African American bird watcher. Results indicate that the average bird watcher will meet no more than two or three African- American bird watchers over a 20-year period. The two greatest barriers to becoming a bird watcher identified by African Americans were "No interest in birds" and "No friends to teach me how to study birds." Only ten (27 percent) of the 37 African Americans who identified themselves as non-bird watchers had ever met someone who was a bird watcher, and two-thirds of all African Americans responding to the questionnaire had never met a bird watcher. The results of this study were compared with demographic data collected through the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment and with U.S. Census Bureau population growth projections. The proportion of African Americans who participate in bird watching is smaller than the proportion of African Americans in the U.S. population. The importance of these findings in light of our society's increasing cultural diversity is highlighted. Recommendations are provided for future studies on this topic.

    Publication Notes

    • You may send email to psw_communications@fs.fed.us to request a hard copy of this publication.
    • (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)
    • We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
    • This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

    Citation

    Robinson, John C. 2005. Relative prevalence of African Americans among bird watchers. In: Ralph, C. John; Rich, Terrell D., editors 2005. Bird Conservation Implementation and Integration in the Americas: Proceedings of the Third International Partners in Flight Conference. 2002 March 20-24; Asilomar, California, Volume 2 Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-191. Albany, CA: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: p. 1286-1296

    Keywords

    African American, bird watcher, cultural divers

    Related Search

    XML: View XML
Show More
Show Fewer
Jump to Top of Page
https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/32150